I went crazy and bought four used metal detectors.. which two should I keep?

yrekadude · Mar 9, 2017

Hey there,

Over the past few months I bought a few metal detectors and now I have four and I'm trying to decide which two I should keep. I figure I might as well post this here and see what others suggest..

Detectors I have now:

Minelab E-Trac with 11" Pro coil and Snake coil plus accessories
White's TDI SL with 7.5" Dual Field coil
White's Spectra VX3 with 950 coil
White's MXT with 950 coil

I mostly metal detect the Santa Cruz CA ocean beaches and up and down the coast but I want to be able to go nugget hunting maybe... so I got the TDI SL which seems to be good at the beaches too... I guess I am at a toss-up between keeping the E-trac / VX3 and TDI SL and maybe letting go of the MXT..

I'm leaning towards keeping the TDI SL and the E-Trac ...Anyone want to make a suggestion? It might just be down to E-trac or VX3.. but then again I have two coils for the E-Trac, an ML3100 battery and other accessories... but not the same for the VX3..

Decisions decisions...

But I am in no hurry

Thanks

Sven · Mar 9, 2017

LOL, we all have a similar problem.

Probably keep the Etrac, it handles most situations and finds deepies.

Keep the PI, it can do things VLF detectors can't.

Many are impressed with the MXT, I surely was back then around 2004, especaily with the smaller 6x9 (?) elliptical coil. really hated the audio and sent it packing a few months later, especially when it ID'd a target as a silver dime in an area with a high water table, no silver dime in the hole, the silver dime turned out to be a 6 pounder War of 1812 cannonball. :?:

Captain Silver · Mar 9, 2017

Definitely keep the Etrac...

DaviDs · Mar 9, 2017

Sven said:
LOL, we all have a similar problem.

Probably keep the Etrac, it handles most situations and finds deepies.

Keep the PI, it can do things VLF detectors can't.

^^^ This!

Etrac is the most refined and capable of all FBS machines...until they came out with the FBS2 (CTX). There is just a plethora of aftermarket coils too. So for beach hunting, I think it won't be long before you end up with a a bigger 15" WOT or a 15, heck 18" SEF. And like you said, the PI is a great all purpose machine, especially for the small stuff like finding raw gold.

Can't really say anything bad about the VX3, but I think what will happen in the future is you enjoy the Etrac until the opportunity strikes where you can trade it for a CTX. When you do that, there is almost no learning curve. Its a natural progression towards the next best thing...and you'll hit the ground running! Actually, you'll hit the surf AND the ground running! lol! Gotta love having a machine thats waterproof!

NetHunter · Mar 9, 2017

Sofar enjoying the ctx 3030 glad I was informed about it

TexasCTX3030 - Mario (NetHunter)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

goodtimecharlie · Mar 11, 2017

Sven said:
LOL, we all have a similar problem.

Probably keep the Etrac, it handles most situations and finds deepies.

Keep the PI, it can do things VLF detectors can't.

Many are impressed with the MXT, I surely was back then around 2004, especaily with the smaller 6x9 (?) elliptical coil. really hated the audio and sent it packing a few months later, especially when it ID'd a target as a silver dime in an area with a high water table, no silver dime in the hole, the silver dime turned out to be a 6 pounder War of 1812 cannonball.

X2

Rob O · Mar 11, 2017

How much time hunting do you have, as pi's you need to put lots of hunt time in for them to be worth having.

Like me with my limited hunt time, i find more good stuff with detectors with discrimination. the etrac cleans house on a salt water beach.

yrekadude · Mar 16, 2017

Rob O said:
How much time hunting do you have, as pi's you need to put lots of hunt time in for them to be worth having.

Like me with my limited hunt time, i find more good stuff with detectors with discrimination. the etrac cleans house on a salt water beach.

Rob,

I hunt on weekends mostly, Saturday and Sunday at the Santa Cruz beaches.. maybe 4 or 5 hours a day.. I got the TDI SL for a possible trip to Nevada nugget shooting.. I did use the TDI at a beach that the E-Trac was having trouble with due to lots of black sand I was only getting an inch or two depth.. surprised me..

I'm going to sell the VX3 and MXT but havent gotten around to creating an ad for them yet. Maybe I should trade my E-Trac and VX3 for a CTX 3030 ?

BottleCapKing · Mar 22, 2017

If you are going to mostly hunt beaches, keep the TDI.

DaviDs · Mar 22, 2017

yrekadude said:
I'm going to sell the VX3 and MXT but havent gotten around to creating an ad for them yet. Maybe I should trade my E-Trac and VX3 for a CTX 3030 ?

Yes, yes yes!!!!! The CTX's CPU speed, target accuracy and separation are a pleasant improvement over the E-Trac. Also the wireless phones come in handy too! If you need it, I can get you the friends and family rate of $1,825 delivered for a brand new CTX (version 2). :cool:

mascard1 · Mar 22, 2017

I am in Sacramento.....Keep the E-trac for parks and if you just do the beach and not in Water(maybe a little..just don;t get it wet..maybe tie it to you ..so you don't drop)..Keep the Tdi(Can play in parks with it too..real FUN)...DEEP!!!

yrekadude said:
Hey there,

Over the past few months I bought a few metal detectors and now I have four and I'm trying to decide which two I should keep. I figure I might as well post this here and see what others suggest..

Detectors I have now:

Minelab E-Trac with 11" Pro coil and Snake coil plus accessories

White's TDI SL with 7.5" Dual Field coil

White's Spectra VX3 with 950 coil

White's MXT with 950 coil

I mostly metal detect the Santa Cruz CA ocean beaches and up and down the coast but I want to be able to go nugget hunting maybe... so I got the TDI SL which seems to be good at the beaches too... I guess I am at a toss-up between keeping the E-trac / VX3 and TDI SL and maybe letting go of the MXT..

I'm leaning towards keeping the TDI SL and the E-Trac ...Anyone want to make a suggestion? It might just be down to E-trac or VX3.. but then again I have two coils for the E-Trac, an ML3100 battery and other accessories... but not the same for the VX3..

Decisions decisions... But I am in no hurry

Thanks

matmit · Mar 29, 2017

I cannot say too much about those detectors, but from now on I am going to call you Randy!
Randy owns like 6 or 7 detectors and he is always buying and selling them...

I went crazy and bought four used metal detectors.. which two should I keep?

yrekadude

Elite Member

Sven

Elite Member

Captain Silver

Elite Member

DaviDs

NetHunter

Full Member

goodtimecharlie

Elite Member

Rob O

yrekadude

Elite Member

BottleCapKing

Elite Member

DaviDs

mascard1

Elite Member

matmit

Elite Member

Similar threads