Good Beach/Land Machine...Narrowed down but still need help

[desimundo]

Hi all. Looking to upgrade and need an all-around machine that does well in highly mineralized/salty soils and goes somewhat deep. I've narrowed it down to between the Minelab Explorer/Safari/Quattro and the Fisher CZ-3D/CZ5. The Minelabs do have a better selection of coils. Need to know if anyone has had experience with these machines in highly mineralized soils or on salty beaches/soils. Thanks in advance!


Des

 

[kered]

Explorer is great on the beach, better with the 12x15 SEF, not tried the others, you could take a look at the Sovereign too(cheaper)

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The minelabs you listed, and the Fisher's you listed, would do about the same on mineralized wet salt. But it also depends on what you mean by "mineralized" (ie.: HOW mineralized). I don't know about your state, but where I'm at in CA, we can tell the amount of mineralization on a beach by two ways: The color: if it is a white-sand beach, then it is non-mineralized. If it is light brown-ish cinnimon colored, it is moderately mineralized. If it is a gun-powder greyish tint colored, then it's getting pretty nasty. And if it's metallic black in color, it's absolutely thrashed with mineralization. The colors can vary on the same beach, depending on gully washes, dry sand verses wet sand, etc... Another way you can tell the mineral content, is to take a strong magnet, and see if dusty particles stick to the magnet. The more that does, the worse the minerals. I've seen minerals bad, that if you took a baggie of the sand, a magnet would litterally stick to the outside of the bag!

If you've got any truly nasty badly mineralized beach sand (like would be found in gully washes where they exit on to the beach after rains), then neither the Minelabs you mentioned, or the Fishers you mention, would work. In the worst mineralized beaches, you'd need a pulse machine. But the downside there, is you'll have no way to reject nails and iron (barring guessing tones and such).

Assuming moderately mineralized beaches, it's a matter of preference for the units you list. The Fisher's would certainly be easier to operate and learn, as they tend to be turn-&-go, beep-or-no-beep type machines. But other people do not like the silent search, prefer the more expanded tone ID, and expanded control options of the Explorer. I would go for the Explorer. At first, the warbly sounds will drive you nuts. But as you get used to it, it will be music to you

 

[desimundo]

The minelabs you listed, and the Fisher's you listed, would do about the same on mineralized wet salt. But it also depends on what you mean by "mineralized" (ie.: HOW mineralized). I don't know about your state, but where I'm at in CA, we can tell the amount of mineralization on a beach by two ways: The color: if it is a white-sand beach, then it is non-mineralized. If it is light brown-ish cinnimon colored, it is moderately mineralized. If it is a gun-powder greyish tint colored, then it's getting pretty nasty. And if it's metallic black in color, it's absolutely thrashed with mineralization. The colors can vary on the same beach, depending on gully washes, dry sand verses wet sand, etc... Another way you can tell the mineral content, is to take a strong magnet, and see if dusty particles stick to the magnet. The more that does, the worse the minerals. I've seen minerals bad, that if you took a baggie of the sand, a magnet would litterally stick to the outside of the bag!

If you've got any truly nasty badly mineralized beach sand (like would be found in gully washes where they exit on to the beach after rains), then neither the Minelabs you mentioned, or the Fishers you mention, would work. In the worst mineralized beaches, you'd need a pulse machine. But the downside there, is you'll have no way to reject nails and iron (barring guessing tones and such).

Assuming moderately mineralized beaches, it's a matter of preference for the units you list. The Fisher's would certainly be easier to operate and learn, as they tend to be turn-&-go, beep-or-no-beep type machines. But other people do not like the silent search, prefer the more expanded tone ID, and expanded control options of the Explorer. I would go for the Explorer. At first, the warbly sounds will drive you nuts. But as you get used to it, it will be music to you

Thanks, Tom. It looks like Minelab is the way to go for me.

 

[therover]

I say if that percentage is over 60, then seriously consider a waterproof machine. And if most of the time that beach is highly mineralized, then the suggestion of a pulse machine is a good one.

 

[bobbydadario]

Ok, I used an Explorer Minelab XS for a number of years on East Coast beaches. Here's the good - Deep. Really deep, 12-16 inches on quarters deep. So deep, you'll get tired digging. Very quiet and stable in the wet sand. It has a back light that works well for early morning and evening hunts. Here are the bad points. I hated using this on the land because it made lots of noise wide open. If you discriminate a lot, it will null out a lot. Coins sound flutey... so did screwcaps. Hard as hell to pinpoint on the land. I was used to concentric coils, with the double D, I dug craters. Swing slow, really slow. It takes all those frequencies quite awhile a reset over a target. The detector isn't balanced particularly well making it seem heavy than it is. My 1/8" jack broke. I used the XS and thought it was a chore to learn. Maybe the new models address some issues I had. You can look into the Whites line, since there a few models that will work for you.