Menu
What's new
Find's Treasure Forums

Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!

You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.

Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.

Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.

Click here to register!

Need Support Help?

Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you

Gearing up for a summer of :detecting:. Have questions...need:help:

M

michaelosully

New member
Over the past month I have been gearing up for this summer by swapping my 305 for a 705 and purchasing some new coils which give me quite an X-Terra arsenal. [Thanks Richard for all the great deals!] I'm now armed with a 705 & a 505, the stock coils and a 10.5" MF DD, and a 6" HF DD. I hope this will cover most of the situations I will find in the Colorado Rockies. Coin shooting/Relic hunting mostly but also some prospecting on some old tailings piles.

With the new coils also come new questions and I would appreciate some advice.

1) The 10.5" coil is very nose heavy and I have read some past posts about reversing the coil, or using a straight shaft. Was wondering if anyone has used it with the bent section (center section of the factory shaft) totally reversed and if so, what they thought? I have tested it this way and it seemed to make it a little 'heel heavy' ...but it felt better than reversing the coil or by using it in the normal way and it being "toe heavy". Would a straight shaft possibly eliminate the added "heel weight" issue? And, has anyone tried straightening the bend of the center section of factory rod with a tubing bender?...if so, did it work or did it just ruin the section of shaft?

2) I plan to hunt exclusively with the DD coils on the 505 & 705 due to heavy mineralization in the mining areas. Would there be any particular advantage to using the smaller coil or the larger coil on the 705? I understand it has a different processor than the 505 so I would like know if I would be better off with the small DD on the 505 and the large DD on the 705 ... or vice-versa?

THANKS in advance for answers and advice. It's great having this resource of experience and knowledge here on the Find's Treasure X-Terra forum!:beers:
 
Sounds like you are armed and dangerous !! I have the 10.5 MF DD and I don't have any problems swinging it with the regular shaft. It may be a little toe heavy but hasn't bothered me. I thought about trying the straight shaft so I am curious how this thread goes !! I am receiving the 6 inch HF DD today and I am super excited about trying it out in my trashy park. I have found silver there but it's been a while. I am hoping to unmask some goodies.
 
I did switch the shaft around as you mention and it did seem to help some but not as much as I hoped for. I then ordered a White's M6 middle shaft and replaced the S shaft making it a straight shaft. The White's shaft are 180 degrees out from the Minelab shafts for the pins so I had to drill holes in the upper shaft to make it work. Easily done. The straight shaft does seem to make a difference. The only problem is the White's M6 shaft is short so if you're tall, 6 ft. or more, that shaft is a little too short. Read where some used 2 shaft sections and others mentioned using a Tesoro shaft.
 
Mount your Propointer back by your arm cuff to help with the balance. I tried different shaft set ups when the Xterras first came out and decided the stock configuration was as good as any. Don't try to straiten the curved shaft as it will likely crack and pinch at the curves.
 
You will probably ruin the shaft if you try to straighten it. Can be done but should it be done? If you feel the need to do so it should be annealed first. Aluminum work hardens as it is formed, becomes more brittle, then cracks with more movement. Most metals do.

I just run the 10.5 coil as designed. It can get heavy but oh well, I get stronger.

Jeff
 
Based on the input, I will not try bending the original shaft although I think a straight shaft might provide the best balance (i.e. toe heavy one direction and heel heavy the other) when using the 10.5" coil. Since I have never heard the word 'annealed' before, guess I probably should not try to anneal anything, much less my factory shaft.:nono: Thanks to Jeff and Kenny for the 'heads-up' about straightening the shaft.

Still don't know if there is a technical reason the large DD MF coil should go on the 505 and the small DD HF on the 705 or vice-versa. Since the 705 has the 'prospector' feature, believe I will try the 6" HF DD on the 705 and hit the tailing piles with this combination. Will learn very quickly if I can locate any gold amongst the quartz.

Thanks to all for the advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top