Even though I mentioned this in another post of mine, I thought I would start a new thread about it to generate more discussion about such. I just want to make sure I do as much research and asking question before I "take the plunge and buy".
I live in Northern Alabama. The ground here is pretty hard. It also has a lot of mineralization, or so I think. Are there any other Alabama folks out there that can shed some light on that? I want to make sure I get the right detector for the kind of area I am in. Some of the detectors I am considering are the Garrett Ace 250, Ace 350, Fisher F5, and Teknetics EuroTek Pro. Which of these would do best in such situation? Or maybe a suggestion of some other model that would do well? I am looking at a budget of around $350.
The bad...Alabama has some of the worst soil in the country for doing this hobby.
The good...some areas are worse than others, where I lived in the Birmingham area we had that severe mineralization plus the added bonus of naturally occurring veins of iron ore and particles of iron infused into most of the soil that limited our depth even more, the northern part of the state didn't have so much of a problem with that extra iron as we did and seemed to average a couple more inches in depth than the 3-5" we could get in Birmingham.
At most of my sites even getting to that 5" depth level was a struggle most of the time, but there were some areas in the valleys and other areas that did have better soil that we came across from time to time.
Also good...none of that really mattered, no matter where hunters lived we all still managed to find great targets, jewelry, coins, even silver coins, but you have to understand the environment, how it affects our detectors and be smart about sites you pick to hunt.
As far as digging in that clay filled devil dirt during the hot summer months with very little rain and in that soil that basically turns hard as cement during drought times...get a good and strong digger like a Lesche.
Not much else works very well or for very long in the dry times, or for me no other types ever did or lasted more than a few hunts.
There is a social group here about hunting in mineralized soil that Ryan Chappell started because he lives in B'Ham and still hunts there.
Here is a link to some great info about hunting in that very challenging soil, if you can't read it you just have to join the group and then you can.
http://metaldetectingforum.com/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=775
Basically depth will be limited in most areas compared to normal soil states, and even if you do use a machine that can get deeper than the average 5" even non ferrous objects might show up as ferrous so you need to learn this and dig a lot.
Some use PI machines to combat these problems and get deeper, but they present their own set of problems, sometimes, and usually aren't cheap.
I found a few very old sites that had so much history you would drool at even the thought of hunting them, but the totally frustrating experience of not being able to reach the depth needed with any VLF unit to find those targets had me thinking hard about getting into a PI unit and if I still lived there that is what I probably would have done, eventually.
Even if I used that type at only a few of these loaded but extremely problem plagued sites.
Ryan Chappell has both an Xterra 305 and then upgraded to an E-Trac because he is nuts about finding silver coins, he is pretty successful but even with this high end machine the reason he finds more than I ever did is because he thinks outside the box when he looks for special out of the way sites...washout areas, old apartments and homes that have never been hunted, and others.
I decided that was a little too much work so long ago I turned into a jewelry hunter because that can be anywhere including in public parks I usually hunted, and usually isn't very deep or at least there was a lot of it within range of my detectors that I could find pretty easily.
Still found some older coins like a few Indian heads and even silver coins from time to time but that was just luck and I rarely looked for them.
Hunters like Bamadigtab also live there and are very successful at finding lots of great old targets and coins, including lots of silver, but he does it by knocking on doors and hunting private home sites that might have a little more depth than public areas because of slightly better soil with less of those iron particles and also more targets to roll your coil over.
He has lots of vids, here is one of them, and like I said he is very successful so if you contact him or Ryan Chappell I am sure they can give you some more info on hunting in that state.
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=154692
Using detectors with manual ground balance is usually recommended in heavy mineralization to get you the best chance at depth, a DD coil vs. a concentric type might add a bit more because they handle mineralization a little better, but to get a machine with both of these features at that $350 range will be tough new...even used.
It was so bad where I lived that my Vaquero with manual GB AND a large DD coil, my F2 with neither of those things, a Compadre , Ryan Chappell's 305 and his E Trac and all the Whites units the club guys use in that area all got about the same pitiful depth in the worst of that stuff so it was an even playing field for all of us.
Like I said, if you are in the north you will probably have a little more depth possibilities than we did.
Even with all the problems we all still had a great time, found some amazing things and were all happy we entered into this hobby even if we had to hunt in that more difficult and challenging environment.
I eventually moved to Kansas with much better soil, almost perfect as a matter of fact, and can now easily reach depths of 7-8-9-10, even 12" and more depending on the detector I use so as you can imagine I am in heaven.
After hunting in some of the worst soil in the country and then changing to areas with some of the best you can say I am one member here that has some experience with different soil types that others rarely do and I am thrilled and very grateful for the unusual experience of hunting in both.
I used not only a Vaquero but eventually over time used a Compadre and more often than not an F2 with no manual GB or DD coil in that bad dirt and still did extremely well so you just have to pick one and get out there and hunt and you will find great things and get even better as you learn.
The F5 is a great machine, I am a big fan of Fisher units, but way over your price point and even higher if you want a DD coil for it as an option.
That unit also could have a bit of a learning curve that can be conquered, but even some veterans with experience using other detectors took some time doing that.
The Aces are pretty popular and you can get that 350 with a DD coil, but personally I would always pick a unit that had not only icons but much more important and useful to me some VDI numbers on the screen when comparing different brands in similar price ranges.
You would not believe how helpful those numbers can be and especially to a newbie but also a veteran hunter.
If I was just starting over again and lived in that area with your price range I would look at an F2 with the DD coil, or actually I would look even harder at the Euro Tek Pro with the regular coil and maybe even the
E T Pro with a DD coil as one of your best shots at the most efficient hunting tool that will come somewhere near your stated price point requirement.
This was a choice that was unavailable to me when I bought the F2 back in 2010, and as an entry unit the Pro has set a new bar in the area of features and benefits of those features at this price range.
The DD coil will help, no manual GB but it seems to still work very well and efficiently in mineralized bad soil without it according to reports.
Hopefully, it would work well in even the super mineralization you might be dealing with but maybe someone in your area that uses one will chime in about this.
The Pro with a DD coil comes in at about the $300 range which leaves you enough left over to get a quality digger.
Check with our sponsors here and see what kind of a deal you can get in a package deal with both tools.
A high end handheld pinpointer like a Propointer is not cheap and can be really helpful but the Harbor Freight cheap one worked well for me too as a great tool when I started out and if you want to get to that high end you will eventually find enough clad to do that when you get out there and start digging.