Its Time To Build a Gold Garden

[Hard Prospector]

I've been thinking about this project for a while now. With all the detectors and types of coils I now own, I feel its necessary especially if I want my skills in detecting for gold to continue improving. My plan was to go buy a round plastic kiddie pool about (5' to 10' in diameter x24" deep) and fill it full of the harshest mineralized earth I can get. I have heard that its best only to practice detecting on what you intend to find (gold) conditioning yourself to its tones and readings depending upon the machine, coil, texture and weight of the gold at certain depths. I'm sure many of you have done this before and I sure would appreciate the input...Thanks

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[jmoller99]

Its a good idea. Add trash to the garden - bird shot and small nails - simulate reality. I have a detector garden with some small gold in it, along with coins and a variety of bad targets. I use it to test detectors (that people who claim their detectors are useless, only to show that the vast majority of the time, the user has no idea how to use the detector) and teach people how things work. I have 9 detectors and they are not all the same, but I find that the more I use them, the better I get at finding things that I am looking for. This includes gold targets (I use a White's GMT and VSat in the field).

Gold detectors will find all manner of metals, so its good to have an idea how they react to other common targets. If you have a multipurpose detector that can be used for prospecting, the garden can be used to compare what modes work best, as well as how they react in general. Lots of great general purpose detectors are near worthless for finding small natural gold targets.

 

[63bkpkr]

Howdy HP,
What is your thinking in using the plastic pool? You may need to plant it in the ground as I'm not sure if the pool sides will stand the pressure exerted by the dirt...........................63bkpkr

 

[Hard Prospector]

Howdy HP,
What is your thinking in using the plastic pool? You may need to plant it in the ground as I'm not sure if the pool sides will stand the pressure exerted by the dirt...........................63bkpkr

I thought about making a large box out of redwood but that would be difficult to build without using metal(nails, bolts,etc.) They sell those hard plastic pools at Walmart cheap in different sizes that fit one inside another so I could easily double the thickness. Building it above ground would make it easier to cover to control ground moisture(rain) and keep unwanted objects out("cat nuggets") But like I said, I'm totally open to all suggestion. BWY, its good to hear from you 63 and it sounds like that shoulder has turned into quite a journey.

 

[woof!]

Wherever you put the plastic kiddie pool, first make sure that the place you're gonna put it is free of targets. In most yards there are targets all over the place so you'll probably have to do some serious dirtfishing to clean the targets out. Make sure you know where underground utilities, sprinkler pipes, outdoor lighting cables, etc. are before you dig, and if you're digging deeper than about 8 inches do it very carefully inasmuch as there can be underground services in places you don't expect any; and underground services that are required by code to be more than (say) 2 feet deep the installers often cheat and bury them more shallow than required.

Animals and some kids can't resist the temptation of a "sandbox", so it's important that you be able to cover the thing. Also you don't want it to turn into a swamp so it has to be covered any time there's risk of rain or sprinkler irrigation hitting it. (Merely drilling holes in the bottom won't solve this problem.)


--Dave J.

 

[Hard Prospector]

Thanks Dave

 

[2cmorau]

walmart is cheap for a reason, building a wooden box, if willing to take the time, can be done using wooden Dowls and glue,

 

[taternut]

Ace hardware has small planter boxes for gardens made out of wood that just slide together, no hardware at all. I'm sure Home Depot or lowes has something like it

 

[Hard Prospector]

Thanks, I'll check it out

 

[goldchaser3]

That sounds like a lot of work. Then you have to keep the weeds out, etc. One White's dealer that I know was given a 5 gallon bucket full of highly mineralized sandy soil. So you can bury different objects at different depths and in different combinations = it is a very flexible setup. And because it sits up off the ground, the ground itself is taken out of the picture. I liked the flexibility of being able to bury, and re-bury, something 2", 3", 4", 5" etc.

What I like to do - every time I go out I take a bag of targets with me - hot rocks of different types, lead bullets and pieces, pull tabs/aluminum pieces, rusted nails, gold nuggets, 22 casings, etc. - the same stuff I usually find. Then the first thing I do when I get out to where I am detecting is to start burying my test pieces and see how they signal in that soil. Every place has different soil so your test garden will only mimic one type. By taking 15 minutes at the start of my hunt I get a real feel for how my detector will be signaling on that day at that place, so I can adjust my settings appropriately. And I also get to learn more about my detector and how it operates in different conditions. And every time I find a new target I spend a couple extra minutes changing the settings and seeing how that changes the signal, and try to narrow down what I think it is before I dig. It's all part of the adventure.

 

[gold tramp]

Its a good idea. Add trash to the garden - bird shot and small nails - simulate reality. I have a detector garden with some small gold in it, along with coins and a variety of bad targets. I use it to test detectors (that people who claim their detectors are useless, only to show that the vast majority of the time, the user has no idea how to use the detector) and teach people how things work. I have 9 detectors and they are not all the same, but I find that the more I use them, the better I get at finding things that I am looking for. This includes gold targets (I use a White's GMT and VSat in the field).

Gold detectors will find all manner of metals, so its good to have an idea how they react to other common targets. If you have a multipurpose detector that can be used for prospecting, the garden can be used to compare what modes work best, as well as how they react in general. Lots of great general purpose detectors are near worthless for finding small natural gold targets.

Don't forget wire brush hairs, im still back in the old days and use the gold bug, those little buggers and bird shot are tough.

 

[Hard Prospector]

That sounds like a lot of work. Then you have to keep the weeds out, etc. One White's dealer that I know was given a 5 gallon bucket full of highly mineralized sandy soil. So you can bury different objects at different depths and in different combinations = it is a very flexible setup. And because it sits up off the ground, the ground itself is taken out of the picture. I liked the flexibility of being able to bury, and re-bury, something 2", 3", 4", 5" etc.

What I like to do - every time I go out I take a bag of targets with me - hot rocks of different types, lead bullets and pieces, pull tabs/aluminum pieces, rusted nails, gold nuggets, 22 casings, etc. - the same stuff I usually find. Then the first thing I do when I get out to where I am detecting is to start burying my test pieces and see how they signal in that soil. Every place has different soil so your test garden will only mimic one type. By taking 15 minutes at the start of my hunt I get a real feel for how my detector will be signaling on that day at that place, so I can adjust my settings appropriately. And I also get to learn more about my detector and how it operates in different conditions. And every time I find a new target I spend a couple extra minutes changing the settings and seeing how that changes the signal, and try to narrow down what I think it is before I dig. It's all part of the adventure.

Sounds like great advice, thanks.

 

[Hard Prospector]

Don't forget wire brush hairs, im still back in the old days and use the gold bug, those little buggers and bird shot are tough.

I'll bet you and that gold bug know wire brush bristle, boot tacks and bird shot better than most Herb.

 

[Gravelwasher]

Lead targets sound almost the same if not the same as gold with my detector, so using a hammered or altered bullet shape can be used instead of a real nugget.

 

[gold tramp]

I'll bet you and that gold bug know wire brush bristle, boot tacks and bird shot better than most Herb.

forgot the Radar chaff, and the dreaded pieces of blasting cap. in the beginning I saved everything I dug, started having to many containers on the shelve.