HELP !!!!

[Val Beechey]

Sorry to say I think I've bitten off more than I can chew. I purposely went to a field where I never see the Farmer (too idle to phone him) and guess what ?  head down a half dug hole and he appeared in front of me.
It seems he bought the old Farm House in the next field for his Son and they've been re-building/furbishing it. He saw me and bingo it came to him that I might be able to help.  His Son was there last week-end helping with the labouring and lost his Wedding ring.  Dad only knew the general area and took me to it. OMG  here lies the problem.  Son was clearing rocks and rubble and general building grot to an ever increasing pile around the back of the building. Imagine what's in the pile, old wires, pipes, copper and lead, aluminium lined insulating material, in fact everything you could think of that will give a good signal.
We skirted around part of it and my Deus was putting R2D2 to shame. Anyway he said he'd ask his Son exactly where he was working and what sort of ring it is and I said I'd do some home work and go back Saturday for a good look. I also noticed there was a big skip, nearly full.  Dad has already phoned and told me the ring is platinum not gold.
Now the problem I've got is how to go about the search. Is it even possible, should I even attempt it with the Deus or revert to the Safari, can I manage it on my own, what setting should I use, what does platinum register.  Should I dive for cover and hope he doesn't notice 
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Val

[Mike]

sounds like mission impossible to be honest val , with all that metallic debris ur in deep doo doo for sure , don't think it will matter what machine or settings u use theres just 2 much metal about . you could try working some of the junk out of the way or try small areas with a pinponter , aside that I think your doomed , doomed I say 

good luck 

[handyman [Alan}]

we had something similar up here ..  alost key to a hired JGB, .....   but there was no skip -- just a great big pile of bits and pieces, and i mean a big pile!   .... we got the landowner to scrape off each little bit and then gave him a detector [garrett 250], to search the pile as it was slowly dismantled, we stood over him on day 1 to instruct him on what to do, and then left him and his farmhand to it........ 3 days later we got the call that they had found the missing key!   ... thus avoiding a huge bill!

dunno if this helps ... but its a thought!

[Val Beechey]

Thanks for the confirmation Mike.  By the time I got home I was thinking the same.  I did think there was possibly one way and that was when they started clearing the rubbish.  Now if that had been me and my good Hubby it would have been into a skip by hand leaving all the small stuff at the bottom. But being Farmers I can see it will be a tractor with a big bucket on the front. Up Up and away.
I'd really love to find it for him. Dad has always been so nice to me.

That sounds like a good plan Alan. I might just suggest it to them. I think there's a good chance it might be in the skip though. Cold hands and chucking things about etc.

Val

[handyman [Alan}]

logically, it sounds as if the skip needs to be slowly emptied ... and  its up to them to do that, if they are really interested in recovering the ring. sounds like a discussion is to behad on the best way forward!  otherwise suggest they claim on insurance!!  or tell you where they are going to spread the skip waste!

[Val Beechey]

    good thinking Al.

Val

[Landyman]

You might have a chance if you use a detector that has a "learn" mode on it. Then if the farmer can supply a similar ring to the lost one you could use it to set the detector to only give a signal on similar items.
I dont think a Deus can do that. I know e trac can but dont know about other detectors.

I once used the learn method on an e trac to find a gold wedding ring for someone that had lost it amongst a load of rubbish and junk where a house had been pulled down.

[M111kca]

My white dfx and me would find it.use to detecting around piles of metal lol.if there on a farm they can flip a skip with the tractor aslong as its in there it's not a waist of time,that's ssying he asent misplaced it somewhere else.

[Val Beechey]

After sleeping on it and digesting what info. I have, I think the best I can do is, at least, go back, as arranged, tomorrow and meet up with the Farmers Son and discuss the options and explain the difficulties.
I would have loved to find the ring for him and still might.  The way I see it, being small it might work it's way down through the rubbish.  If they are really keen to recover it they might agree to scrape off the rubbish a layer at a time. Doing that we could look, run the detector over it and move onto the next layer.
With a bit of luck it could be left at the bottom, in the small stuff. Apart from the detector a good rake and a good pair of eyes might do the job. 

Val

[Chef Geoff]

I think your spot on Val get the larger rubbish out of the way even possibly sieve the small stuff at the bottom suggest they get some small gauge chicken wire and make up a large sieve swing like they use on excavations, it might sound extreme but chicken wire is cheap and the frame can probably be made from stuff already in the skip Compared to the value of a platinum ring I'd say it was worth suggesting, good luck

[Val Beechey]

I went, I saw, I failed.   It was to be expected but I came home with about 3kg lead 

No one there when I arrived, just a noted stuck on the door. I had intended to make my excuses and go down the beach but hey ho.  I set to with the Deus, lasted about 10 mins and went back to car for the Safari.  For the job in hand it was by far and away the best machine.
I spent 3 hours picking my way through the rubbish with the Safari on All Metal and investigated every interesting squeak. Alas the ring was not to be found. As best as I could I even scanned over the rocks and rubble. (that's when I found the lead) I'd been at it for about an hour when the Son came back.  He's not altogether sure were he lost it, could have been there or later when he was out cycling.
Anyway I did the best I could given the circumstances. I've left my phone number and instructions for them to give me a shout when they eventually get around to cleaning up.

Val

[celticspikey]

Val, credit where credit is due, well done for trying many wouldn't...myself included