Am thinking about getting a metal detector to play around with at the farm. My grandfather homesteaded it around 1911, so thinking it might be fun to possibly dig up a little history . Also think it might be useful for finding lost tools when I know the general vicinity where they were misplaced. Any recommendations on a good one for a beginner for those purposes?

I'd get one

There's some that don't cost so much that you can
get your feet wet with
I used to have a middle of the road unit, but I
don't know if it wasn't sealed so great or what.
It grew the dreaded green fuzzy corrosion all
inside and died a horrible death.
I found a good bit of decent stuff ( no pirate treasures)
Bunches of coins. The usual junk stuff.
Good tools. Found a place where someone had
piled his broken hammers and hatchets instead
of putting new handles in.
I'd like to get another someday. Probably a
Garrett

I'll look at Garrets. Thinking headlands of fields might be interesting......bet a lot of old machinery was worked on at field ends.

My son bought me one several years ago, and I've played with it some. Thought I'd find more than I have with it, and after the new wore off, I have not used it in a few years. I really need to dig it out and use it.

If you get one get a “pin pointer” from Garrett as well.

It’s a small hand held wand that you can run around the dirt / grass and find any metal item you drop or dig up.
Many times you dig a hole and you can’t find what set off the metal detector but if you have a pin pointer it will fix that immediately.

I have a Garrett AT gold metal detector (kind of pricey but at thanks giving and Christmas they are on sale)

And then got the Garrett pointpointer II…. All good

I have a White model used it when I was working at the El Dorado State Park in Kansas in the campgrounds did good finding coins but no luck with jewelry. I'm like James Jr when the new wore off and I relocated it hasn't been used in a few years.

Thanks everyone for the input!

tag

Minelab vanquish 540 will do the job and more, runs about $370 ish depending on a base unit or package unit.
Garret ace 400, good to go
YouTube metal detectors, tons, thousands of reviews on all makes.
I run a vanquish 540, like it better than my
Minelab eqonox 800, ended up selling that one.
Can spend $400 to 50k on these things.
Most online dealers offer a military discount also.

Just an update, I got an entry level Garrett. Works like a charm finding 40 year old survey markers under years of grass litter at the farm. Glad I got it, but am already thinking I should have gone higher end. 😅

Hey you can always upgrade if you get addicted to playing with it

Good point!

I still own several from my Civil War relic hunting days but they are all several years past voting age. I liked Garrett's and bought three ADS III's before buying a Whites 5900 . The 5900 was ok but I should have stuck with the Garrett. Got a friend that I used to hunt with that was a dealer till he retired in 2020 , he said the new machines were lighter but he wasn't finding anymore with them than we did with the our old machines from the '80's. I have 6" , 12" and if I remember correctly my big coils are 21" for both White and Garrett machines. I also have the rechargeable batteries but use them only if my alkaline batteries die in the field. The nicad's are not as hot as the alkaline's , they do run the machine but they do not produce the best results the machine is capable of .

I hope you saved those hammer and axe heads . The axe heads in particular can be very valuable to collectors if in good enough shape to be reconditioned. I have found hundreds of them over the years and most were still usable . I sold a good number of them ( cleaned up ) for over $100 each and many for $25-$50 each. Treasure comes in all shapes and sizes .

For a good artifact finder, a Minelab 705 is the cat’s meow. They are great at discerning all metals and can be changed for precious metals if you are looking for jewelry.

We did some metal detecting with professionals and they were using Minelab detectors.

You will want a pintointer to help find the artifact once you have it isolated…

Nothing especially valuable I don't think
The hammers were claw hammers and
IIRC there were 3 that weren't broken and
they got new handles, and I've used them
a good bit.
I recently found (rediscovered?) 2 of the
hatchet/ axe heads in a box of something
else I was looking for. Never put any handles
in any of those. The larger head may be
old / antique

I have found they work great for finding 35 yo survey markers under an inch or more of grass litter