Need help deciding on a PI machine

[lostlugnut]

I am in the market for a detector that I can use here in the Emerald coast. It will be used in all kinds of environments from sand both dry and wet, knee deep salt water to snorkeling depth, brackish water etc. I would love a excal but that is more then this old boy makes. I am in the $500-600 range, maybe a little more. Which one would fit the bill best. I understand that I will be digging iron I will be paid in exercise with those targets. If you have nay other suggestions from the ones listed please let me know. I am not against buying used if someone knows any leads.
I think I have narrowed it down to...

Sand Shark
Seahunter Mk II

Thank you.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[Treasure_Hunter]

fyi if you watch the boards you can pick up a good used excal for $600 to $800. I have 2 excals i bought used, 1 i paid $$ 475 for, added a wot coil and a extended shaft for a total of $ 600. The other i picked up for $750, both worked perfectly.

 

[dbsmokey]

I have seen used White's Surfmaster PIs go for about $600 on the auction sites. That might be a consideration for you! There is a lot of information and opinions about the performance of the Waterproof PI machines on this Forum and others.

 

[DewGuru]

Of your two options listed, hands down my vote would be for the Sand Shark. Performance, price, and warranty.

 

[hamiddetecting]

If you much monney i advice you buy all metal detectors: PI and VLF. Detecting on the beaches you need PI and VLF. Its my idea so i wish yoou luck. In other hand when bought All metal detectors its good for you: Just to know defference beteween make metal detectors.
Excalibur II for under water.
Sovereign GT with 10'' and Wot 15'' when the beach much iron and salt water you need Coil 8'', because the good target was between trash.
PI: when the beaches much sand you need PI. its more deep.
Happy hunting. Hamid

 

[bigscoop]

Given your spending limit....this would be a great machine for you:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/treasure-related-stuff-sale/296662-fisher-cz-20-w-8-coil.html

 

[search and recovery]

New, the Tesoro Sand Shark is a good choice. No disputing dew guru's great number of finds. Used, my vote would be for a Whites Dual Field. I have both and the DF is a little deeper in my opinion. The SS is my backup and performs well. I did put a weight on the DF coil so I do not have to fight the bouyancy of the coil and it works very smoothly in the water. It does make the coil too heavy on the wet sand for hunting long periods of time however. The SS coil tends to flip up in the surf, and the support bracket for the coil they make is poor fitting. So the best option is to make your own out of plexiglass as I did. In the long run you really should invest in a good VLF machine like the Excalibur or any of the other top notch machines for the beach as finances permit. I finally spent the money on an excalibur the first of the year, and it has been awsome on the beach and wet sand. I have hunted eight times with it this sprinng and already it has produced four gold rings and one with diamonds! Needless to say my confidece in the Excalibur II has grown everytime I go out. In the water the DF is my favorite. Now, this is only my second year of water and beach hunting, although I do have over twenty years of relic hunting, and there are lots of more experienced treasure hunters on this site for the water. They have been a world of help to me and are always more than happy to help out with the best info you will ever get on anything to do with beach and water hunting. They have cut my learning curve greatly and I appreciate all I have learned from them. That being said, do not cut cost on your water scoop. It is the most important piece of equipment in your water hunting arsenal. It does no good to get a good signal with whatever detector you use if you lose the target to the surf or wave action. Best of hunting!

 

[dewcon4414]

take a look at some of the threads there is good info in them if you can sift thru the ... you know. There isnt a lot of minerals here in Fl so like TH said you might also think about a VLF CZ or Xcal seem to be the chosen machines. There are times these beaches really produce.... but when they do the down side is they produce more trash to sift thru as well. A PI is a deep machine and a beep and dig.... EVERYTHING, which you may or may not know. A VLF gives you more tones and you can disc out iron which includes fish hooks, bottle caps, cheap jewelry, bobbie pins, and crabs traps. If you have patience any machine will pay for its self out there. If you want new then you have your choices and DewGuru does great with his as do other hunters. AMAN to that water scoop post.

Dew

 

[search and recovery]

Wow bigscoop, that is a great price on a really good machine. Wish my budget would allow me to buy it, but after buying four machines since last summer I can not do it right now. Guess it shows I am no longer married when I get to buy most of the big boys toys that I want, but even with that, I still have my spending limits.

 

[CASPER-2]

you can find a good used PIPro - whites - for $300 + look for weighted (neutral buoency coil )
have seen new/used dual fields for $400+
if you can find a good used CZ20 - might be good too

 

[Terry Soloman]

Of your two options listed, hands down my vote would be for the Sand Shark. Performance, price, and warranty.

Ditto. Good Luck!

 

[OBN]

SS owners, can the warranty be transferred?


Sand Shark
Seahunter Mk II
Both are good detectors but
Best pratices would be to see what the locals are using before purchasing a detector.

 

[dbsmokey]

SS owners, can the warranty be transferred?


Sand Shark
Seahunter Mk II
Both are good detectors but
Best pratices would be to see what the locals are using before purchasing a detector.

None of Tesoro's warranties may be transferred to another....

 

[Aka Nameless]

None of Tesoro's warranties may be transferred to another....

I vote for Sea Hunter, interchangeable coils, battery compartment seperate from electronics, and adjustable pulse delay.

 

[Terry Soloman]

None of Tesoro's warranties may be transferred to another....

Doesn't really matter, as none of us sell our Sand Sharks. If we did, Tesoro still honors the warranty if it is a manufacturing defect. Anyone else ever have a different experience with Tesoro?

 

[Octopulse]

I have the Garrett Sea Hunter MKII. Very good performance and solid detector and being able to swap out a possible faulty coil or headphones is a major advantage. I had the Sand Shark many years ago and it is a good machine BUT doesn't get the rings as deep as the Garrett. I could still happily swing the SS but knowing that I am missing the deeper stuff bothers me.
I would guess about 20% less depth than the Garrett.
Tony.

 

[Aka Nameless]

Doesn't really matter, as none of us sell our Sand Sharks. If we did, Tesoro still honors the warranty if it is a manufacturing defect. Anyone else ever have a different experience with Tesoro?

None of us sell our Sand Sharks eh? I beg to differ... I know about 5 people that did... including me.

 

[trsrseeker]

I would go for a used machine to fit your budget - either the Excal or the Whites Dual Field. I know multiple top water hunters who stopped using the Garett PI s and switched to the DF due to better results with small gold. Having used multiple PI machines for many years I can't say enough about the DF for beach or water hunting. However if your environment is trashy go for a used Excal first.

 

[U.K. Brian]

Funny that no one mentions that Tesoro really laboured the importance of using a variety of coils with their water machines (7", 8", 10" and 10.5" I think they had) now its back to picking 8.5" or 10" and hope you have not made a mistake.

Now for me the dual field coil on the DF doesn't work quite as well as it does on the TDI but its a step foward for Whites, whilst Tesoro took a step back.

 

[Can Slaw]

Of the two PI's in your price range, I elected for the Sea Hunter Mark II. I travel a lot so the interchangeable coils was very important to me as I hunt in a lot of different conditions. Under normal beach use, the 14 inch coil was my biggest deciding factor. I can cover much more beach than the normal 10 in coil in the same amount of time. Changable headphone is another nice feature and the Sea Hunter is as deep as most detectors on the market. Mel Fisher's dive team discovered the Achoia and has made over $400 Million using Sea Hunters, that was good enough for me and I sure haven't been sorry.

I forgot to add, the Sea Hunter is adjustable and has adjustable pulse delay. Not to important if you hunt the same beach everyday, but if you plan to hunt different locations, it can be a big plus.