Once you remove a plug, do you stick a magnet in the hole to pull any iron trash?

[bugg]

Im thinking on giving it a try, since my pinpointer sounds off on all metal. Many times there is iron in the hole along with the good stuff. If you do this, what lb pull magnet do you use?

 

[Sailorman]

I haven't done this but thinking of giving it a try. Was just talking about this on another forum with a gent who uses a 200 lb pull magnet. You have to be careful with one like that, you can hurt yourself but it's an idea that I want to try one day. I hunt in some serious trash sometimes.

 

[Steve O]

If you put a rare earth magnet (especially a 350 lb + pull) in a hole and there is a large piece of iron down there, you may have to excavate to get your magnet back. They have some serious power.
Don't put it in your back pocket and jump in the truck, you won't make it all the way in and you will need assistance to get free. Picture that....

 

[fowlercharles]

Hi Bugg, Just recently I found I a palm sized 3 1/2"X2 3/4"X 7/8 eliptical shaped plastic covered magnet in a back corner of my toolbox and decided to try it for just what you are speaking of. I tried it a few times in my yard(it is full of old nails,even some square nails) and it worked pretty good. It is feather lite, strong enough for the small nails, and I plan on keeping it in my gear bag..I see no need of anything with a bunch of pull power, because anything bigger than the pesky nails sounding on the pinpointer will easily be seen or sounded by the pinpointer.Packing any really powerful magnet would surely add more weight than I would want to pack. I have no idea where the magnet I have came from or what it's off of, but it works pretty good and is so light I would need a postal scale to weigh it. HH, Charlie

 

[Sailorman]

I've got a 90lb pull rare earth magnet left over from a job. I'm going to give it a try. Those high power magnets require careful handling to be sure!

 

[fowlercharles]

Hi Sailorman, I'm thinking a magnet like the one I am using will brobably not have enough pull for some folks. I use it mainly in the loose dirt in the hole and after I have the dirt out of the hole and on a cloth.. Nails and small iron are easy to pluck out then with the mag. I find it to be a pretty good aid when a target turns out to be something really small and you can remove some of the nails with the mag. .HH Charlie

 

[BarberBill]

Before I get going on this, please understand my thoughts aren't meant to criticize. My main thought is why? The reason I'm taking that atitude is early on, when I first started detecting and before I ever bought a pinpointer, I would sift and sort through the soil looking for the coin (hopefully). After finally retrieving lots of small nails, hunks of wire etc. it occured to me that anything that hard to see probably wasn't of any interest to me, anyway. Even a dime would show up much better than those types of targets. Later, when I started using pinpointers, the retrieval process improved and speeded up considerably and small iron, soil colored coins etc. all became much easier to find. Also, a pinpointer should respond to small valuable metal that a magnet will ignore. I will say that I have a small, button magnet on my digger and it's surprising how much small trash ends up sticking to that, but I've never been moved to intentionally pull anything magnetically out of my retrieval area.
BB