Big Boys Hobbies

Using A PI For Dirt Hunting?

imalookin2

imalookin2

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I have a friend who is thinking seriously about buying a PI for hunting relics on the dirt. I offered my opinion but I wanted to know what you all think. I posted this in the beach section because many of you have PI machines. I do not know of anyone who uses a PI on dirt so I did not think that section would offer many opinions. What do you guys think? Would you dig on dirt with no way to discriminate?
 
Whites TDI, or the Garrett ATX/Infinium or if you got the $$$ the Almighty Minelab GPX5000.

Forget about the all bright colored flambouyant beach PIs.
 
I would only use a PI on land if I had some good spots with rich history that you can use a shovel at.

I personally wouldn't do it, because digging rusty nails at 12"+ in hard dirt would make me wrap the PI around a tree... it's bad enough at the beach where digging is easy... but I guess relic hunters like rusty iron don't they? :D
 
Crumble said:
but I guess relic hunters like rusty iron don't they? :D
Click to expand...

As a relic hunter, I love big iron... One of my bucket list finds is a Revolutionary War Cannon Ball and they are made of iron. I have a few nice buckles and padlocks from the 1700-1800s made from iron that clean up beautifully after a few days in electrolysis and a hot waxing.

In the Mid-Atlantic and Southern East Coast where many Civil War battles were fought the red clay soil is so damn mineralized that even the FBS Minelabs and the boosted Fisher/Teknetics machines can only detect to a maximum of 4 inches deep! The PI machines down there pull out bullets, buckles, buttons from incredible depths and aren't phased by the high mineralized soil in the least bit.

The PI machines I listed do have a small amount of iron discrimination, it ain't perfect, but its better than nothing. I'm blessed in that New England soil is very mild and inert and full of history. I have no need for a PI relic machine, but that doesn't mean I don't want one. :yes:
 
I used the Whites TDI in Culpeper VA at one of DIV hunts. Red clay was no prob for the TDI and I was able to reverse discriminate the nails. Worked great if you don't mind diggin a 3 ringer at 18 inches. This was a problem for me as I am used to digging in sand not red clay concrete. HH, phil
 
Maybe if you were on a Civil war battlefield area like to the west of us. Where you didn't have loads of trash. I went to an old school house area in Texas back in the eighties. Nothing of the wood existed any more. You had to know where it once stood. I still have a couple boxes of hammered rusty nails somewhere we picked up off the top of the ground. You'd need your head examined to use a PI in a place that bad:lol:
 
Cant you also use the pulse delay to make some determination as well? Most relic hunters carry more than one machine with them.... just in case and like was said they like big iron. Even a PI you can size a target pretty well. I most certainly would NOT use one for old home site locations. Even with an Explorer i can tell you there is so much iron in those areas the Explorer would barely come out of null some times. The TDI and Finny would be good choices thou.

Dew
 
I been using a tdi pro in some of the trashy trash parks I can coin shoot with that thing like crazy.

My soil is not mineralized by any means and was told I would be better off with my v3i vlf that it would get same depth.
As far as pulse the tdi has high low tone so I learned high tone for coins

I always walk away with old coins that

But as far as gold in a litered area forget about it

I love my tdi in land.
It was bought for the beach and found use for it else wher that's why I did not buy the dual field water unit.

Some sites are ok and some iffy but once u hit it a few times with a vlf and u learn your site its a blast.

I would not have bought the pulse if not for the beach tdi not water proof so only go in the water below waist low tide etc.
 
Interesting posts, this guy is looking to hunt red clay in the areas many posted. I learned something today. It appears that those high end PI machines are the go to machine in mineral clay in the Virginia hills. Like Phil said, Culpeper area and west of I-95. Seems the ground there is rabid. :D
 
I tried it on a whim at a fairly clean old hotel site i frequent and it was as if the blades of grass were made of metal. I think i lasted about 3 minutes.


imalookin2 said:
I have a friend who is thinking seriously about buying a PI for hunting relics on the dirt. I offered my opinion but I wanted to know what you all think. I posted this in the beach section because many of you have PI machines. I do not know of anyone who uses a PI on dirt so I did not think that section would offer many opinions. What do you guys think? Would you dig on dirt with no way to discriminate?
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
I've dabbled a bit using my PI inland. Nah, not so much. I suppose there could be very site specific instances in which a PI would be functional.

My opinion would be that if a PI is already owned, why not give it a shot inland, what the hell. But to spend money on a PI to specifically hunt inland just seems... nah, not so much.
 
with a little bit of cleverness...

I saw a video of a guy using a PI machine on a yard. He cleverly used a combination of his VLF and his PI machine to find coins and other targets that were beyond the reach of his VLF machine.

I sure wish I could post the link but I don't have it. Surely somebody else saw the video and they can point us to it.

I think his approach would work anywhere where worthy targets may lay buried.
 
imalookin2 said:
Interesting posts, this guy is looking to hunt red clay in the areas many posted. I learned something today. It appears that those high end PI machines are the go to machine in mineral clay in the Virginia hills. Like Phil said, Culpeper area and west of I-95. Seems the ground there is rabid. :D
Click to expand...

Keep an open mind buddy, we are always learning....wait till you see my next move in detectors......:laughing:
Cliff
 
Hello,

If Your friend can remove the top 10 inches of dirt with a backhoe, whenever he wants to hunt, then he should go ahead and get a pulse for relic hunting. - a museum would do that ;-)

I have been relic hunting with a pulse, and did not like it!

As a primary detector, I would recomend that You tell Your friend, that it is a bad idea - He will never reach the hotspots without discrimination.

Your friend will have a better chance with a Sovereign GT and the right coils for his hunting grounds.

Once he have located his hotspots it will be time to fire up a pulse detector and begin digging very old nails 3 feet into the ground.

At least for me the PI will allways be a secondary detector, and there is only a few places where I can use it's power to my advantage.

HH.

/Steffen
 
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