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Beach Sweeper
- Thread starter buckeeeee
- Start date
Ad says it goes four inches deep but the video looks more like two inches. Once the tide covers the day's drops much of the heavier rings can sink deeper than that and the sweeper is not cleaning up anything in the water ... which is where I do most of my beach detecting. Note how it is not shown picking up a single can ... I think there is not much to worry about from this sweeper.
More concerning to me is the continued move away from precious metals for jewelry and towards junk materials.
Donna(NJ
Well-known member
I was looking for the link and then realized MSN was it.
I have been dealing with beach cleaning machines for 25+ years. Back in the beginning we would walk behind them (they made great gridding line !!) and pluck out coins and rings.
Never gave it a second thought until one day, the machine broke down and the driver dumped the load of "un-sifted' sand on the beach. Found a bunch of coins and a silver chain.
Now at what point in the sifting process did this load come out ??? From watching the guys groom the sand, its doesnt go down too deep, They're skimming the surface trying to get the
big stuff off the surface. They are usually in a hurry as they have to get the beach cleaned before opening. There's actually a morning crew that walks around picking up all the straws and small things the machine misses. Im sure it picks up chains as they are light weight and dont sink too deep. The only saving grace is the machine is very heavy and pushes targets down deeper as it criss crosses the beach. Like they always say, Ya cant get everything !!!'
But there's not much to find nowadays. loose change is tough to find as its been replaced by plastic and phone. Gold has been replaced by stainless steel and POC metals.
But ya never know what will show up. Water and wet sand hunting is where the good stuff is.
HH
Donna(NJ)
mtdoramike
Well-known member
It's still fun to go out and swing at the beach even if it's not overly productive. I also love the beach sweepers, which helps clean up the beaches.
Digging deaf
New member
Nothing gets easier , just keep swinging
Odanscoils
Well-known member
Soon we'll have to get Ground Penetrating Radar units to find the Old good stuff.
And mini excavator's to dig them up.
I'll get the remote controlled ones so this old fart can sit in the shade having a cold one.
Sad days ahead for us detectorist.
And mini excavator's to dig them up.
I'll get the remote controlled ones so this old fart can sit in the shade having a cold one.
Sad days ahead for us detectorist.
Digging deaf
New member
Found a very fine gold chain and turquoise pendant , two weeks ago at the beach. It took a few evenings to un tangle it with needles. The knots probably helped me find it. I like my nox 800
Sand Sifter
Active member
Beach sweepers are designed to clean recent/daily drops of surface trash. If they happen to pick up any coins, rings, etc, that's a bonus for them but that's not the intent of the sweeper. It's a lot easier for the local town to have that motorized sweeper out there cleaning & smoothing out the sand, than to pay a ton of people to walk the beach to physically pick up trash. But just think about it from a physics standpoint, they can't go too deep into the sand because the deeper the sweeper tries digging into sand, the more resistance the sand would provide (ever see a tractor pull competition?), and the vehicle towing the sweeper would start spinning wheels and get stuck.
For the vehicle to move quickly and not get stuck, it needs minimal resistance from the sweeper, so it's only going down a few inches, just deep enough to get any recent trash drops. It's just like when we get a loud surface signal on the dry. We can just slide our scoop into the top layer of sand and pull up the target easily. But the deeper the target, the deeper we have to shove the scoop, and the deeper we dig, the more resistance we get, so the more effort & exertion we have to apply.
Also, regarding "cheaper" finds, i.e., rings made of metals other than Gold/Silver, junk jewelry, etc., one thing I think beach hunters forget is that they need to take into account the specific beach & location they're hunting. Where's the beach located? Is the beach in a lower/middle class neighborhood/area? Or is the beach located in a wealthier community where those with bigger bucks tend to visit? If you're hunting a beach in a more general, low/mid class area, I think that's where you will probably have a higher probability of finding non-Gold/Silver or less expensive jewelry.
But if you look at some find pics from hunters in Miami, they constantly post pics of Gold/Silver rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and even some big diamond laced jewelry. But IMHO, that's because Miami is an area in FL that has people with the big bucks, i.e., lots of wealthier residents & tourists, yachts, businesses, expensive homes, etc. Lots of people in the Miami area make the bigger & BIG bucks, and wealthy people who hang with other wealthy people in areas where wealthy people hang out, will want to proudly show their jewelry. It's a status symbol kind of thing, i.e., "my diamonds are bigger than yours", lol.
Ya can't get caviar for the price of a gumball, so to increase your odds of finding high end Gold/Silver jewelry, gotta hit beaches that are frequented by people who can afford high end jewelry.
For the vehicle to move quickly and not get stuck, it needs minimal resistance from the sweeper, so it's only going down a few inches, just deep enough to get any recent trash drops. It's just like when we get a loud surface signal on the dry. We can just slide our scoop into the top layer of sand and pull up the target easily. But the deeper the target, the deeper we have to shove the scoop, and the deeper we dig, the more resistance we get, so the more effort & exertion we have to apply.
Also, regarding "cheaper" finds, i.e., rings made of metals other than Gold/Silver, junk jewelry, etc., one thing I think beach hunters forget is that they need to take into account the specific beach & location they're hunting. Where's the beach located? Is the beach in a lower/middle class neighborhood/area? Or is the beach located in a wealthier community where those with bigger bucks tend to visit? If you're hunting a beach in a more general, low/mid class area, I think that's where you will probably have a higher probability of finding non-Gold/Silver or less expensive jewelry.
But if you look at some find pics from hunters in Miami, they constantly post pics of Gold/Silver rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and even some big diamond laced jewelry. But IMHO, that's because Miami is an area in FL that has people with the big bucks, i.e., lots of wealthier residents & tourists, yachts, businesses, expensive homes, etc. Lots of people in the Miami area make the bigger & BIG bucks, and wealthy people who hang with other wealthy people in areas where wealthy people hang out, will want to proudly show their jewelry. It's a status symbol kind of thing, i.e., "my diamonds are bigger than yours", lol.
Ya can't get caviar for the price of a gumball, so to increase your odds of finding high end Gold/Silver jewelry, gotta hit beaches that are frequented by people who can afford high end jewelry.
Donna(NJ
Well-known member
I have a very wealthy town near me on the Jersey shore. Cant buy an outhouse for under a million dollars !!!! Hunting there was pathetic. Barely any coins let alone any jewelry. See, the rich are smart. They leave the good stuff home,
Unfortunately today, hardly anyone wears real gold jewelry. Just walk down the beach and most guys arent wearing those big gold chains from days of old.
Yes, you need to go where the money is but I bet its extremely slim pickins.
HH
Donna(NJ)
Sand Sifter
Active member
Hi Donna. Yeah, I'm sure some of them may indeed leave their good stuff at home, or in the safe of their hotel room. I'm not rich but I always do the same. I always take off my wedding ring & leave it at home before heading out to the beach to hunt. But as a detectorist, I know when I'm on the wet and in the water, my hands are gonna get wet with colder water, so my fingers are gonna shrink. One wrong move or a brief moment of distraction, and I could wind up hunting to find my own ring, lol. There may be some smart wealthy people that leave their bling at home or at the hotel, but there's also a lot of rich people who like to display their wealth via their jewelry for all to see, especially to those in their social circle.
Also, keep in mind that hunting a beach can be pathetic one day, and great the next. I've hit beaches where I was making good finds one day, went back the next day and everything seemed to have disappeared, like someone flipped a switch. Also hunted beaches that I thought "sucked", went back another time and it was a totally different beach, and I started finding some nice goodies. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to beaches. We all know that beaches can change daily, with new sand being deposited or withdrawn. FYI, I just heard there's a hurricane on its way, will probably be off our coast in about 7 days. You're a bit north of me so you'll get it a day or so later, but it's apparently coming. Might be worth keeping an eye out for that one and hit the beach after it goes by, looking for cuts, bowls & troughs to search. Check out Terry Shannon's videos on YouTube. He pulled 12 rings, all clustered together in the same bowl, and 5 of the rings were gold.
Now you got me wondering about all those people down in Miami, because I'm constantly seeing posts from members on this & other forums who hunt the beaches in Miami, and they're finding and posting pics of some uber serious bling, the kind with big diamonds or lots of diamonds. Can't say if those people aren't smart, or if they might just be so rich that they don't care if they lose a trinket or two, but they're apparently losing some really good bling down at the beaches in Miami.
Where were you hunting on that beach (dry, wet, water)? What detector were you using? How were you hunting the beach, i.e., were you gridding off certain sections, detecting in an S pattern to try to establish a target line, just casually hunting? Also, were you hunting where all the other detectorists hunt, or did you try to think out of the box and try some areas they're not searching? Objects dropped in the water can move, based on tides, current, wind, and wave action. I have personal experience that proves this, along with confirmation from several very experienced & well-known detectorists, like Terry Shannon. An item dropped in front of the main beach, may no longer be located in the main beach after a few days or longer. It may have moved up or down the beach to another area that other detectorists wouldn't even think to search.
I think those big gold chains were an 80's or 90's kinda thing? I seem to recall seeing them on some of the older TV shows. I was just thinking about this the other day. I think it depends on the generation of the person. Back when I was a kid, everyone wore a gold or silver wedding band, gold or silver necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc. That's what we had back then and that's what everyone was used to. I was a kid in the late 50's/early 60's, and back then, we had never heard of a Titanium or Platinum ring, or ring made out of composites, or I've even seen some rings made out of wood. People from my generation, and even a few subsequent generations were more inclined to follow tradition, seemed to be more important back then.
These days, seems the more recent generations are more into "self-expression". That said, I also went through a period of "self-expression" in the late 60's, we were called "Hippies" back then, lol. So, the younger generations today might want more choices. Maybe a gold or silver piece of jewelry doesn't express them fully, so they might like wearing alternate metals. I've seen some gorgeous rings, some with colors, unique designs, etc., that weren't made from silver or gold, but other materials. But they did look pretty cool, so I think it comes down to a generational thing, what people are used to and exposed to during the time that they come of age. To each their own. It also could be due simply to the fact that the price of gold & silver has been rising steadily, and some people these days just might not be able to afford gold/silver, so they'll go with an alternative metal or composite. It's the thought that counts after all. But that said, there's still a lot of people who stay true to the old traditions of wearing Gold & Silver, as both have been highly desirable all throughout history and I don't think that's gonna change.
Nothing is ever 100% or guaranteed, just gotta look at the beaches you want to search and play the odds. Operator knowledge, equipment selection and experience also come into play. There's lots of moving parts, things can change at a moment's notice, and sometimes, it might simply come down to being the right person, in the right place, at the right time. Every beach holds an unknown amount of treasure, i.e., rings, bracelets, coins, etc. There are detectorists that search the beaches on the Treasure Coast daily. Who knows how many hundreds or thousands of detectors have scanned the Treasure Coast beaches over the last few decades. Yet, even with those hundreds or thousands of coils sweeping over the same areas of beach, some detectorists still manage to find deep Reale's that have been buried in the sand for 300 years. It's there, it's deep, it takes knowledge, experience, some good deep seeking detectors, etc. And sometimes, it just takes Nature to create the right conditions where the coins & jewelry come within range of a good operator & detector.
Digging deaf
New member
Same generation , same mind set.