If I get a Garrett 250
walkerminus1
Posts: 244 ✭
If I get a Garrett 250 with the larger coil, how long until it pays for itself if you only go hunting a couple times a month April through October?
I know it's a loaded question and can't truly be answered. So just go from your experience, about how many trips would it take you to pay it off?
Thanks in advance.
Rob
I believe my best places to use a metal detector are all from my childhood.
I know it's a loaded question and can't truly be answered. So just go from your experience, about how many trips would it take you to pay it off?
Thanks in advance.
Rob
I believe my best places to use a metal detector are all from my childhood.
4/92
4/123
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Invested $216.76
Return on Investment $0.68
Found but keeping $.15
4/123
-----------
Invested $216.76
Return on Investment $0.68
Found but keeping $.15
0
Comments
With MY average, how long would it take to pay itself off? Probably about two years.
If I still hunted like I did in the mid-1990s? Maybe two or three months.
Just one ring or the right coin or early military button, and that's paid for itself.
I paid a price in the mid-$400s for my GTA-500 in 1992. Used it twelve years until it died, and it paid for itself four and a half to five times over. Just one single find I made with it (a very rare War of 1812 beltplate) paid for it twice over.
And I don't count the modern change I dug in that figure. Or the price I got when I sold the carcass after it died (swapped it to a handyman who did about $50 worth of work around our house, and he actually got it running again).
<< <i>Another thing is you might not look at a MD as an investment waiting to find silver and gold but as means of recreation. Anything you do find is a plus. There will be days when you search for hours on end and find not a thing. >>
This is what I tell anyone who's thinking of getting into the hobby. You have to love it for its own sake and enjoy your outings, because there will be many, many days where you get nothing but trash. I would imagine more than half of the people who buy metal detectors fall into the trap of having their high expectations unmet, and then get disgusted and quit. This makes for a nice market in nearly-new, used metal detectors, but it's kind of sad to see.
The nice thing about entry-level machines like the Ace 250 is that they have just enough of what counts in the way of features, without too many expensive accesories or fancy trimmings. They have what it takes to find the goodies, so hopefully many of the Ace 250 newbies will stick to the hobby as they get an encouraging find or two, and one day they might want to upgrade to a higher-level detector.
There's nothing wrong with using your entry level detector for a long, long time, though- until it has paid for itself once, twice, or even three times over.
<< <i>
<< <i>Another thing is you might not look at a MD as an investment waiting to find silver and gold but as means of recreation. Anything you do find is a plus. There will be days when you search for hours on end and find not a thing. >>
This is what I tell anyone who's thinking of getting into the hobby. You have to love it for its own sake and enjoy your outings, because there will be many, many days where you get nothing but trash. I would imagine more than half of the people who buy metal detectors fall into the trap of having their high expectations unmet, and then get disgusted and quit. This makes for a nice market in nearly-new, used metal detectors, but it's kind of sad to see.
The nice thing about entry-level machines like the Ace 250 is that they have just enough of what counts in the way of features, without too many expensive accesories or fancy trimmings. They have what it takes to find the goodies, so hopefully many of the Ace 250 newbies will stick to the hobby as they get an encouraging find or two, and one day they might want to upgrade to a higher-level detector.
There's nothing wrong with using your entry level detector for a long, long time, though- until it has paid for itself once, twice, or even three times over. >>
I love being outdoors and there have been many times (pre-MD days) where being outdoors was great but having something to do while enjoying the day would have made it better. Enter the metal detector. Rather than sit on a beach and getting sunburned, I can now get some exercise while walking the beach and hopefully find something nice hidden in the sand. Same with parks and such. It also gives you incentive to read up on the history of the area you live and/or plan to hunt in so it is educational as well.
The thing I love most about detecting though, is the chance to stumble on lost history. I love holding something in my hand and wondering who was the last person to hold that item? What were the circumstances of the loss? What was the history of the object that led it to lie hidden in the dirt until the day I found it? I Love it!!
As for how long for a detector to pay for itself....a long time if you don't go out and use it! At the rate I've been getting out lately it will be about 300 years to pay mine off
She's five and a half, so hopefully that'll be a while. But hopefully I'll also make some nice finds between now and then.
<< <i>If you read my long winded story about my son finding his ring with my MD, well my MD is a Garrett 250 and i'm absolutely certain his ring was worth WAY MORE than the cost of the machine. >>
I read it, great story. I can think of a time or two or possibly 50 stories with all our kids when a MD would have come in pretty handy.
<< <i>Another thing is you might not look at a MD as an investment waiting to find silver and gold but as means of recreation. Anything you do find is a plus. >>
I'm not looking at it as an investment, but I was just curious about the stuff you find and if it's really of value more than the intrisnic value associated with it by the finder. My soon to be 8 year would just love it to find metal garbage in the gravel portion of our driveway. I'll love it to find whatever wherever.
Thanks everybody that kicked in a reply.
One last question, would I be foolish to allow an 8-year-old to use the Garrett 250?
Rob
4/123
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Invested $216.76
Return on Investment $0.68
Found but keeping $.15
Heck no. Go with him,take turns. I have a lot of old farms I hunt and it is cool trying to identify old cast iron thingys, guessing where or what they went to. Not all things you find is junk. Last year while hunting with phut I found a thermostat that sat out front on the radiator on an old Model T Ford, glass intact. It was intersting to find it
<< <i>One last question, would I be foolish to allow an 8-year-old to use the Garrett 250?
Heck no. Go with him,take turns. I have a lot of old farms I hunt and it is cool trying to identify old cast iron thingys, guessing where or what they went to. Not all things you find is junk. Last year while hunting with phut I found a thermostat that sat out front on the radiator on an old Model T Ford, glass intact. It was intersting to find it >>
Ok, so it was junk too. I threw it away a few weeks later.