Just when I thought tot lots were a waste of time....

[kansa54]

I find an 18k women's ring.
For the most part I have very little luck in tot lots. I usually can't even find a dollars worth of change. I did find a small 10k ring last year in one but that is about it. Have found a little bit of silver but not much. I've been thinking of posting something about how tot lots are a waste of time but guess I won't be doing that now.
By the way, I was using my Silver Sabre Micro Max and the ring discs out below nickel.

 

[ToneTime]

Good job on the ring! It pays to stay persistent. The few tot lots I have hunted around here has the ground up rubber tires and I end up finding lots of little lead chunks. Must be wheel weights sticking to the tires they grind up and the magnets don't pull it out like the steel bands.

 

[hatpin]

I'll say it for you . Tot Lots have been a waste of time for me .

 

[Southwind]

Nice ring!

Yup, those tot lots can seem like a waste of time often but all it takes is one time to remember why you persist.

 

[Jeff (or)]

That ring may have just paid for your detector! Beautiful ring, congrats!! Jeff

 

[metalfun]

nice!!!

 

[kansa54]

That ring may have just paid for your detector! Beautiful ring, congrats!! Jeff

I'm hoping to find the owner of the ring. I know it's a long shot but whoever lost it has to be feeling pretty bad.

 

[digginLa]

Nice ring, all I ever find in tot lots in clad but I keep looking, especially now with not getting any rain. I don't have to do any digging just move the wood chips around.

 

[kaolinwasher]

Tot lots are fun , but my finds have been dismal, the kids jewelry is a joke. you get your hopes up and immediately get the rug pulled out drum under you when you see its some kind of pot metal . with glass gems Kinda like getting an ice creek cone on a hot day and just as you are going to take a bite it fall s int the sand and becomes the food of the ant. that a nice ring 18K is hard to come by unless you live in India

 

[thump7]

Very nice!

Almost all the gold I have found (which isn't much) has come from tot lots. Managed a couple this year, one small ladies and small but heavy men's 14k.

 

[BarberBill]

I've found quite a bit of variation in tot lots. The ones heavily used by young parents and little kids usually produce at least a fair bit of change. Likewise the ones where teens and older youngsters congregate tend to be fairly good. Those used mostly by mothers with little kids seem to produce the least. The thing I like about them most is you can usually cover them fairly quickly so I often hunt them when I don't have a lot of time to detect and the digging is so easy.
BB

 

[amberjack]

nice ring

90% of our play grounds are rubber don't need a detector just a torch

AJ

 

[kansa54]

I'm thinking, if you're finding lots of money in tot lots, nobody else detects in your town. If you live in a large city it might produce more but I don't know. Other than the ring, I only found maybe thirty or forty cents. I'm doing good to find forty cents in every tot lot I hit. Now that I think about it , it is a waste of time.

 

[Mike Hillis]

Nice Ring!

HH
Mike

 

[REVIER]

Excellent ring, and I know exactly what you are talking about regarding those tot lots.


When I started in this hobby I lived in Alabama and found a bunch of clad in these things all the time. Even found a gold ring in one behind some kiddy swings.
I started hunting these things after I moved to Kansas and there was a huge difference.
I rarely found anything in just about every one I hunted. It was like guys would come to my parks, head straight to these things and spend quality time cleaning them out.
I did find some coins right next to the big metal when I brought in my Compadre, whoever was hunting these things could not get as close to these areas as I could, but most of the time my finds in these things were pitiful.
I just said fine, take the tot lots and I will hunt the other areas where I still found plenty of targets and many times some quality jewelry was right next to these lots.
Their loss, my gain.
In the 3.5 years hunting in public parks in Kansas I managed to find somewhere north of $800 in clad, several dozen silver rings and oh yea...20 gold rings, 2 gold chains and 2 gold pendants.
None were found in tot lots.

In this business, like in life, you just gotta adapt and if one place has no treasure others do if you care to look.

I still tried the tot lots because you never know, but the lack of good targets never bothered me when I realized what the ground around them still had the good stuff.