I am looking for a hand held wand type metal detector. I have some utility poles to cut on my band mill. Want to scan for nails , screws and hardware. Can anyone recommend a make and source.. Thanks old243

Here's a shot in the dark. Do you have a rental yard close to home? I saw an ACE Garrett 250 for rent@ my local rental yard. Hopefully one of the detector enthusiasts will chime in.

How thick are the poles? Those handheld detectors only have a range of 2-3 inches I think.

tiguy, The poles are up to 18 inch in diam, but I expect , the screws etc will be on or near surface. see some , that might be used to pat someone down at airport, those might be better. Thanks old 243

just buy a low$ price metal detector, you should be good to go

There are plenty of "el cheapo" metal detecting pinpointers online. The good ones are $100+, but for what you need, $20-30 should do the trick. I have one of the cheapos that I bought to see if I would like detecting before I invested in something better, and my upgrade is coming in the mail in a couple days. I'd be willing to cut you a deal on the cheapo, but shipping might make it cost prohibitive.

Here's a link to the one I have.

handheld metal detector

If you want, I could drill some screws deep into a log tomorrow and see if the detector will find them.

TLGUY, what detector did you end up getting?

i am pretty sure a pinpointer wont do what you want.
think they are made to find stuff in the hole you are digging, after ya found it with the big detector
www.kellyco.com is a good place to start looking

i looked again lol
https://www.kellycodetectors.com/catalog/handyman-nail-finder

Garrett Ace 300. Seemed like a no-brainer when I saw it included the Pro-Pointer AT plus another bonus Bounty Hunter pinpointer for only another $45 over the cost of the Ace 300 by itself.

DO NOT buy a GP pointer. They are trash to the TN trailer park level.