We all need to be aware of cables and propane lines.
The first thing you should say to the owner is, “are there any buried cables or lines I should be aware of?”
I’ve learned this, unfortunately, through cutting a couple Direct TV dish cables and nearly severing a propane line. Both are sometimes buried only 3 to 5 inches under the grass. ( City gas lines “should” be buried deeper than we usually dig, 15″+) And nothing cuts the soft underground cable of a satellite dish like a Sampson or Predator shovel. Worse, their cables produce a rather nice-sounding tone in your detector.
So when you arrive at a new permission:
- Ask the owner what to watch out for. Cable/Satellite wires. Invisible dog fence wires. Propane tank lines.
- Look around for a gas tank or satellite dish and follow a visual line to the house and just avoid that line.
- If you think a good signal might be a cable, swing a couple paces to the left or right to see if the tone is good in a straight line.
- Be especially aware as you get close to a house where the underground lines feed up into the structure.
- If you cut a wire, own up to it. Tell the owner immediately and offer to pay for repairs. They will appreciate your honesty! Our reputation is on the line, no pun intended.
Watch for a line of dead grass that indicates a recently buried cable.
[edit] By the way the featured image on this is a stock image, I realize that it shows a modern neighborhood and as someone pointed out, why would you detect that?
😮 Did that happen on the same day? Cutting the satellite cable AND the gas line?
Hehe no. Two separate hunts. I hit the gas line with my shovel but didn’t pierce it – no hiss. I also cut only halfway through the guys Dish cable, taped it up and he didn’t call me so I assume it still worked, lol, anyway I now scan around for gas tanks and dishes.