Help with purchase for specific conditions

[PioneerChaser]

Ok now that I've totally boggled my mind for over a month trying to do the right research on metal detectors and their different features I'm throwing in the towel. I'm on overload and can't finish this decision without some help. So I'll tell you all my interests and situation and go with a prevailing and much more useful opinion than my own, which even after reading is essentially useless.

I will primarily be hunting for coins, possibly caches, and relics that will have been dropped between 1820s and 1950s. Most sites are probably virgin or near to it. Terrain includes old homesites with no visible remnants of buildings(burned down?) as well as some some cellar holes. Old stone walls, piles, and giant old trees in newer growth forest on former farm sites. Old cars abandoned in the woods, former saw mill sites, former school houses. My own property which is at least 1880s and has had a few barns removed over the years through means unknown. Probably lots of old roofing material in the ground at all sites as well as some more modern hunting debris. I have reasonable cause to hope to find some serious caches of long ago valuable objects or even coins. They are probably there somewhere in the 50 places I intend to hunt, most of which is on my property or a relatives.

One issue I'm having is that I have no idea about mineral composition in my local soil, western portion of NY state. Makes it hard to narrow choices.

I'm good with tech and good in the woods and know my areas of interest well. But I've never touched a metal detector. So this is from ground zero.

I would like to spend as little as possible without buying a junk machine that will frustrate me quickly. I will be adding a pinpointer most likely.

So here is my so far short list.
Fisher F2 with extra coils, I can afford a few extras with this price point.
Fisher F5, more investment but may be worth it, opinions on that? Couldn't buy extra coils now if I go this route.
Garrett ATPro Outer edge of my budget, would have to have serious advantages. No extra coils at this price.
Teknetics EuroTek Pro In budget for sure, recommendations?

I'm hoping some of you might be able to help me, I know this is an over asked question but with my particular situations it seems it might be a fairly simple one to answer. Maybe one machine is going to really shine off that list, or that I'm missing a perfect one for me due to my general lack of knowledge. Thanks for reading and any advice you may have!

 

[matthias]

Welcome from NJ. I'd go for the AT-Pro. It has manual or auto ground balance, good discrimination, depth and separation abilities, pin-point, and its waterproof so you can hunt in the rain no problem. You'd be jumping right into a proven detector you would not outgrow anytime soon. Additional coils could be aquired at a later date. Try to get the 5X8 coil if possible as your only coil. A good hand-held pin-pointer would be the icing on the cake. Just my opinion. GL and HH. Matt

 

[PioneerChaser]

Thanks for a vote for that machine, it seems universally well liked. Staying firmly on my shortlist and high up it at that.

 

[marcus118]

You don't want an entry level machine for this kind of hunting. You need something that's going to hit deep. Auto ground balance and a DD coil is a must here.

Of those choices I'd go with the AT Pro - no question.

Feel free to PM me with any other questions.

 

[SevenOneSix]

I'm from WNY, specifically Niagara Falls but I do most of my hunting in Wilson, Lockport, Youngstown, Burt, Olcott and a few other places. I bought the Fisher F2 3 coil package(sniper,8",10") and it hasn't let me down yet. The soil comps im hunting are sandy loam to clay loam. You can do a google search and find out the exact soil comps in your area. Although those are the soils I prefer, I also hunt in Niagara Falls which is a harder soil with a clay layer after about 6". The sniper coil rarely leaves my F2 since I can get 8" depth and sometimes more depending what im digging. I haven't really had any issue with the F2 besides the 10" coil picking up interference from the power lines when I detect my yard. It only happens if I point the coil towards the road when I lay it down to dig my target. I'm a relic hunter so I pretty much dig everything. If your looking for a cheaper cost wise but not cheap as in a toy then the F2 would be the way to go. You can get the 3 coil package and it comes with an F point pinpointer. I destroyed mine after about a month of use. Yes, I was somewhat digging and scraping with it. Bad idea because the tip wore down and ended up being a hole. Lesson learned but honestly I have no use for a pinpointer. Its just an extra step which to me means more time spent on each target. The F2 is accurate enough to pinpoint on its own and no, I do not use the pinpoint feature on the F2. The F2 also has vdi which is great but for each new soil type I find that the numbers change a bit. I'm sure this happens with a lot of other md's also. I do a lot of night hunting in the summer so the vdi isn't really all that important to me. I really don't pay much attention to it while im hunting in daylight. So for a beginner you can go by the sounds and when your tired of doing only that then you can switch to looking at the vdi or you can learn it all at once. I've found some great things with my F2 and can't wait for this snow to be gone. My plan this year is to add a new town and also get as close to Fort Niagara as possible without being in an off limits area. I was given my first permission without even having to ask. It's on a lake property about 2 miles from the Fort. Hope this answered some of your questions and welcome to the FMDF!!

 

[PioneerChaser]

Ground balance question

Seems like I'm down to two good choices here. I like the price of the F2 of course and they seem to be very well rated. Nice that I could get extras right away. No automatic ground balance though correct?

I'm still working over my budget to see max I can spend.

AT pro has the advantage of being able to play around the local creeks which is a minor interest and I won't wreck it if I'm unprepared in the rain.

If I can't squeeze that much out, any in between recommendations? I gather the F4 is nice but not alot of extra features for the price increase from the F2. Any comments on the F5?

Oh and thanks to all who are helping me figure this out, I'm looking to buy next week probably and I'm tired of reading and ready to start messing up my now frozen yard.

 

[marcus118]

Seems like I'm down to two good choices here. I like the price of the F2 of course and they seem to be very well rated. Nice that I could get extras right away. No automatic ground balance though correct?

I'm still working over my budget to see max I can spend.

AT pro has the advantage of being able to play around the local creeks which is a minor interest and I won't wreck it if I'm unprepared in the rain.

If I can't squeeze that much out, any in between recommendations? I gather the F4 is nice but not alot of extra features for the price increase from the F2. Any comments on the F5?

Oh and thanks to all who are helping me figure this out, I'm looking to buy next week probably and I'm tired of reading and ready to start messing up my now frozen yard.

No auto ground balancing in F2.

F5 is a great machine but has an advanced interface which most beginners dont like.

 

[TN_INDIAN]

At Pro is way better than the f2. F5 need is a machine that would be good for later.

 

[PioneerChaser]

Great info and advice, thanks so much. Budgets screaming, might have to go F2 by the looks of things.