Mad idea

For fun or to get rich? For fun, sure. To get rich? no.

Why would it not be possible? You could start by reading up on the detector types. And deciding to pick up other valuables too. Or you could decide to use your time much more profitably.

NT

Sure, it's possible. There's a team (in Kansas?) that has a tractor-pulled metal detector in use to find meteorites.

As for 'characterized for detecting gold', that's harder. Gold, magnetically, is just another conductor of electricity. If it's in the form of nuggets, maybe it's detectable at some depth, but if it's a hundred feet underground in flecks in a quartz seam, your detector won't be much of a finder.

Designing and building the gold-tractor is the fun part, the 18 months of reading dusty geology texts, not so much.

For fun only.To find ancient, or not so ancient gold coins/ artefacts. Depth? maybe 20-30 cm ?

As long as we're still doing mad ideas why not make it gas-electric half-track?

Pass...

"Steve's Guide to Gold Nugget Detectors" There is no such thing as a "gold only" detector. These detectors will also find lead, copper, aluminum, and other metals.

A large diameter coil will cover a larger area, but not penetrate any deeper into the ground than a smaller coil. The magnetic field looks like a torus (donut) field running around the circumference of the loop. Whether the loop is a small or large diameter, the radius of the torus field, which is also the depth, is roughly the same.

Dig through the photos and see if you can find anything that looks close to your idea:

generally it's a good idea to keep metal away from the detector coil, I guess wooden or plastic wheels could work, or a long wooden chassis. a robot to search the beach a night?

I think tracks are a poor choice for a beach/desert environment and a relatively lightweight vehicle. Think dune buggy - big low pressure knobby tires.

Yes, that sort of thing.... and farmer's fields...

Yes, soft spongy tyres would also be simplest.

Thanks for the links!

I've not dropped very many gold doubloons into my field. There are probably various nuts, bolts and washers that have fallen off my tractor/ attachments. (And maybe a beer can :^)

George H.

I'm thinking something with six wheels, with drive wheels in the center and complementary rack-and-pinion steering on the front and rear axles would give it tight turning radius while simplifying the drivetrain design.

I'm not a mechanical engineer but I did come in 3rd place in the Pinewood Derby.

I had found a beer can in the yard about a year ago next to a tree. Tree growth and soil erosion brought it to the suface. Can't figure out who put it there, as it was burried under a inch or two of soil. Rusty Steel with the old pull tab, plus distinct red/white paint. I figure it was buried some time in the early 70's before Al cans were introduced.

Cheers

Hamster funeral?

A variation on the "metal detector" technique is used from aircraft (helicopter and fixed-wing). It involves big coils with large currents that induce current in the ground. By doing some complex post-processing and inversion you can get a map showing anomalies and geophysicists can map it to known structures.

There are lots of issues in getting even this very simple idea right- the aircraft have to be electromagnetically quiet to get the response and there are issues with eddy currents in unwanted places.

Most of the easy stuff has been found, and new places for exploration are pretty nasty- mud-filled, jungle, on slopes, in violent dangerous unstable countries etc.

--sp

Most sources of raw gold have been found, but you might be surprised how much of the refined stuff you can find from time to time if you can get access to beaches where the wealthy like to hang out on the regular.