Newbie Compadre Question

[parshal]

Hello everyone, newbie here. I've not used an MD before but recently bought a Compadre with 8" coil. I bought it to find survey markers on my 5 acres so I can put my three car garage as close as possible to the edge of the property. I have a fairly decent idea where the two are that I need to find except one lies near the output of a culvert and the other is along the edge of a three strand fence. I took the Compadre out and found a staple, wheel weight, thin wire and some other stuff that I never actually found but definitely not the markers. The thing that I had trouble with was getting near the fence. Obviously, any detector is going to sense that wire but I couldn't get closer than 14" to the wire (about 8 - 12" off the ground). I'm in all metal since that seems to be what works when I air test over rebar (which I'm assuming is the pin marker). I'd done a lot of reading about the Compadre with the smaller coil so I ordered one of those to test side by side. I'm hoping that will allow me to get closer to the fence which, I assume, is right on my property boundary and where I might find that pin.

I don't believe I'm going to go hog wild into the whole detecting thing but I've been thinking of what else I'd do with the Compadre. I have a former "trash pit" in the back yard from when this was a ranch and there's broken glass and old rusted (nearly disintegrated) cans in it. I'm going to use the MD to clean out the area since my dogs run through there. I'd also try my hand around some of the numerous kid playgrounds around here.

I bought the Compadre after doing a bit of research here and on the rest of the web and it's glowing reviews for the price. I also like the simplicity of it. I work in IT and am pretty much over technology and like simplicity.

So, my question boils down to this. Will the smaller coil help me any with find the pins near the fence? I'm assuming it will help in the playgrounds as well but I'll need to take more time in the "trash pit" in the yard with the smaller coil.

I should also mention that I'm Colorado, SE of Denver. Most of the ground near me is sand except where fill dirt has been brought in.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[BarryL]

Yes it should help you get a lot closer to the fence

 

[deliveryboy]

it should but you can also sweep slow near fences and listen for a double beep even with the 8" i read

 

[JMC]

I was just doing this with my new Compadre last week. Looking for the elusive markers. In this case however the area I needed to find it was not near a fence. Found it buried by overgrowth at the end of an old drive. A small concrete pad with a circular metal marker fastened to it with what looked like a small square spike.

 

[MarkCZ]

Three strand fence line,
Has the fence line been there for YEARS?
Maybe long enough to have gone through a couple of replacements?

If so, when the old wire gets to rusty and starts to break all the time then people replace it.
If this is the case the old rusted strands leaves Heavy concentrations of rust directly below the wire on the ground (from rain and snow) that soaks in to the ground and makes near an impossible wide strip to detect in do to the extreme iron content in the ground.

Instead of all metal try a very low discrimination setting and try to set it enough to ignore the rusted soil, but low enough to still pick up the solid Iron marker.

Just a thought.

Mark

 

[mudpuppy]

Yeah, I agree, its all about that fence...whoever built it might not have put it on the property line...a well known trick...your corner marker could be 5 feet away on either side depending upon who built it last..ranchers and farmers are funny, I used to build fence for some ranches I worked in Wyoming, and those old boys were notorious for trying to steal a little more land by moving those posts over the years, a half a foot at a time..depending upon how vigilant the neighbor was...so lets say whoever owned your property in the past was NOT vigilant, your marker could be 5 feet outside the fence! Or correspondingly, If the past owner of your property was the fence builder, it could be 5 feet on the INSIDE. So you might have to employ a compass and step off the distance, or use a compass and a hand held rangefinder like a hunter would use to at least get in the general area according to the plat, then sweep a circle...the location of the old staples and what side of the posts the wire is on will tell you if your property marker was impinged...ALL fence builders keep the wire on the inside of the posts of the property that built it last...so, if theres rusty old staples several feet from the fence posts on YOUR side, and the wire is too, one can assume your marker is on the inside of the fence..see?...you may just have more property than you paid for!
Let us knows what happens will ya? and WELCOME!
Mud

 

[parshal]

Thanks for all the responses!

I talked to the previous owner and he's an engineer and said he never moved the pins but doesn't quite remember ever seeing them either. He was here for 35 years and bought it when it was three years old. He built the fence and said he was close to the property line on that side. I have the original survey and have the distances between two markers. The corner marker appears to be in the output of a large metal culvert so it could be 18" deep by now. The key is that I have to be 50' off the edge of the road and after talking to the county the roads don't always stay in the center of their right of way so it could be 6 - 7' closer or farther from the road.

Here's the funny part. The county requires a professional survey after the poles closest to the road are in (it's a pole barn) to be sure I'm not closer than 50'. I told them that's crazy. I'm not paying for a survey after I've put the poles in. What happens if they're too close and I've got to move them? Way too much wasted money! I talked to a surveyor and he said he'd do a survey and then come back out after the poles were to do check it but, of course, that's an extra $300 or so for the second visit. I figured I could find the old pins and use them to get my pad ready to go before paying for the survey. We'll see if I can find them.

At least I've got a MD I can play with and clean up some of the old trash in the pasture. Who knows what I might find out there!

 

[mudpuppy]

Yeah...you better err on the side of caution if you can and be damn sure before you set a post...or make nice with the township guys or something, have them show you where to set the post that they think is OK......i'm in a running battle right now concerning a 10x10 storage shed I put on my 10 acre piece...seems you cant have a shed unless you have a permanent structure...since I dont yet, .seems they want to take me to court for a misdemeanor charge, or I burn down the shed...seems I need a burning permit to do that,....damn! Its all a racket, but you are the taxpayer, so you dont have to let them push you around too much...still, if you can start out friendly and use a little diplomacy, thats generally easier than being a hard@ss...or you could go the completely insane avenue, let it be known you are crazier than a poo house mouse, or nuttier than a squirrel in a portapotty at a peanut festival, and pretty much get away with murder, this takes some effort and creativity to foment a believable facade though, you may have to walk into the township dept wearing your underwear outside your pants, or better yet, as a hat..and you have to be consistent, especially in a small town. ...those township inspector folks can make your life miserable and will often try to take advantage of a situation just to massage their self importance...full disclosure: after 5 years my sheds still there, I have not been charged with any crime, but I sure wish my head was as big as my waist..do you know how hard it is to drive with underpants constantly falling down over your eyes? Good Luck!...
Mud

 

[digginLa]

Not that it's going to be a help with the Compadre but I've found that using the smaller 5.75 coil lets me get right next to fences and other metal objects even with a high sensitivity setting.