Metal detector question

[atlarge54]

I just had a survey done to remove a small parcel of land with a building and one of the corner markers is in a field that is farmed. I figured the little survey marker wouldn't stand the test of time so here's what I did. I had an old damaged hay spear laying around so I cut an 18" long piece off the pointy end and drove it into the ground until the top of it was 18" below the surface.

How easy will it be to find this spot with a metal detector?

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I found a couple with a borrowed cheap detector but they were 3/4 IP with the tops just at the surface. I was told the detection zone tapers as it
penetrates deeper so it gets smaller. The better ones can differtiate iron, copper/brass and aluminum.

 

[Stephen Newell]

When I had my place surveyed I supplied the man with grade stakes made out of 5/8 rebar. Now 37 years later it is grown up again and I have to have a pretty good idea where the stakes are to find them even with a metal detector. In hind sight I wish I would have put T-posts in next to the stakes.

 

[BobnUt]

most detectors will average 12
maybe put a tin can over the stake to create a better target

 

[hd6gtom]

It depends on the detector. My first one
was a cheepee from H.F. it picks up the
stakes about a foot down. My new one
which is not a cheepee will go down much
farther.

 

[WAYNE-N-TEXAS]

I have a Garrett AT Pro, not cheap for a toy, once you use it a while, you'll love it. You have to use it to understand what the different sounds it makes. After a while, you can tell the difference between a copper Penny and the ones they make now. Can use it in waist deep salt water, so find an old swimming hole. You will find stuff people have lost and lots of things that's been thrown away.

 

[HFJ]

i have a friend with a supposedly good quality garrett. it could not find two different corner markers. it did find a non-ferrous metal that it got all excited about. i guess rust is non-ferrous, as it turned out to be the lid of an old tin can. YMMV.

 

[warbaby]

It depends on 3 things:

The degree of mineralization of the soil, the quality of the metal detector, and the operators familiarity with his detector.

You have a significant advantage because you know generally where the stake is, so you wont be searching an entire field.

Depending on how mineralized your dirt is, a detector can really struggle to get and lock on to a good target signal at depth. Advances in
detector tech have really gotten a handle on this problem and the higher-end the detector, the better the ground balancing features it will
have.

Thats where a quality machine comes in- almost any non-beginner model from Minelab, Garrett or White's would do the job .

I prefer White's detectors, I guess because it was the first brand I ever bought back in the early 1970's. Back then, they were pretty
primitive-just turn it on and go. No discrimination, no ground balance, no problem! You just dug up every signal, hoping the next one was
that $20 dollar gold coin you were always hoping for. Armed with that buzz-box, I probably dug up enough old pop-tops, nails, barbed wire
and crushed tin cans to build a battleship!

My latest White's is a ''V3i'' which I STILL havent completely figured out (its a very -some might say ''overly''- complicated instrument!)
but I have taken it to old parks and schoolyards that I and everybody else had scanned multiple times and I can often find deeply buried
coins and rings that other detectors had missed. That V3i can often tell me what it is, and how deep it is before I even get out my digging
tools.

Such a detector in fairly familiar hands shouldnt have a problem finding that stake, but next time throw some extra chunks of scrap metal in
the hole!

GOOD LUCK!

If you still arent successful, there's always dowsing...

 

[RESLLS]

There are local clubs that volunteer to help you find things. Maybe check your area for one. Where are you? Someone here may have one and can help. I also have a Garrett at-pro.

 

[guido]

atlarge54

Probably l twill last a long time. I would have used one of those ground rods they use for the electric
meter. There are either 100% copper or copper coated?

Guido.

 

[cleddy]

I have that problem-Trying to find a state marker in a old roadbed that the farmer backed a Dozer over. Now the neighbor saying I Am intruding on his land. The Cheap HF metal detector was picking up every
nail that was ever on the road and I got tired of digging them up. Best I can think of s taking a drill and drilling deep holes every 5 apart until I hit the concrete with rebar marker and it should ne in a
ten foot area??? When I find the Marker I was thinking about putting the Hay spike point about 10 out of the ground so everyone KNOWS when it been hit again????

 

[Tony in SD]

The phone, internet, power and other utilities use locating balls. They are passive, which means they require not batteries. They work much like the anti-theft devices the stores use. The
balls are relatively cheap but the locators are a few thousand dollars. However you may be able to talk a utility man into locating them for you for the price of a case of beer. They work as
deep as 5 feet. I have used them in the past for buried fiber optic hand holes.
Locating ball

 

[ss55]

Are you replacing the surveyor's marker or simply adding an extra indicator to show where the surveyor's marker is located? Tampering with the surveyor's marker will make it worthless. A steel T post beside the marker might work, but a fence works better.

 

[atlarge54]

(quoted from post at 13:30:15 07/04/23) Are you replacing the surveyor's marker or simply adding an extra indicator to show where the surveyor's marker is located? Tampering with the surveyor's marker will make it worthless. A steel T post beside the marker might work, but a fence works better.

I drove the stake adjacent to the survey marker. If the farmer ever does any serious tilling I doubt the survey marker will be intact. I think I ll put some copper/brass above the stake I drove in the ground. I also triangulated a couple measurements from the corner of the building and the corner of the patio for future reference.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

I have recently had a neighbour do some earthworks at my farm and ran my Garrett metal detector over the area just yesterday . I found a beautiful 1920's odd axe head about 12'' down .

The signal from a small cross section of spike will be much less than a horizontal object . Two pieces of 1/2'' copper pipe laid in an [b:4072e68348]X[/b:4072e68348] with the survey marker at its centre will cause a signal loud enough to wake the dead , even from a child's toy detector .