Scoops.....

A good mate uses the green round scoop, looks like a big soup spoon ladle, have seen a lot in use, I probably started to use a scoop in 95, the 20 years prior to that I though scoop users were..............

On another Forum, a member has devised what I think is an improvement on the green scoop. I am not a devotee of the green scoop and do not wish to create any disagreement on that forum, so I have loaded my comments here.  I think my method is faster in finding the signal than using a green scoop/dirt agitation method, but you may think otherwise.

Handfull of Dirt over the Coil
My Prior technique was, to grab a handfull of loose dirt, if the signal is not in that throw away near the hole so less effort to return the hole to normal, if the signal is in the handfull, half the dirt in the other hand and check both hands again for the signal, keep cutting into half handfulls until you can see the gold/rubbish ( gold in your container/rubbish in your rubbish bag so your mate/you do not pick it up ( next year with a better detector or if you/he chains).

Sand Shovel
To my knowledge the green soup ladle scoop was not available in 95 so I started out with a Kids sand shovel, took a while to get the right one, its slightly bigger than most around 7cm at the front edge. but similar to below. I use the shovel in the normal way, when its small gold/lead shot ( I cannot tell the difference) I use the square end to scrape the ground then pick up the dirt, for across the coil. If the signal is in the shovel, I divide in half, to my hand and check again, if the signal is in the dirt in my hand, transfer to the shovel and divide up again, until the signal is in the shovel.
In small gold locations have also used a second shovel since the small gold/1mm piece of fine wire etc can slip thru my fingers/hand. Sometimes the shovel is used to divide up the dirt into small piles some distance apart to enable the Z to determine the location of the signal/pile for further breakdown.

Green Scoop Improvement
Whether its is a standard green scoop or the scoop with the ripples, I think there is some benefit in agitating the scoop so the signal if lead shot/gold falls to the bottom of the scoop (or the ripples in the case of the upgrade see below), then you go thru the divide up and check for the signal process, I just think this is more time consuming than the cutting in half and checking and you do not have the flat scraping of the sand shovel.

If this write up convinces you to purchase a green scoop or Doc's Improved version, all the best.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQPbVmW5tf4

https://www.mrtoys.com.au/outdoor-sports-water-toys/beach-water-toys/paletta-mare-moplen-28997.html

Peter

Hi Peter
I use a scoop and agree with the idea of shaking the scoop to get the target to settle to the bottom.
What is more important though is the method used before getting the scoop out.
It amazes me watching people digging their targets out and not clearing the barren dirt away. When they finally get the target out, they have to go through the sorting all over again.
What I do is test the stuff I have dug and if barren, scrape it to one side. Repeat until the target is out. Then split the target pile into 4 and scrape the three barren ones to the side. Repeat again until the remaining pile is the size of a scoop.
This way you have reduced the time taken checking dirt and when the target is revealed to be yet another lead shot, you have wasted less time and can get the coil back on the dirt and find another piece of lead shot or perhaps even a piece of gold!
I use this method even when scraping with machinery as coil on the ground time is what gives rewards. I also use this method with both the Z and the 2300.

In 1986 with the Goldseekers 15000 you didn't need a scoop because the gold was always a reasonable size. In 2014 when I started detecting again I didn't have a scoop, but on the first day out I was trying to locate a signal and ended up with a piece of broken glass in my hand. Not good.
The scoop also gives the bullants a chance to get to the surface before you put some dirt in your other hand.

I have always used the Fiskars garden trowel from Bunnings, cheap and easy to use.

Regards Axtyr.

I wouldn’t be able to decide on a colour from the Mr Toys range so I will stick with the one from Bunnings (also a bit more robust). Not sure how good his scoop would be with the sticks like “dog sh#t” Clay we have. Sure in gravel the gold will be in the last few bits.  Thanks for the details on how you spread your diggings. These are the basics that people don’t know or appreciate how much time it can save and get you swinging again faster.

I find scoops a waste of my valuable detecting time. Just grab a hand full of dirt, wave it over the coil, and keep doing that until you get a signal. If its larger gold 0.5gm onwards then halving of the dirt method in the hand should suffice. If it like some of the gold my x-coil 10" has been finding that doesn't register on scales then I place the handful of dirt directly onto the coil. Moving it with a finger until I find the target.

I know where all the sweet spots on my coils are so I focus on narrowing down the dirt to an absolute minimum. Sometimes with the smaller targets, ill scrape the pile with my boot into small piles. Dividing up the dirt into 3 or 4 little piles makes it much easier to quickly find the target. There's nothing worse than having to stand back up and swing the detector over the pile again because you can't seem to find the target. I've watched some people spend 10 minutes rooting around to recover a target, yet others can do it it a minute or two. More time swinging less time recovering usually results in more finds. The only downside of handling dirt would be getting dirty hands or getting bitten by a scorpion or spider I guess.

I am all for scoops. I use the one in the pic below . The hard plastic makes it a bit of a digging tool and saves your hand from getting cut on glass or sharp metal. The round bit at the bottom of the scoop can act like an agitator. This scoop allows you to shake the dirt and heavies go to the bottom . The only 2 things about it that i don`t like ,but don`t really bother me too much is that the clay can stick to it , as mentioned before and the orange bit at the end of the handle that you use to attach a hook , can and does come off ,so i have drilled a hole and zip tied it to the handle. The first one i bought , i lost it when the orange bit came out.

Dozer wrote:
It amazes me watching people digging their targets out and not clearing the barren dirt away. When they finally get the target out, they have to go through the sorting all over again.
What I do is test the stuff I have dug and if barren, scrape it to one side. Repeat until the target is out. Then split the target pile into 4 and scrape the three barren ones to the side. Repeat again until the remaining pile  is the size of a scoop.

How many times do we see videos what Dozer is talking about? They keep dragging dirt out of the hole, if it is deep half of it rills back into the hole. ???
The other waste of time, you see them putting the detector down, farting about with a pin pointer. They have a coil that can pin point?
"WOW! the pinpointer is picking up the target, must be close...."


Getting back to the topic;
We use spoons picked up for a few $$'s in Woolies. Any bloke not using a spoon because they think it's not manly hasn't encountered any bindi eyes or other prickles in a handful of dirt? Those mongrels can and will get infected and leave you with a lot of discomfort.

Anaconda sells plastic scoops . They also sell Minelab detectors . Just bought a Minelab Equinox 800 from them for $1,039 . They have a sale on till Monday . Mine has to come from Port Mac. to Sydney . Not in every store .

Ah... Mike, you missed out getting a Free Pin Pointer ( like myself ) or Free widget ( like a friend) for $1100+ from a ML Dealer.

I think I got a good deal, never knew that Anaconda sold Minelab . Already got a Garret pin pointer . Reports on the Minelab 35 pin pointer are not good .

Re (Reports on the Minelab 35 pin pointer are not good .)

Have never used it, so don't know, I suppose if your into coins relics could be handy. would have preferred a cash discount.

Sold my original ML pinpointer, cost $185, from memory for $80 (unused) to someone who wanted to saw up railway sleepers and wanted to avoid nails, as it was cheaper than buying a detector. Tried it out on a sleeper in her trailer prior to purchase.