Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Question on Digging Deep Targets

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Sagewood

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Joined
Sep 15, 2018
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14
Location
Duluth Minnesota
When you guys got a target thats 10+ inches, roughly what diameter are you cutting your plug? It seems when I am going for a deep target I invariably dig the holes too small and have to dig out the walls, which makes everything a mess for cleanup.
 
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Sagewood said:
When you guys got a target thats 10+ inches, roughly what diameter are you cutting your plug? It seems when I am going for a deep target I invariably dig the holes too small and have to dig out the walls, which makes everything a mess for cleanup.
Click to expand...

Personally when I have to dig deeper
I start with a small plug in the 4" diameter range.
If I have to go wider I start digging out the hole starting about an inch and a half below the surface. at about a 30 degree angle or so. I try to use a screw driver when doing this like a plunge and pull to break away the sides and then scoop with my hand.

I personally find this technique works well for me and my soils and cleans and replaces up nicely.
 
Sagewood said:
When you guys got a target thats 10+ inches, roughly what diameter are you cutting your plug? It seems when I am going for a deep target I invariably dig the holes too small and have to dig out the walls, which makes everything a mess for cleanup.
Click to expand...

for me it depends on where the target is located. nice grassy area in someones yard, I cut a 4-5" plug. use my hand digger to enlarge the hole as I dig down. I have a metal hand digger that I put in the vice and put a slight inward curve to it so it can enlarge the sidewalls.

if in the woods, I use my 30" predator tool. great for cutting through roots and rocks which are plentiful in North Atlanta area.
 
I never understood this, I dig a large plug for most targets unless its obviously shallow. It makes less of a mess, makes finding target easier, less targets get accosted by your shovel, animals have trouble pulling up larger plugs, larger plugs spread the damage to the roots out and have less problems with dead grass. Only argument I hear supporting small plugs that makes any sense to me is how people view you or the hobby. So I educate people I get permission from about my process and why I do it the way I do. No complaints yet here on my end. Then again I do live in the country, maybe it is different in population.
 
Most my plugs are 5-6in for deeper targets. Gives me more room to dig down deeper if I need to, and also makes it easier to clean up.
 
Still depends how small it pinpoints. If it pinpoints small from a one hopefully two or more angles, the whole is the size of my Sampson.
 
Big 3 sided plugs flop back down after hinging up and do less damage..that's a good reason to always make a large plug.. IMO
 
It depend where you are. I have some permissions where I was told where the keys to the backhoe were in case I needed it, I mean it was made clear It does not matter but I still try to be neat. I have another 1790 home that has a golf course style yard, I mean nice, there I try very hard to pinpoint well and cut 4-5 inch very neat plugs and put any further excavated dirt on a towel etc. I do agree bigger is better as I have a beautiful peace dollar with some character added my me and Mr. Lesche.
 
Probably the size of a hubcap? because at 10+ inches it's going to one of 2 things, really iffy or really big.

Reality says that the vast majority of finds are 5 inches or less so I never think too much about "deep" finds..
 
Probably the size of a hubcap? because at 10+ inches it's going to one of 2 things, really iffy or really big.

Reality says that the vast majority of finds are 5 inches or less so I never think too much about "deep" finds..[/QUOTE]
 
Probably the size of a hubcap? because at 10+ inches it's going to one of 2 things, really iffy or really big.

Reality through experience says that the vast majority of finds are 5 inches or less so I never think too much about "deep" finds..
 
How do you know your target is at 10” deep before you cut the plug? Does your detector indicate 10”, or did you discover the target was deeper than you thought after digging down that deep? On my Spectrum XLT, switching to pinpoint mode will give a display indication of depth in inches for a coin size target, but I’ve never seen a 10” depth readout.
If you got a strong signal for a target that deep, then it might not be a coin-size target, but something larger. If you got a whisper of a signal, I think the depth indication, if you even have one on your machine, might not be as accurate as for shallower targets. So I agree with several earlier replies; it all depends on where you’re digging.
 
My pinpointing gets less reliable the deeper the target is so my plug gets a lot bigger for deeper targets. Digging the side of the holes really slows me down so if conditions are good for flipping a big plug that's what I'll do.

I like Martin_V3I's 10 for 10 rule of thumb but my twist is the number of blade widths of my Sampson. 10 inches that pinpoints ok would likely be 5 blade widths in a semi-circle. Hard to pinpoint might be 6 or 7.
 
I normally dig 4 to 5 inch wide holes no matter how deep when in an area I am more concerned appearances. When you know your detector well you should be able to pinpoint even the deeper targets to an area that small , if you cant then you just need a little more practice. But with that said ,....if appearances don't matter so much in a particular site and I am not killing lawns , etc. I will go ahead and dig a wider hole for deeper targets , because....might as well make it easier.
 
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