My virgin neighborhood park (what do you all dig with?)

[wbrian]

Hi All!

Yesterday evening my wife and I took our new ACE 250 out to one of the 5 neighborhood parks we live near. I've never seen anyone work these with a detector, BTW. This is only the 2nd time using a MD. 1st was day before when we excitedly took it to the beach and spent about 90 minutes learning how it works, h had a blast then and found a cool three cents. And a boatload of debris. We were digging everything, just to see how things worked. Anyway, back to the park... It's been dry around here, and our neighborhood is built on clay. And this park was HARDPACK, to say the least. I was using a garden trowel and sifting through our fingers. I ended up bending the handle of the trowel backwards while trying to pry an object out from about 3-4 inches down. After about 1-1/2 hours this is what I came home with; 2.28 in various new coins (3 pennies, the rest new quarters), a piece of kids junk jewelry and a bunch of bottle tops/pull tabs, A couple fishing anchors, a zipper pull and what I guess is a "hotrock".

Is there an easier way to dig through this kind of hardpack soil? There area lot of possibilities, if so!
Thanks!
Brian

Oh, and here's a picture...

 

[Beale]

I have the Lesche digging tool. It really does a great job in the hardpack and tough digging. Here is a link to the tool. I did not get it from this company but local, Beale.


http://predatortools.com/item_details.asp?ID=39

 

[John 'n' W.Va]

Many people don't understand dry clay is brick. You just don't dig in it. I had that problem today. I was lucky to dig two inches. Sports fields dry out first. When they get hard I go to an old house in the woods or some place more shady. If that is not an option, head for the water and MD there. I try to plan my MDing trips on the amount of moisture in the soil.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Try a medium to large size screwdriver or phillips. These are standard weapons for most beeper swingers.

Bill

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

The hard packed clay can be very tough. If you are trying to penetrate it, it's best to use a screw driver that has a 6 inch shaft, is as thin as you dare and has a comfortable handle. If you use a screw driver that has a thick shaft, then you've got a snowball's chance of penetrating the soil with it. It's amazing how much difference that makes, especially in tough soil conditions. If that doesn't work, then just grab a crow bar!
Mick Evans.