Recommend A Long Handle Detecting Shovel

[JCR]

1 hour ago, NCtoad said:

Here’s what I’ve been using for the past 4 or 5 years.  I’m on my third one now.  The other two cracked about a third of the way down from the top of the blade.  However, I get a LOT of usage out of them before they crack.  I still want to try a predator but, like someone mentioned above, I can’t decide on which one to get although I’m leaning towards the phoenix model.  I really like the inverted V tip f the nomad.  It holds on and cuts right through a root instead of glancing off to the side.  

The Root Slayer line is what l have used the last 5 years. They are great. Most all of my sites are full of roots & the notch works extremely well. I can’t imagine how you could break one of these without trying.

Thanks to you guys, l just went to their site and ordered 2 more. A spade for sandy ground & a floral model for manicured lawns.😉

[GB_Amateur]

4 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

GB, have you ever considered the Fiskars composite trowel?

I carry something that looks exactly like that (different brand, though) that I've sawed off the handle to make it easier to get down deep.

Here's my typical recovery technique:

1) After pinpointing as best I can with the main detector, kneel down and check the spot with the Garrett Carrot.

2a) If the Carrot sounds off, use the Lesche to pry open a slit in the ground and do the easy recovery from there.

2b) If the Carrot doesn't pick up the target, cut a plug with the Lesche and either fold the plug over (still partially attached) or set it off to the side.

3) Still with the Lesche, loosen some ground in the hole.

4) Using the nugget scoop, remove the loose dirt and before putting it into the plastic gold pan (as I said previously, I'm a pack mule) I check in the scoop with the Carrot just in case I've caught it.

5) Check the hold with the Carrot, swishing around in all directions (including side of the hole).  If I get more than ground noise I judge how far the Carrot tip is from the target.

6) If the Carrot isn't getting a signal (other than ground noise) after the first couple scoops I recheck the hole with the main detector, repinpoint, and (depending upon the VDI shown) decide if it's worth continuing.

7) Repeat steps 3-6 until the Carrot says I'm within 1-1.5 inches.  Now switch to the laser focused White's Bullseye TRX pinpointer to move in for the kill.

I always try to get the object into the plastic scoop (and in necessary, into the pan) and seldom put my hand in the hole.  (There are exceptions.)

If I encounter roots, my Rule of Thumb is that it's OK to break them if smaller than about 1/16" (1.5 mm) diameter.  I break those with my hand.  (My Lesche has the teeth filed off so I minimize accidental root damage.)  Otherwise I work around them with a combination of tools.  The 1" wide aluminum handheld garden tool works well for that, as does the narrower plastic tool that looks like the one you show.

Sometimes I have to widen the hole -- when my initial pinpointing wasn't so accurate.  If the target turns out to be something I don't want AND it's too large to easily recover (i.e. without going wider and/or considerably deeper) then I leave it.  Otherwise everything that isn't natural (including plastic and glass) is coming out and into the pouch.

My goals are twofold:  avoid damage as much as possible.  My recovery method minimizes the chances the target (hopefully a coin) gets touched by metal tools.  (It does happen occasionally though.)  Minimize damage to plant life -- tree roots and grass.  Put the natural things back in the hole (gold pan makes it easy to just dump all the dirt back) and restore the plug.  Stomp down the plug if necessary (loose dirt takes more volume than packed dirt), brush my foot over the replaced plug afterward, etc.  If I happen to detect in dry weather I carry jugs of water and pour that on and around the replaced plug.

Obvously in heavily vegitated ground (e.g. bushes, but including in wooded areas) it might be necessary to be a bit rougher with roots.  Judgement comes in for those cases.  But over 95% of my detecting in parks and schools is not in the woods/brush.

[Rattlehead]

5 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Interesting, I tried the hip route and they were always beating the crap out of me. 😀 Out of likes but 👍

It’s all in where ya mount it. Mount it close to the T handle and it’ll beat your ankles constantly. Mount it 8” down the shaft, GTG! 🙂

[CPT_GhostLight]

7 hours ago, NCtoad said:

Here’s what I’ve been using for the past 4 or 5 years.  I’m on my third one now.  The other two cracked about a third of the way down from the top of the blade.  However, I get a LOT of usage out of them before they crack.    I really like the inverted V tip f the nomad.  It holds on and cuts right through a root instead of glancing off to the side.  

Plus 1 on the Nomad. I have a small Letsche shovel. I bought the Root Slayer Metal Detecting Spade to use in wild relic areas and it works great, but it's a tad heavy.

https://radiusgarden.com/products/root-slayer-metal-detecting-spade

Then I bought a Root Slayer Nomad for my wife to use in the garden and tried it out in the field detecting and never gave it back so I had to get another one for her. It's holding up well after a year of abuse and it's lighter than the Metal Detecting Spade.

https://radiusgarden.com/collections/root-slayer/products/root-slayer-nomad

For the prices of the Root Slayers, if I break one it's easy on the wallet to replace, but I haven't broken one yet.

In parks and lawns where I live, shovels are a big no-no, so descrete hand diggers and kac's mighty Park Probe are my weapons of choice.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314188535565?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=-5lIdJmkRTe&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=C9pH38O6TWK&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[Doc Bach]

Man all of this shovel and hand digger talk has me reminiscing about the days of old. When in the part of the country where I was raised we all dug with WW1 and WW2 Bayonets that all of the pawnshops sold for cheap.Or a big A$$ flat blade screw driver and on occasion a short handled #2 round point shovel.That was back in the stone age or as the local old timers would often like to say back when the men were men and the sheep were nervous.😍

[F350Platinum]

8 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

Here's my typical recovery technique:

Now that I got some likes I can reply. 😀 Nice detailed description! 👍

My target retrieval with the D2 is probably a bit more rudimentary, but using the MI-6 is a quite different experience compared to the Carrot. I only recently learned that the MI-6 is a Pulse Induction pinpointer. You can either make it beep as you close in on the target, or have it run in a tone mode, where the pitch gets higher as you close in. That is what I prefer. It locates targets much deeper than the Carrot.

If the signal appears to be close to the surface, I'll check with the pinpointer first to see if I can locate it before digging. If not I dig a plug in a park (campground), like you leaving some of the roots attached, and search the hole with the MI-6 I'll chase the signal with the pinpointer and either dig deeper with the shovel (I typically use my Barracuda in parks because it's shorter), or use the composite trowel to dig it out.

In the fields I'll just dig a big hole and retrieve the target with the composite trowel. 😀

I try not to use the shovel too much, and even though I have a few steel diggers I usually don't use them.

I have used kac's Park probe to get the shallow targets if there is quality grass on the ground. I have also used his Devil's Tongue digger with great success. 

[Bootscrape]

I made my own version of the Predator Phoenix shovel from a plough disc. The steel in these discs is ideal for prospecting picks and shovels. The curvature is similar to the Phoenix blade and cuts a perfect plug.

 

[NCtoad]

9 hours ago, Bootscrape said:

I made my own version of the Predator Phoenix shovel from a plough disc. The steel in these discs is ideal for prospecting picks and shovels. The curvature is similar to the Phoenix blade and cuts a perfect plug.

 

That is NICE!   If you could make one of those with an inverted V (like on the rootslayer nomad pictured above) for the tip I would buy it from you.  

[Bootscrape]

Sorry NCtoad, but after making this lot from the one disc, I’m all outa steel.

Thanks for the endorsement though👍

 

[rvpopeye]

Nice lookin' tools Bootscrape !

Ya got me thinking about taking a grinder to my shovel to fancy it up a bit .