sjmpainter Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Well got the dredge fixed up as much as I'm gonna! Springs here and I got the fever. So in we go. Took the dredge in assembled just skidded it in on the float and pulled it with a snowmobile. That was nice with all the snow it was about a mile in. Getting the dredge into the canyon was another deal. Although not to bad lowered it in with a rope and a pulley. Made for a long day but I was glade we got it in before the snow melted, skidding everything was a lot easier than packing in. Went up the following weekend to try out the new six inch dredge! Had big plans to get in early Saturday and work late, figured I could get 8-10 hours on the nozzle. LOL! Well its been a long winter and seems I'm a bit outta shape. After four hours of dredging in the cold I was done! All in all I had a blast. The new dredge really put out compared to the four inch I've been using. Even got a few grams for the effort. May not seem like much but after being cooped up all winter and seeing all the gold post from down south and across the pond........ I was getting Bitchy ;-) P.S. Hope the snow pics helps you down in Texas. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Nice, that is still some good gold for the first time out this year. It will only get better!! Sliding dredges on snow is pretty easy, just like a sled. The runners on the bottom keep it going straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Herschbach Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Great post and photos, thanks. I miss the dredging but I sure don't miss the cold! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvanwho Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 I am glad you got the snow that missed us this winter, mostly. Nice color. I have yet to get out and test that 2 inch dredge I built last year. Still waiting for my big toe to heal up.Had the nail removed permanent like , was tired of painful ingrown nails from after prospecting trips. we are having 70's weather and sunny this week, YIPPEE !!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Alaska Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 21 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said: Great post and photos, thanks. I miss the dredging but I sure don't miss the cold! Cold? Sure Steve, you lived in the banana belt. In Fairbanks spring dredging fever comes early. In 1997 I decided to make an early trip, needless to say, the water was quite "stiff." Chain sawing through 2 1/2 feet of ice was not much fun. Didn't get to do any dredging this day. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjmpainter Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 Steve, dredge is at the creek - Any time your ready. LOL Jim, I actually thought about taking chainsaw in this winter. Then I came to my senses. I got to ask did you end up dredging under the ice? And was it worth it? Glad to know this brings back good times for you guy's. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjmpainter Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 Headed up last Saturday by myself. My dredge buddy had birthday parties for the kids. With all the ice coming down the river I decided not to put the six inch dredge in, incase I couldn't get it back out, instead I ran my subsurface dredge. The water ran very cloudy and I think I nocked my goggles in the river when I lunched the dredge so I was long arm, blind dredging. Ran for about 20 minuets and had to make an emergency stop. Coffee gets me every time Checked the box to see how things looked. (Best part of a small dredge is you can do a clean out really fast). Anyway found a nice little picker in the mix. 1-2 gram. Well that got me motivated a bit so I cleared overburden from a 10 x 10 area in the next few hours. Getting a bit cold and tired I stopped to check the box. Pretty packed from hogging material not much there so cleaned her out and took a motivational break. I'm finding you really have to CON - vince oneself to keep dredging in cold temps. Spending the last few hours clearing a nice big area of overburden and thinking of that nice little picker I got - well I got back in there and gave it the "Old Hail Mary". I just knew my effort was going to be well rewarded if I cleaned the bedrock good. Boy was I getting tired and the ice drifts were floating down and wacking me and the dredge. WHEW- prospecting is starting to be a lot of hard work! At about 5pm I got a solid plug in the hose and I had cleaned most of the nooks and crevis in the area, so I said enuf. Time to see the reward. Crawled out of the hole and to the dredge I went. #@!&*** I see my hose sitting in a way that it looked fine from were I was dredging, BUT it popped of the sub surface tube and I had spent the last few hours dumping what ever treasure I just sucked up- back into the river!!!!! ( pretty sure it was a multi ounce loss ) Here is a picture of the little nugget that got me to do a lot of practice, I think i'm gonna name this one. " FOOLS GOLD" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjmpainter Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 On 4/25/2017 at 4:14 PM, tvanwho said: I am glad you got the snow that missed us this winter, mostly. Nice color. I have yet to get out and test that 2 inch dredge I built last year. Still waiting for my big toe to heal up.Had the nail removed permanent like , was tired of painful ingrown nails from after prospecting trips. we are having 70's weather and sunny this week, YIPPEE !!! Tom, I know about things that need to heal up! After last Saturdays outing I need the swelling to go down on my EGO. Keep me posted on that 2 inch dredge. Curious how that dose for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_Alaska Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 7 hours ago, sjmpainter said: Steve, dredge is at the creek - Any time your ready. LOL Jim, I actually thought about taking chainsaw in this winter. Then I came to my senses. I got to ask did you end up dredging under the ice? And was it worth it? Glad to know this brings back good times for you guy's. No I never did get to dredge under the ice. Once I got a hole cut there was not enough water between the bottom of the ice and the river bed. I didn't cut a very big hole once I saw how little water there was. I just keep that picture to remind me of crazy younger days. I did lots of crazy things back then that I would not even dream of now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvanwho Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 We did a trial run of a homebrew 3 inch dredge down at Lake Michigan one year in Chicago, in JANUARY !! The waves ,as they rolled in, would instantly freeze to solid ice. I don't know how my buddy talked me into going down there with him that day? I think we dredged up a quarter just hit or miss in the swim area by the beach we went to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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