hey guys finished my dredge went to the coast to a claim for 3 days ran lots of dirt and done lots of test pans in holes seen color in tests but when we cleaned up where didnt seem to be as much as there shoud have been was told i might have put the expanded mesh in the wrong way what do u guys think have marked one side with black pen what do u guys think is the wright way cheers
it looks good to me i have min that way
You might need to put in a some punch plate to keep the rocks from sitting on the first few feet and washing away your fines. Having bigger rocks sitting at the first few feet will make a big difference in how much gold you end up with. Fine gold needs a different riffle angle then course gold and it takes longer to settle out. Might also need to play with your angle if you only getting fine stuff. Fines need a steeper angle, course need less of an angle. But I have never built a dredge so maybe I am not the best for advice. I run a 5in Proline and don’t have much angle on mine as I find very little fine gold, most of mine is smaller nuggets with NO black sand.
Good luck
GoldStampX
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cheers gold stamp i have a 13mm classifying mesh that goes on top of the expanded mesh as well but will look into some punch plate as most places only have fines unless u go higher up into the hills cheers
Just as long as your getting the rocks away from the first few feet of your box you will be sweet. Any rocks that ends up sitting in that first few feet will be helping to leave gold in the river for future generations to find. Mess or punch plate works as long as it’s stiff. Keene uses a heavy wire mess and Proline uses punch plate. 13mm sounds about right.
GoldStampX
was getting a few rock trapped under the damper rubber on top of the classifier but that was down to the biggers rocks coming up but once we learnt how to feed it it wasnt to bad just had to keep an eye on it but might look into some punch plate as well the rocks might slide a bit better on that and maybe the damper could be a bit long too
just tryed to upload a vid of it running but would not let me will try again later cheers
what size holes do u have in your punch plate
My holes are 1/4 inch or 13mm. Proline has 25mm thick or so rails that run down the sides to space it up above your mesh and a bolt with a wing nut that holds it down in the center. If rocks are getting stuck under your rubber matting it may be to long or you are not on a steep enough angle, or you are not running enough water. The joys of building your own dredge. I know that a Keene 4 runs pretty much full throttle. My dual 6.5hp Proline runs at 2700 rpm.
If you want a cheap tachometer send me a pm with your addy. I bought a few on ebay and there about 1/4 the price you pay down here for the same one. I would sell it for $15 if you want one. With a single motor you would only be using it for keeping track of your hours after you set your rpms.
Good luck
cheers dude what do u run under your punch plate moss or black rubber v matting cheers
I use miners moss with the backing. Don’t think it matters if it’s backed or straight moss.
cool cheers for all the info dude
Hi There
Are you running a power jet with the flare. If so you have to be really really careful on the set up as a block in the hose will cause your power jet to fire full noise up your flare and potential water blast your riffles clean, This is why I prefer the crash box :-).
hi there golden eel i am using a suction nozzle but have had a go on a jet flare and no wat ya mean cheers
Ok, if you have a hose that is ribbed, including the inside for double the pleasure, then it is quite exciting to dry out the hose and then beat it and shake it so that any material comes free into your gold pan. You will be surprised at how much gold is actually retained in ur tubing.
Hi east coast boys
Yes that way is correct in the photo if the water is moving from the orange side (left) to right. If you get it wrong way it won’t create low pressure zones for the gold to drop out think down stream side of a boulder. The last sluice i made has three, 3/4 inch clarkson riffles then a piece of heavy expanded 4’’ long then four 1/2 inch clarkson riffles then final some fine expanded. I prefer to use a combination of riffle types. Clarskon riffles are the way to go at the start then expanded. It does take a bit more flow to get the clarkson riffles working and not packing up but they will process material as fast as you can shovel. An Alaskan damper flap above the expanded will also help to smooth out the surface and any fines trapped in the air bubbles should drop out.
hi golden i am using a hose thats ribbed on the out side and smooth on the inside but still might give it a bash over the pan just incase cheers
hi bush basher what i mean about is the mesh the right way the mesh has 2 sides and if u flip it and turn it around the v is pointing upwards is there a correct side it should be on and have thought about a few riffles in to and there is a rubber mat for a damper thats not in the photo cheers
Not a great fan of expanded mesh I have seen gold jump down the box when rocks sit on the plate.But in all probability the spot was not a good one.