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Gold Fox Lil Monster Deluxe Trommel / Sluice


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I'm not much of a sluicer. I'd rater be looking for nuggets with my detector. I like gold I can pick up with my fingers lol. My wife bought a small Keene sluice box several years ago and we set up a recirculating system at home where we could run some dirt at our leisure just for fun. I never really liked my home made set up. Although it worked it was slow..It was like a mini high banker made with stuff I got at the local hardware store. I  was wanting something more efficient. In my search I found Gold Fox USA. There is also an Australian version that is the same company with a dealer who distributes for them in Oz. 

I wont go into a lot of boring detail...you can go to their web site and face book page or youtube for that...However I would like to say that so far I am very happy with this little set up. I can run unclassified material through this sluice extremely fast. The trommel is five inches in diameter. I've only used it three times so far and time will tell on how durable it is but it seems to be very well built. The company has many different sizes and options available. They are fast and get the product to you when they say they will. If you have a question Kelly the owner will get on the phone and answer it for you. 

The Lil Monster Deluxe comes with a 12v 2000 GPH pump. You supply your own power. I am using a RV deep cycle battery that I had laying around. I also bought a 700 GPH 12v pump and am using the two pumps together. The reason being is the material I am running is mostly clay and I wanted more water to help break it down. The only thing you have to watch is that the jets that supply the trommel will get plugged with organic material. They are easy to clean. In fact if you turn off the water supply to the hopper so it feeds the jets only...the water pressure is enough to flush them clean most of the time.  Give them a look. 

https://www.goldfoxusa.com

https://www.facebook.com/goldfoxusa/

strick 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

  • 7 months later...

does it catch more gold than a small highbanker ? Does it wash the rocks and clay better than a highbanker? The trommel barrel seems kinda short vs others on the market? What does the machine weigh? Sure wish somebody had a shootout between several of these little trommels/highbankers/ recovery mats, like they do with new car comparisons. Wonder why they have such long legs? I'd like to have it bank mounted and run a small dredge hose into the intake if its possible.  Small dredges are no good for much lifting of material tho.

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I am sure you could contact the manufacturer via their website link above for answers to your questions Tom. Having used, sold, and eyeballed a lot of devices over the years this looks to be a quality well-designed product that I have little doubt functions well as a gold recovery device. There is always a basic trade one is making. At low volumes, in this case hand fed, you can get superb gold recovery. However, you have little volume. Other devices offer more volume, but retaining high recovery rates is difficult at higher volumes without adding undue expense and weight. Good designs usually have to be customized for particular types of soil, clay, rock, and the type of gold sought. Usually one will sacrifice some gold recovery as an absolute percentage in order to process higher volumes, because in placer mining volume is usually what pays the bills. But high volumes at poor recovery rates are counterproductive so it is a balancing act.

Due to the small volumes processed a lot of genuine miners would consider this more a cleanup device than a primary mining tool. For us folks with 5 gallon buckets of material it may however be just the ticket. Like strick I prefer a detector these days but were I to lose my mind and decide to move dirt again I'd be considering this. If you are not using a drywasher being able to recirculate water is almost mandatory for many locations these days.

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My shoulder aches lately are making it hard to do anything with detecting or shoveling. Atho, it almost looks like the pain is coming from the use of my computer mouse somehow? If my elbow is not supported, the shoulder pain gets really bad .At work its not an issue cause I sit up straight and have a desktop to support both elbows. At home, I slouch, and the shoulder pain gets really bad without desktop elbow support.  Guess its my own fault I hurt sometimes but it makes mining a lot harder then too...

Small volumes of dirt are where I am at in mining. under 5 buckets a day ,if that. Heated car seats work wonders on lower back pain I recently discovered, even better than advils.

 

My buddy says to stop buying more mining junk as its a waste of money and more stuff to cart around. He may have a point there plus it gets expensive. I recently gave unused gear to our club to raffle off.Was hard to let it go but I wasn't using the stuff .

No drywashers needed in wet Indiana and Illinois. I better quit rambling here. But winter is boring.At least its mild this year.Only 1 snow since October, extremely unusual !!! mid Jan temps in 30-50 range, should be 0-30  normally and piles of snow.

 

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Good news,

I have a  blue Goldfox Trommel with sluice on its way, used but 1/2 retail price. I will supply the mats and water pump. These things never show up on Ebay or any other Prospecting stuff for sale websites .I was lucky the mfgr had 2 used ones. 650 shipped price with paypal.

If it doesn't work out, should be able to sell it quick. Retail was 1200. The mfgr agreed to update it to all the features of the latest units. It will have 3/8 inch holes in the barrel, full set of legs.I will use my Johnson 2200 gph bilge pump with it that pulls a measly 7 amps.

Will try some Dream mat or carpet and expanded in the sluice.

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  • 1 year later...
On 1/13/2020 at 5:38 PM, tvanwho said:

Good news,

I have a  blue Goldfox Trommel with sluice on its way, used but 1/2 retail price. I will supply the mats and water pump. These things never show up on Ebay or any other Prospecting stuff for sale websites .I was lucky the mfgr had 2 used ones. 650 shipped price with paypal.

If it doesn't work out, should be able to sell it quick. Retail was 1200. The mfgr agreed to update it to all the features of the latest units. It will have 3/8 inch holes in the barrel, full set of legs.I will use my Johnson 2200 gph bilge pump with it that pulls a measly 7 amps.

Will try some Dream mat or carpet and expanded in the sluice.

Hey Tom, any update on your Gold Fox trommel. Been looking at their products and contacted Kelly yesterday with some volume questions...the 5" Deluxe model can process 3/4 tons of material per hour, more than enough for 1-2 folks working hard. Are you primarily working heavy clay material or sand & cobbles? How long does it run before the battery slows it down with a 7 amp draw on one 2200 pump? Thanks,

Bill 

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  • 2 months later...

These trommels look cool, I have found they make at least four different versions costing from around $1100 to $2250, I’m gonna get me one! My back is waiting in anticipation.

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