Best setting for gold ring

[JC99328]

I will be going out in the middle of a wheat field looking for a long lost wedding ring. This will be all new to me so I'm asking what would be the best settings??

Farmer lost the wedding ring 50 yrs ago!!! But, he says he can put me within 100' of where he lost it. Should not be any trash to deal with save a lost machine part possibly and it would be steel. I have a 14" DD eclipse coil I've never used and this might be the time. I'll flag and grid the area and go for it low and slow!! This field has been plowed many times and otherwise worked for 50 yrs and no telling how deep this could be.

SUGGESTIONS WELCOME!!!

 

[Nancy-IL]

If the field is as big as you say, do you have a friend that could go with you and help detect also?

I most always hunt in relic mode, trigger forward. If you do, set the discrimination to about 2, the gain at 8-9 and go. Any high beep will tell you there's a target. With it being a field, you might come along a few tractor/plow parts, cans, can slaw, etc.

Where are you from? Most fields now have crops in them. I'm assuming you're planning on doing this once the field has been picked. With that, you should be testing different targets such as gold rings, steel, coins etc. etc. etc.

I wish you luck.

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

Dig all VDI low numbers 0 to 50.
Likely in the middle of this range maybe.

 

[JC99328]

This is in a harvested wheat field. We're talking 500-2000 acres. I don't know since I haven't been to the site yet. He said we could "almost drive to it". I'm in SE WA state and if you've ever seen this country you would know what "almost drive to it" means. It's hilly and sometimes very steep farm land. A pickup might roll just driving around these hills that are being farmed and I have an off road truck. I just hope the target area is not super steep as it would be a pain side hilling and keeping the coil level with the ground. It might require up and down travel.

Thanks for the setting information. I plan on taking a ring out and getting a feel for it. I plan on digging ANY signal. This field should have near zero trash and any signal will be worth a look. I will have a buddy along. Right now I'm thinking 100% coverage by both of us and if we don't find it on the first run, do it again the opposite direction (90 degrees from the first travel direction). If it's there, I WANT to findit!!

I plan on putting a center stake up, flagged, where his best guess is. Then small wire flags on a grid to make tracking easier. I will lay out a 200' square grid since he said he could put me within 100' of it. If this is on a steep slope, the ring could have moved downhill 6"+ per year from the plowing.

One question I didn't ask: What is max depth out of an MXT pro with the 14" DD eclipse coil on something like a simple wedding band. This is dry clay soil. I'm planning on a very slow, heavy overlap swing to make sure I get any signal.

Thanks for any and all help. I will photo the area if I can while the search is on. I hope I can also photo a ring!!

 

[PSS1963]

Any chance you can borrow one of those things they use to mark white lines with lime on sports fields? You could mark your center with a stake then use a string to control the distance of the line marker and make nice concentric circles radiating outward - nice searching lanes! Its similar to a technique used for search and recovery in diving where one diver holds his position on the bottom as the "center" and another swims circles around him using a rope to control the distance.

-pete

 

[plidn1]

If it is a PLOWED field, how deep does he turn the ground? The ring could be 2 to 3 feet deep.
I would try and get some one to lend you a good PI detector. The MXT won't reach it.
Your best shot with the MXT is using the 12" concentric coil.

 

[JC99328]

Just talked to him. Looks like he can meet me on Thurs for a look and mark the spot. I guess I'll hit another spot later today.

Last night I was doing some air tests with my ring. Coin/jewelry setting, max gain, o on discrimination, locked ground and I was hitting good at 12-15" (best settings I tried). I'll try it again tonight when I get home with the 14" coil to see how it does.

 

[ronhob]

I wish you luck! Sounds like a lot of variables you are encountering with this search. I would say your chances of finding that ring are very slim. That being said, I know I would be up for the challenge in a minute if I were in the area also. Depth is going to play a big factor in the TID of the ring. 22 has been my luckiest ring # on the Whites DFX and MXT, but I would agree with Joel, 0-50 TID. You will probably still get a lot of faint blips and chirps from ground minerals, so it may be very challenging to dig all those light whisper signals. Beings it's the farmers band, it should be thicker and thus easier to receive a signal on. Again, GOOD LUCK and let us know how it goes!

 

[JC99328]

I finally made the connection last evening. He was only married a few months when he lost the ring and he's been married almost 50 years. Wow... Yes it is out in the middle of a 1000+++ acre wheat field. Yes you can almost drive to it, at least within a few 100 ft. Fairly steep hillside and it's a harvested wheat field, about 3/4 mile to the nearest road.

The bad: In many, if not most areas, I can't get any lower than 4-5" with the coil due to stubble. I can try to swing in the rows but it would take forever. It's going to be all side hill walking, not a drop of anything even close to level. I have no idea how much movement of the ring has happened in nearly 50 years due to farming the ground.

The good: He was hand seeding a strip that he missed when the drills did not meet (tossing wheat by hand out of a bucket into the unseeded area) when the ring was lost. That means I have 2 strips of unknown size at least 100 yds long. He was using a drill 30' wide. He missed on either the first or second pass, couldn't remember which. I do have a good reference of where he started the first pass so I can measure out 30' from that for a starting point.

I'm debating going out, measuring off the 30' and flagging a row at that distance then another at 60'. I have to believe the ring has moved down hill some.

I plan on digging any signal. Just talked to my buddy and we're going out tomorrow afternoon. I will get a couple photos while I'm out there.

 

[JC99328]

It looks like this: We covered about 1/4 of it today

The actual area is right behind my truck

 

[JC99328]

After 8++ hrs, no cigar yet. Also, I must confess, after 3 hrs of using a 4lb broom, I switched to a 3 lb broom (MXT to an AT). My old rear got tired of steady walking for 5 1/2 hrs up and down that slope with the heavier machine, it still got tired. I'm about 3/4 done on the first pass. My trail is marked and if I don't find it, I will go back over it again between my first trails.

The top 5-6" is soft dirt and under that is very hard clay. It's been farmed for 100+++ years and there is an assortment of farm junk in there, wire to bolts to horse harness. I should have it pretty clean on the first path.

 

[Nancy-IL]

Hard work indeed, but the payoff will be priceless. I wish you luck and hopefully find the ring and possibly a few old coins too!

 

[JC99328]

No cigar yet. My partner and I covered all of it and did not find it on the first run. I still want to go back and hit 1 1/2 sections my partner ran yesterday. I'm not sure his machine was working correctly as he found nothing. I ran a bit more area but I did find several pieces of iron and believe he should have too?? None of the previous sections were total blanks.

After I run the area he did, I'll start a second run between my first ones. I think we covered about 60-75% on the first pass. The problem being tall wheat stubble prevented getting the coil down on a a lot of it. Even at that, I did get several hits right along side the tall stubble. The second pass should put us closer to 90% coverage. If that doesn't find it, I'll run at 90 degrees from the first 2 passes. I will have to lay out some fresh markers for horizontal runs on the steep hill sides. I've made a couple pass' horizontally and it very hard walking and swinging and keeping a straight line for coverage.

I'm going to be gone for 2 weeks and won't be out there. The farmer might chisel it before I get back. He was seeding yesterday.

 

[JC99328]

I've been thinking it over. I might go with the small coil on the second run. 5.3 will get down between the rows better that the big stock coil. It will also slow me down with the smaller area covered... That part isn't good as I'm running out of time and winters coming. Once we get some hard rain, Those fields are like driving on an icy snow bank.