? for the Beach brute scoop owners....

[Sanddigger]

At 5 pounds, do you think it is heavy? That's my concern being a weak armed female!!!! Thanks!

 

[therick]

It is entirely made of aircraft aluminum and fairly strong making it lighter than the stainless steel of a shovel of the same size. I have never bent the handle but the lip has been bent from time to time on deep rocks or other immovable objects. I just straighten it out with a pair of pliers. I live in Florida so we generally deal with beach sand and shells, not the boulders that are found on the beaches in the N.E. The hardest part for you may be lifting the shovel with a full scoop of beach material. It easily holds a gallon of dirt, mud and shells with a full scoop and that can get heavy at the end of a 56 in. handle. It's the best thing for my use because I use a P.I. unit and the Aluminum of the scoop never interferes with my coil as I carry it by my side, parallel to the bottom. Stainless steel scoops ALWAYS interfere with my coils so I have to drag the shovel behind me to stop the chatter. Good luck

therick

 

[bcoop]

I like to drag my scoop behind me. I usually work a grid either perpendicular to the water or parallel with the water and like to see where I have been. You don't notice the weight as you would if you carry it.

BCOOP

 

[GraveDiggerMax-VaBch-Va]

call wes, he is not using his right now.............borrow first...............i do not think u will like it

great scoop for the water.............big............long handle................some, not all cut off part of the handle.

i have his number if u want it

 

[Steve from Ohio]

You will have trouble with it for the first few times you use it. Your arm will get sore but the human body is amazing at how it can adjust to what it is asked to do.

But then you will be surprised at how easy it is to use because you are digging a lot less with it. I have found that most of the time I only have to scoop once where with my smaller now deceased scoop (it got hit by a car), I had to scoop at least two or three times.

I can pick it up with one arm, as I used to climb trees and remove stumps for a living at one time many years ago. I am in good shape and can handle it well. If you are as you described a "weak arm female", then it will take some time to get used to but as I said, you will love it when you get used to it.

A little trick I use is to drill the handle to accept a small rope. I drag the Beach Brute behind me and it is like it is not even there until I need it. It also marks the dry and wet sand areas that it drags over as somewhere where I was so I can tell not to detect there again.

 

[Cupajo]

At five pounds or so a scoop can get "lost" if there are any kind of surf or current problems.

A word to the wise!

CJ

 

[Steve from Ohio]

At five pounds or so a scoop can get "lost" if there are any kind of surf or current problems.

A word to the wise!

CJ

At four pounds or three pounds it can happen. It can happen to your detector too...seeing how the Excalibur weighs in at almost 5 lbs. Good advice CJ. With both the Excalibur and the Beach Brute, you are lugging around 10 lbs.

If you are not paying attention to the sea, then you are asking for trouble. You should not be in the water if there are rip currents or really high surf anyways.

The absolute best time to hunt is around low tide with calm seas. If there are storms, high wind, rip currents, or any other problems then it is best to figure on land detecting or till those conditions subside unless you are just dry and wet sand detecting. I prefer not to get in to the water any deeper than waist deep anyways.

Right now the only thing in the water is left overs from last seasons swimmers mostly. The Gulf has been very cold with temps in the low to mid 60's right now as of 3/22/10 around the beaches of Tampa / St Pete and Sarasota. Should be closer to 70.
Not many people in the water, which is what we need right now for replenishment of the bling. There were hundreds of people on the beaches this last Saturday, but not many in the water.

 

[Sanddigger]

n/t

 

[GraveDiggerMax-VaBch-Va]

n/t

 

[grumpyolman]

Check out those after market 'cheater' handles that attach to the scoop shaft. Kelly Co sells em. You can mount them anywhere in almost any angle. I have one on my Diamondhead and after digging a scoop full I can reach down and grab a big handle, like on the end of an old coal shovel, and lift straight up using the wide gripping area rather than turning my hand an awkward angle and then lifting the scoop by grabbing the shaft of the shovel.

I lift my scoop just far enough to clear the hole I made and then use my left leg with the thigh on the shaft to move it to the left away from the hole. I can then bend over and grab that handle and lift straight up. If I need to shake the scoop to wash the small crud out through the holes, it's real easy to do when hanging onto the cheater. Since you can tighten the cheater down anywhere on the scoop shaft, you'll come up with a height that works for you.

 

[briley59]

Check out those after market 'cheater' handles that attach to the scoop shaft. Kelly Co sells em. You can mount them anywhere in almost any angle. I have one on my Diamondhead and after digging a scoop full I can reach down and grab a big handle, like on the end of an old coal shovel, and lift straight up using the wide gripping area rather than turning my hand an awkward angle and then lifting the scoop by grabbing the shaft of the shovel.

I lift my scoop just far enough to clear the hole I made and then use my left leg with the thigh on the shaft to move it to the left away from the hole. I can then bend over and grab that handle and lift straight up. If I need to shake the scoop to wash the small crud out through the holes, it's real easy to do when hanging onto the cheater. Since you can tighten the cheater down anywhere on the scoop shaft, you'll come up with a height that works for you.

I have attached two photos of cheater handle I welded in my scoop. Welding allows for perpendicular mounting to scoop and allows a straight up lift saving a weak back. I use my legs. It also allows for easy sifting as mentioned earlier. I carry mine over my shoulder and it is pretty balanced. If the closed part of the scoop is the heaviest and should be on most then the added cheat handle points st right up and is not a hazard. I place my handle where I have to bend slightly to get over and and then stand up. On stainless almost and machine shop or Body Shop should be able to weld item onto shaft. To get the angle you have to cut one side of handle to get a flush mount on the original shaft to keep it parallel to the scoop head.
It was very easy. and makes for a great handle to carry of you want to have it hanging straight down. With the placement where this one is the thing is very balanced makes for effortless carrying at the side.

Hope this helps

 

[Bobbie]

I have a 6 pound SS scoop with a skinny handle that is easy to use. My husband has a 6 pound diamond head scoop with a fat handle which is hard for me to handle. That 1 inch diameter difference in the handle size makes a huge difference when you are trying to dig something up. Max has one, try his handle and see if you have difficulty using it.

 

[briley59]

Sorry, it is only 3/4 inch tubing which is the smallest I know used in scoops of 5-6"in diameter. You can make it as short or long as you wish.

 

[GraveDiggerMax-VaBch-Va]

makes working in the water easier and helps when holes get deep in the damp zone