Garret GroundHog. Is it worth it?

[ClintV]

Hi everyone. Sorry I am a bit of a newbie but was just looking at a for sale site and saw this -

"For Sale Garret Metal Detector (Groundhog), comes with a smaller coil and original manual, in Perfect Condition $220"

Ive attached a pic

Now I am looking at getting something to play around on and not too serious.
What I wanted to know really was if this is worth that price or worth offering less?

Cheers

 

[John-Edmonton]

I would pass, unless you wanted to purchase it for nostalgic purposes. If you are new to the hobby, get an ACE 350 or ACE 250. They are packed with great features and won't wear you down physically like the one shown, and won't cost a lot of $$$ to operate. The ACE Series run on 4 x AA's, the one you are showing, runs on 9 volt batteries.

 

[Justin E]

Plus, you don't know the condition of it. It could last 5 years or 5 minutes, if at all. Then, you're stuck trying to find a place with parts and the know how to fix it. Don't get me wrong. The first detector I used was an old Bounty Hunter someone loaned me when I was in middle school that was probably 25 years old back then, think late 90's early 2000's. It ran on 2 9v and would skunk my step-dad's Whites Spectrum that he paid so much for. Like John said, however, you'd be better suited with something new, especially for that amount of money. It'll probably last you longer. Or, you might be able to round up a used AT Pro. Heck, save a little bit more and get a new ATP. I would leave that one for a collector, not as a primary use detector.

 

[tarajudy]

even the newer bounty hunter's are better.
Or just get the ACE 250-350 YOU WILL BE SURPRISED

 

[Ronk]

n/t

 

[John(Tx)]

Goundhog had the smaller control box....HH

 

[Sven]

I agree with John, in its day with the large coil was a fantastic relic hunting machine in VLF all metal mode. I found lots of War of 1812 relics with mine.
They are heavy, run on 6, 9 volt batteries and if your older like many of us now, you need to eat a can of Popeye Spinach to swing it back and forth for more than an hour.
The trouble with many of the older machines on the market, they may still work and or seem to work fine to the buyer. But in reality many do not perform as they once did or
no longer have stable tuning. Unless you owned one in the past, you would more than likely not know it has performance issues. The Master Hunter and more so the Groundhog have a cult following, so ebay, Craigs list market value is high. If you so inclined to get a Ground Hog, you would be better off finding a newer used Scorpion.

If starting out and want a Garrett follow John's suggestion about getting an Ace 250 or 350.