• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

Do you probe?

ColoradoMike

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
77
I'd like to be a beach hunter but unfortunately since there are no beaches in my neck of the woods, I hunt parks and ball fields quite a bit. When park hunting I find that most targets are less than 4 inches deep or at least that is what I find with my machine. Anyway, when I get a signal that I think is worth digging, I pinpoint to narrow it down to approx a 2" circle, then I use a modified screwdriver to probe until I touch the target item. Once I know where the target is, I can open the grass a bit and pry the target item up and out. I do all this to avoid digging as much as possible. I do carry a Lesch but rarely do I need it.
The blade of the screwdriver has some teeth filed into it on the sides of the blade. When I probe those doggone foil signals that make you wonder, I will generally either pull some foil out or if over a big piece, I can tell it is foil because my probe transmits the feel of a soft item rather than a hard coin, etc. Every now and again, my probe will bring some chain out so then I stop and carefully dig to uncover the rest. I recently brought out a 14K gold chain and pendant this way.
I realize there is a chance I will damage the target item to some extent but that doesn't happen very often. Worst case I might break or bend a chain.
For park hunting and ball field hunting, it is quick, effective, and leaves virtually no trace of digging.
Just more of my 2¢
Good luck and happy hunting all.
Mike
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0261.JPG
    IMG_0261.JPG
    67.5 KB · Views: 356
  • IMG_0259.JPG
    IMG_0259.JPG
    76.6 KB · Views: 338
Last edited:
Yup, I've become a committed coin-popper in my local public parks. If I can't hit it with my 4" screwdriver, I let it be. I may leave targets, but I leave no trace.

When I started just a couple months ago, I dug flaps which I closed up as neatly as possible. But I quickly learned that, where I live anyway, there's nothing down deep that's older than the stuff in the first few inches - my whole area is too recently developed for that. In fact, I learned that the deeper it is the more likely it is to have been chewed up by an aerator or other heavy-duty lawn maintenance implement. The detector indicates a scatter of dollar and half-dollar coins at 4-5"? It's gonna be a big steel plate about 8" down. (Covering what? I dunno, I didn't excavate them.) My oldest two finds (1957 and 1940) were found on the surface or just below, and since both pre-date the area's development I believe they were modern coin drops.

It's cool that you've found chains! I've popped a few tabs and the odd bit of hardware, but not jewelry … yet!
 
I probe and pop in some of the nicer playing fields and now that its getting dryer as well as in one park where they don't allowing digging. I've been using a probe I made using a about 7-8" piece of 3/16" brass rod. I rounded and smoothed the tip of it and glued it into a hole I drilled in a golf ball. The golf ball makes a great handle, very comfortable for pushing down into the ground.

Would you mind posting a picture of your modified screwdriver? I'd like to see how you did the teeth as I think that's a good idea.
 
I probe shallow targets if the soil is not rocky. I use a probe that I made back in the 1980's
 
I also will use a probe when items are shallow. Over a couple of inches then I have to dig because there are to many rocks and small stones.

The other day I pulled a quarter at a sports field that was under a piece of stone/gravel at about 4'' deep. How it got directly under this stone I have no idea. When it gets deeper than a couple of inches you just have to dig around here.

Ray
 
pictures of the probe added to my original post
Mike

Edit: One big reason I don't like to dig is that the area I am in is semi-arid. If you cut the grass roots in lawns around here, chances are it will leave a dead spot.
 
Thanks for updating with the photos of your modded screwdriver - those teeth are a great idea, and I can imagine they're very helpful for lifting the edges of targets. I'm about to hit mine with a file now!
 
The blade part of the screwdriver needs to be a little wider than the shank in order for this to work effectively. A cabinet makers scewdriver doesn't work very well due to it being straight all the way to the tip.
Mike
 
My setup is like this one

The probe I'm using is a Sunray :lol: because the silver here is deep and you have to dig for it...

I set my mxt down advance the gain to max and use the sunray to isolate the target down to within a 1/2 inch.
I get about 3 inches of depth this way. Hit the target on the button first or second stab and voila! pop the target. I only dig when the target is beyond the depth of the probe which is seldom. Sometime times the coin is on edge.
Practice makes perfect. Don't forget to turn the gain back.
 
ColoradoMike, You are right on point! A probe is the way to go. I'll admit I don't modify the tip as elaborately as you do, but the notch works until it wears out. It is nice to be able to pull a coin up by the edge and pick it up between finger and probe. I've pulled just over 41,000 coins in 39 months, most of the sub 4"ers by probe. (index finger length). Unfortunately, my screwdrivers seem to wear out at a prodigious rate. Here's one of the old one and a new one. I like the 1/4" screwdrivers, rather than the 3/8" for a probe, it gets between roots better and still has the strength to pull up the large canslaw.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN1669.jpg
    DSCN1669.jpg
    63.4 KB · Views: 246
I'd like to be a beach hunter but unfortunately since there are no beaches in my neck of the woods, I hunt parks and ball fields quite a bit. When park hunting I find that most targets are less than 4 inches deep or at least that is what I find with my machine. Anyway, when I get a signal that I think is worth digging, I pinpoint to narrow it down to approx a 2" circle, then I use a modified screwdriver to probe until I touch the target item. Once I know where the target is, I can open the grass a bit and pry the target item up and out. I do all this to avoid digging as much as possible. I do carry a Lesch but rarely do I need it.
The blade of the screwdriver has some teeth filed into it on the sides of the blade. When I probe those doggone foil signals that make you wonder, I will generally either pull some foil out or if over a big piece, I can tell it is foil because my probe transmits the feel of a soft item rather than a hard coin, etc. Every now and again, my probe will bring some chain out so then I stop and carefully dig to uncover the rest. I recently brought out a 14K gold chain and pendant this way.
I realize there is a chance I will damage the target item to some extent but that doesn't happen very often. Worst case I might break or bend a chain.
For park hunting and ball field hunting, it is quick, effective, and leaves virtually no trace of digging.
Just more of my 2¢
Good luck and happy hunting all.
Mike

I've found that the people who probe, unless they are very very good, typically leave roots all over the place and nasty brown spots. Our dirt here, is lush black stuff, and very little hardpan. As a result, it's too easy to use a pin pointer and a lesche digger to simply cut a flap. The parks dept. even uses blade aeration on the lawns here, and pretty much that's all a Detectorist is doing. Pinpointer and Lesche get me down and up in about 8-10 seconds, which is much faster than the probers. I recognize, though, that it's turf dependent, and skill too!
 
Back when I first joined, I posted how to make a probe like I have been using for years. You can find the instructions by doing a search for "Easy Coin probe."

Easy Coin Probe.gif Easy Coin Probe 2.gif
 
Been detecting for 36 years and have used a probe and a screwdriver since day one. No need to dig a hole when you have shallow coins. Glad to hear that others are using this method.
 
Yeah that's what I use a screwdriver Oh and then I gotta stick All about 4 feet long and then I drill a hole in it and I use a Enter glue AA screwdriver in the bottom of that stick Very soon to let me carry it around getting all complaints In so I can push that and But I like the idea of the Thing on the Internet looks like it was welded on or something Madoka take a grinder in Ora file Yeah to pull out the Weather change Change chain Yeah that's what it anyway Good stores
 
"I'd like to be a beach hunter but unfortunately since there are no beaches in my neck of the woods..."

Colorado Mike, first off, you stole my name, so I had to go with MdMike... (Md=Maryland, my childhood State).

Secondly,
Bear Creek, Boulder res, Cherry Creek res, Aurora Res, Chatfield State Park... Beach it!
I'm half joking. But I think Bear Creek may be worth a visit.
(Can we detect on a State Park?)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom