I'm curious to know what kind of machine

[cwtrader1863]

relic hunters on this forum like the best with best results at sites loaded with square nails? What machine goes thru the nails and picks out the small cuff buttons and silver(half dimes)the best? Also, What kind of coil and khz? Is your sweep speed slow, medium, or fast?

 

[VaRelics]

I use the Tesoro Tejon and its very good in sites with Square nails. I hunted an early colonial house site recently which was full of square nails and didn't dig a single nail all day but pulled out a pouch full of good items including a silver Reale
coin dated 1662 which was in the same whole as a square nail! See the attached video, it is in Spanish but pay attention to the nail/coin test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRiOlkPxCns



Best Regards,

VaRelics

Edit: The Tejon has a very fast recovery so you can use a medum to fast sweep speed. I work a little slower in the heavy nails to get the deep targets.

 

[d-2]

Cibola works well for me around old house places, CW camps etc...d2

 

[JCJEXPLORER]

I would say it's the person doing the hunting and not the machine. Any top end machine will do just fine while relic hunting. The key would be to know the machine you are using.

 

[RelicDigger1]

The latest technology has improved hunting in iron laden sites tremendously. The Fisher F75 and Teknetics T2 are extremely good in a site loaded with iron. I use the F75 for house sites and camps that are what I would consider to be medium to heavy iron content.

Their advantage is recovery speed. The threshold recovers from an initial target in .72 seconds, ready to detect the next. Hence, less iron masking. Swept at a medium to slow pace these are pretty deadly in a house site.

I've used the others, the Tejon, Cibola and Tesoros have a superb discrimination system. I would even add to that list the older Bandido II with the 8-inch coil.

Each of these are very respectable units. In addition, I would place the Tejon, F75, and T2 in a medium to upper medium scale of difficulty in learning while the Cibola and Bandido line are a bit easier.

All of my use with these units have been with a standard size coil that come with each.

But if you have nails scattered less than a couple of inches apart or believe they may even be clumped together in a solid "floor" of iron, my recommendation would be the 75 or 2.

Richard

 

[nbforrest1863]

F75 with small coil and it works awesome for me. Deep heat seeker bypassing those nails!
Good luck

 

[GRAY GHOST]

hi cwtrader. my tesoro tejon does a great job separating junk nails from good targets, and it doesn't matter how quick or slow i want to sweep. my cibola also has the same qualities, it's not quite as deep or ground balanced. there are other machines that will do the same thing, but they cost a lot more than mine do, and are heavier. thanks, and hh!

 

[ksdigger]

cwtrader1863,
You mentioned two very important items...square nails and half dimes, they go hand in hand. It's a known fact...where you find one...you will likely find the other! My number one machine to use in this environment is an MXT coupled with a 6x10dd coil. Work it very slow with disc.no higher than 2. Dig the big iron out first, then work you way around the small square nails with the dd coil because we all know what a square nail sounds like. Then you can sniff out the goodies like small cuff sized buttons, half dimes, three cent pieces, capped bust half dimes...I'm getting excited just thinking about it!!! LOL!!!

 

[relics4plus]

I agree that all the detectors listed are good ones. I have tried quite a few in my day but have always went back to "Whites" I have used the Whites 600di for many years now and have dug a ton of relics. I can tweak this machine to dig caps at 12"-14". I move slow and watch the needle as I walk and listen for those faint tones. Don't get me wrong, I have used some of the ones mentioned and they are good machines. However, for my region Whites has proven itself. The soil has a lot to do with it.I suggest trying a couple to see which one you prefer.
HH,