DD or Concentric Coil for square nail ridden sites?

[Fish N Chips]

I have started hunting a new spot. It is multiple lava rock foundations built on dirt and lava flow. I am making some good finds but around the structures, the square and even round nails are terrible. I am getting 8-15 hits a swing, it sounds like an arcade even with the discrimination turned up. It is so riddled with nails my pro-pointer is almost useless. The soil and iron matrix in this area makes the nails ring up to copper or silver on the discrimination until they are dug, then they drop to pull tab or below. It has definately been my most challenging site to date. I have several more cabins in the same area and am likely to run into the same conditions there.

I am using a Tesoro Eldorado "Umax" with the stock 8x9 coil and a Silver Umax with the 8" coil. I have it ground balanced and am running the sensitivity around 2-3 in the trash which helps a bit. I am wondering if a smaller coil and even more, if a DD coil would help in that type of an environment? Most the area is very detectable. It is just around the house and sheds I am having trouble working through the nails. Even the round nails are ringing very high, it must be a reaction in the soil as round nails rarely give me trouble. There are some hot lava rocks to deal with as well but for the most part the detector works well in the area. I am considering a 5" DD or a 7" DD, or would a 4-5" concentric be all the help I need? I know there is no cure all, but I definately want the right tool for the job. It would be nice if a coil change would help the detector and my ears from being fooled so much, or do I have to put in the time and slowly clean off the hundreds of nails?

Thanks!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/854/b06o.jpg

 

[BarberBill]

According to all the "accepted" notions, concentric coils discriminate better all else being comparable. If I were swinging over that site, I'd use either the 5.75 concentric or the little 4" hockey puck. Then I'd mark off small, managable areas and hunt them thoroughly and methodically cleaning out most of the trash as I went. A lot of work, but if the goodies are there it'll be worth it.
BB

 

[digginLa]

I haven't ever hunted in an area with a lot of nails but I would think the 5.75 concentric would be a good choice, I know mine does really well in an area with lots pull tabs, screw caps and other trash.

 

[fwcrawford]

I currently use a Vaquero around old home sites such as you are searching now.
They also have an abundance of nails and some large pieces of iron in the ground.
I use the small 5.75" concentric coil mostly due to my concern with iron masking which you could run into in this site.
A small coil would be a great choice whether you decide on the widescan or concentric.
I have both of the small coils for the Vaquero, but have not used the widescan enough in these sites to give you any comparison...I have been impressed by it in other areas that I have searched such as schoolyards and sports fields.. gives good coverage for a small coil.
Looks like a great site you have there.. what finds have you made so far.
Also remember, some iron relics make for interesting finds also.
Good luck to you in this site!!!

 

[Elton]

It wasn't to many years ago that the DD coil was a very poor received coil on the market.

Everyone said it wasn't good (LOL) ..that said we all know it is.. Still the concentric is better in nail infested areas for discrimination purposes.


Try them both. see which works better in your area..

 

[wheatymike]

Get a Compadre with a 5.75. It is very quite in iron. It ran silent in a sight just like the one you describe. At the same place, I couldn't even turn my Vaquero on.

 

[Fish N Chips]

I am looking forward to trying a smaller coil. I have made some good iron finds at the site. I have some files, forged adze from a file, a knife made from a file, a mason chisel for splitting rock, some forged meat hooks, and horse tack buckles and rivets. I can usually pick the copper rivets from the nails, but know I am getting some masking. I have to really slow down to pull the good tones through, and I dig all the iron overloads. There is a big rock along the fence line where I got a good signal. It sounds like a large iron hit, but may be a hot rock. I dug 3 feet and still could not get to it. I plan to go back with a full size shovel and dig bar to see what it is. The folks in the area were pretty poor so my expectations are not too high, but you never know. It is the unknown that keeps us going!

I read running the detector with a slight positive ground balance can help in the nails and prevent falsing with the rust. I may try that and see what results I get. I usually go a little negative for depth and to counter the ground balance increase when I switch to discriminate. Some other homesteads I hunt are also littered with square cut nails, but they definately react differently here. Maybe there was more copper in the nails when they made these.

I will have to decide between the 4" and 5.75" coils. I will bring some flags to mark off searched areas as well and really grid off smaller areas. I think it will just take time to turn up something really good, although I love the hand forged items.

Thanks

 

[kaolinwasher]

as you described lava rock? that is basalt same composition . your small concentric may work to about 2" deep but i found without a doubt the 7" DD on the outlaw was better but still prone to masking , and hunting in disc in basalt lava forget it , i would rather sift the nails infested spot with a sifter , and in the spots where the nails are tolerable hunt in all metal , i would use a lobo as my opinion of the best tesoroes in that spot , or an AT GOLD but thats my opinion, its a very tuff spot for you go take a small basalt rock and put a quarter under it and sweep it in disc you will not hear it .

 

[foxhunter]

wheatymike is absolutely correct on the compadre with 5.75 coil in iron....I prefer it over my T2 in the iron and nails..Runs very quiet

 

[Fish N Chips]

I have been wanting to get a compadre for my daughter to use, maybe I will have a secret motive when I get it for her, LOL

Thanks kaolinwasher, it is rough lava. I will have to try the basalt test with a coin. It is amazing how reactive some of the lava is, but it makes sense it would pick up metal and crystallize as it cooled. My depth has been decent with several finds around 5-6", locked into the lava under base. There is little chance of anything sinking much deeper. I actually have been thinking of getting a gold machine. Maybe you are right and an ATgold with the iron audio or Lobo would help. I do love my Tesoros though. My Dad as been using my Silver Umax and took to it very quickly. We have had a great time hunting the site together.

It is an interesting spot. So far my best finds have been iron, but the tools of course are easy to tell apart from the smaller nails. The ranchers who lived in the area were scraping by, so coin finds are likely a remote chance. Buckles, tack and copper implements are likely though. We already found one nice roller buckle.

I will likely get a 5.75 DD coil to try at the site for now. I think a lot of it will be the smaller coil, and going very slow and double checking each target. It will just take time to pull the targets through the nails. I think I will work the house site until I get tired of it, and then move off to quieter areas to finish up each hunt. That way I do not burn out on digging nails for hours on end, LOL. I do the same in parks, dig it all until I get tired of it, then turn up the discrimination and cherry pick to finish up the day. I want it to be fun, and not resemble work!

Here are some of my finds so far. Sorry about the poor pic, my good camera is MIA.

 

[digginLa]

nice relics

 

[kaolinwasher]

Nice old finds, you know if you are getting 5" in that with a concentric i bet the DD would help a lot , and it looks like you still have a good chance in that spot ,

 

[tabman]

Get a Compadre with a 5.75. It is very quite in iron. It ran silent in a sight just like the one you describe. At the same place, I couldn't even turn my Vaquero on.

Yep! The Compadre is about as affordable as getting a new coil.

tabman

 

[moose57]

Have you went and checked out the 5 Inch nel coil at ( www.golddiggermetaldetectors.com ) when you get to this webpage look to the left side and
click on the nel coils page.When the coils come up click on the 5 inch coil and then it will tell more about the coil and then go to the bottom and click
on the tesoro and there it will give you the price of the coil..