sjmpainter

If you make your wand sectional use a good pvc tape to seal the joints!

I would use a sixe hose that will fit common shop vac nozzles, I can see a crevis tool being a good idea for the cracks.

I think two pumps is a good idea. You don't have to turn on the second if its not needed. For that matte you can add it later if needed. Those are expensive pumps 100-200 each.

As far as plug ups, you are going to have em! You are basically long arm dredging and when I'm doing that verse diving my plug up are 10000% more.

One idea for that may be to add a ball valve to your nozzle IE shut it off, break the suction. rock dislodges.

It will work! The question is will it preform to your expectations.

Just remember your wand has to stay submerged as well, as soon as that wand breaks the water surface you change the dynamics of a sub surface recovery system.

Really looking forward to seeing a battery powered sub surface dredge.

For what you are after I would put the jet at the back end so I could have a 4 foot long ridged wand/nozzle at the other. 

On my Sub Surface dredge I have a pressure feed nozzle on it to give the gold time to fall out of suspension but for sucking up lead slugs I don't see it being important. And you said you want the business end not to interfere with you detector.

I bought a new dredge last fall and I'm fixing it up for cold weather dredging. Added drain plugs, TinyTac, new matting float plugs, some paint and hot water.

Now I'm working on the hoses. I am going to add CamLoc fittings for the pump intake and pressure sides.

My question is what to do with the jetlog inductor ports?????

Anyone have an idea that worked well for them?

Last fall I used RV antifreeze. worked great.

The drain plugs are vintage plugs I found on Ebay, I used those because everything I found local was a lot larger and as you pointed out the possibility of breaking them off is great.

I was a little nervous adding the drain plug, 400 dollar pump and all. So I drilled a scrap piece of aluminum and tapped that for a test run. That went well so I moved on to an old P100 pump that I had in the bone pile. Really glad I did the extra step. What I came to relies, with the odd shape and rough casting on the pumps my drill bit ended up walking all over the place. Butchered the P100 pretty good.

My solution for this was to use a bench grinder with table to flatten the spot I drilled.

Punched the hole with the drill press. I did clamp the pump with two wooden hand clamps to make  sure things stayed straight and perpendicular.

Next I clamped the pump (wood jig and all) in the vice and used a hand tap to make the threads.

Finally installed the plug. (used thread sealer)

Wile I was set up I did four pumps.  

Installed drain plugs today. Pretty easy once I got going?

You can certainly use a jet log to run the system, I would look into a efficient jet to reduce/maximize the pump battery size weight. google infinity jets / circle jet. That jet requires 30% less pump to run it.

Remember if you keep the system sub surface you reduce the needed energy to run the system.

Keene sells stand alone dredge pumps.

Thanks guys. I have a old pump that is trashed, I'll practice on that first.

OK -  new idea. Take a three gal. bucket mount your 4000 gph pump in the lid put a baffle in the bucket and a filter for the pump mount a 1 1/2 inch hole for a suction tube and a wand. Basically pump the bilge (3gal bucket) and use the suction created to pick up bullets.

This would be a basic wet vacuum cleaner. Might just be the ticket?

You could mount it in a small inter tube and let it float.

Or you could just buy this really cool little dredge

Curious to see what you come up with.

Steve, you stated you installed drain plugs on your pumps. I picked up some 1/4 inch drain cox's to install on my pumps. Any words of wisdom before I go drill my pumps? Little nervous about this.

Steve's  idea is the most feasible. I would mount the bilge pump right to the suction nozzle and mount the strainer (use a dredge foot valve) on the nozzle. If you need  depth you can mount an handle with metal detector type arm clamp and a post handle with a push button on switch on top. Belt mount the battery in a waterproof box and use ip68 connections.

Here is some good reading on the subject.http://www.gouldeng.com/gettingbestper.htm.

I would not try to extend the lift tube to 8 foot. I feel the size of pump/battery to power that would be really heavy?

WE expect a full mock up by the end of next week 

Have you tried a pick up tool?

I could live with that set up. Looking at my exhaust on my GX 200, it must have been a trick to pack that tube in the exhaust shroud?

Any reason you are not using the factory side port?

This is a good picture it shows the sluice adjustment for the older dredge. Wish my dredge had that, sliding the box on the rail dose not work well!

Keep me up to date on the" on demand" idea. I've looked at that but not sure that is the way I want to go.

Sure would have liked to see that gal dumping a pot of hot water down the suit - bet that was a site

Getting the new dredge ready to go. I added boat plugs to the floats and replaced the stock carpet with deep v matting and miners moss.

Oh a little paint too!!!!

Went to the claim at Canyon Creek last week to see how things look. I was surprised to see some creek open.

Being I have a bad case of spring fever I have decided on spring dredging this year so thanks for the post.

Anyone know where to get a water heater for the dredge? Not looking to set up a heated wet suit just want a bucket of hot water to warm the hands in.

So if you make the four new forums,detecting coins, jewelry, relics and minerals. Where do we post about other stuff like general prospecting other than with a metal detector?

I do like the idea of one forum as almost all the subjects have been interesting.

My two cents would be to add to the archive and open that to new post.

Maybe the question should be why are we not posting on the other subjects as much?

Now that winter is here things are slowing down for me and I plan to get some of my summer dredging stuff posted, but those post are quite an oddity here. Sometimes I hesitate to post that stuff but the likes I have received tell me you guys are ok with it.

I really can see others and potential new members not wanting to break the ice and deiced to move on.

Id be really curios what others think.

Contact Garrett and send it in for warranty work. I wore a hole thru the tip on mine. Garrett sent me a new one. I think it has a twelve month warranty.

Start with education -  period. Then a gold pan. Everything else is after that.( Fist Full Of Gold) is a good book to start with.

Once you understand how and where to sample you will find colors with the pan. If you find a few colors, keep panning. If you find a few gains maybe a sluice. If you find a few grams bring in a dredge. If you find a few ounces, give me directions so I can solve that problem for you.

When you start out- determination is the most important thing to keep in mind. Finding the first gold is daunting but once you get to that point it will come easier.

Good Luck.

Have you thought about Caribou Creek recreational panning site? Access is a bit of a walk but it dose not get much attention and might be a good choice.

11 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Can't say I miss all the dredging gear. I still have a drysuit, some sniping tools, sluice boxes, etc. that I am thinking of selling off. I would just rather metal detect these days than work in the water and that is a good thing in the Lower 48. In Alaska unfortunately nugget detecting opportunities are very limited so all that other equipment is needed.

Uncle Steve, Dose this mean you are ready to give up your black book of secret dredging spots?

Let me know when you decide to sell off. Hate to see that but I do understand, I can see the writing on the wall myself.

5 hours ago, tvanwho said:

SJM, you must be under 45 years old yet? Most of us pushing 60 are downsizing to 2 inch dredges and mini- hibankers as our bodies object to the heavier gear. Heck, I could barely lift my drill case today, damn elbow pain...looks like we will mostly be old timers on this forum in a few more years whether we admit to it or not...might better start writing our memoirs soon....

Tom, you must have a crystal ball! Hopefully I do well enough to have some exciting post. If I can't be out finding gold it's nice to read about other members adventures.

Been waiting to hear about your 2 inch dredge. Did you get a chance to give it a go?

Steve, I am at the point I have to make the hard choice on what to keep as well. Problem for me is not just metal detectors but dredges, sluices, ect. But my goal for the year is to get organized.

One thought I have been working towards is a master checklist for different activities. That way I can scan the list for items I need to take or may be forgetting.

Last weekend I took my Gold Racer out of the back seat of the truck and leaned it against the fence to clear a spot for my dog. Can you guess what I forgot Shure had fun with my dog

Tom, you are probably the most organized guy on the forum. I got to ask what is the floating sifter? Sounds interesting I may need one.................

Here is a picture of my dredge trailer. Put a deck in it so I can pack a lot of gear. Managed to get a  4 inch dredge on the bottom. Two 2 inch dredges and my 4 inch subbie on the upper deck. I also have a shelf in the front for gas cans and other misc. gear.

Guy's I am starting to acquire a lot of prospecting stuff and it is scattered all over the place. This year I am going to make a effort to get it together and would like to know what everyone else is doing. Do you just heap up the shed or is the closet stuffed full? Mabey you built a display rack to hold all the metal detectors? Any way I would appreciate any ideas while in the planning stage.

At this point I plan to weed out any unused stuff( if I can find it) The rest is headed for totes according to prospecting task and the detectors will get a rack to keep safe. I want to have specific packs set up for the different tasks for grab and go scenarios. And will probably end up with a corner of the shed.

Not really sure how I ended up with all this crap, but I sure do know it snuck up and bit me in the donkey.

Welcome to the forum Tim, Good to see locals getting on board with the forum. I would like to hear about Pettersvile a bit so please post some adventures if you would.

I can imagine with spring here not getting in is a bummer. With this weather it shouldn't be long. I have not seen a wolverine in ages. Very Cool!