Who has a test garden and what is in it??

[bigtim1973]

Just seeing what you guys may have in your test bed.

Here is my stuff

beaver tail from pop top @ 3"

ring from pop top @ 3"

square pull tab @ 3"

bottle cap @ 3"

old shot gun brass @ 3"

complete pull tab @ 3"

CW eagle cuff button back @ 3"

CW small shot from buck and ball @ 5"

modern nickel @ 10.5"

Clad dime @ 7.5"

zinc penny @ 4"

wheat penny @ 5"

clad quarter @ 5"

silver dime @ 5"

buffalo nickel @ 5"

CW camp lead and large square nail right next to each other for separation test at about 3"

I need to add a coin with a trash item next to each other as well but have not gotten around to that yet. I am very surprised at how well this helps me test out different settings and features. I do not know how much some of you have thought about making a test bed but if you have not tried it yet, it sure helps you out getting to know your machine!!

Anyways just sharing thoughts and ideas. What do some of you guys have??

 

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[bigtim1973]

So no one does test gardens anymore??

 

[michealwhelan]

Bigtim, I am just getting back into MD and was trying to figure out a good setup. Yours is sweet. Questions, why do you have no large silver such as a half or even a quarter? Is something else the equivalent? How are you marking the spot on the ground? Thanks

 

[smokeythecat]

I did but dug it up. Before I lost my stuff in the ground. My lawn guy sometimes "shaves" the top of the ground and wrecks the markers. I trust my machine and now don't see the need for one anymore. For my Cibola, I don't do a garden for it either.

 

[bigtim1973]

To be honest on the large silver halves or dollars they ring up about the same as a clad Kennedy half dollar.

That is why I did not do the halves and dollars.

I have a few silver halves and dollars but I do not have the heart to bury them again!!

I need to add one more target in my test bed for sure and that would be a dime next to some square nails.

I mark my targets with white golf tees.

They are low enough that my mower goes right over them and they stay put.

 

[stoneshirt]

Hi.
Haha.yes they do,but their all to busy right now to respond.Their busy responding to "What Coil should I use?"
stoneshirt.

 

[Tom Slick]

I used to have a test garden but no matter how many silver coins I planted, I just couldn't get any of them to grow.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I have various coins at various depths (clad & silver), and a one ounce musket ball at 16". Also some clad coins under or about 3" below but just beside various trash items like nails and pull tabs and bottle caps so I can see what speed or settings work best and how such things sound from various sweep angles.

 

[ColonelDan]

Here is my "test garden" into which I can put any combination of items and at various depths. I have a beach sand bucket and a soil bucket. This set up has worked well for me over the years.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/beach-shallow-water/653510-test-garden-idea-beach-hunters.html