Gold Hound

Thanks Guys.

Dale, I noticed while visiting Oz that transport is set-up for being on one's own. Chargers, solar-power and freezers everything to provide for a long term stay in the beautiful vast spaces of OZ...you folks have it figured out for sure!

 

fred

We have to have it right as we live out of the car and rely on it to keep our fridge, freezer, detector battery's, lighting and heaps of other stuff running for extended stays that last months.

 

Nothing worse than coming back to your car and your freezers thawed, your fridge is hot and ya car wont start!

And to top it off ya cant roll start it because your on a flat!

 

Stuff up like that could kill you in the areas we go to.

Love the video, the music not bad but suspect like Paul I`m an old Codger, Only two kinds of music Country & Western.  For Paul and I a request, maybe a bit of Ozies Slim and some, say Marty Robbins or Johnny Cash. But I`ll watch your videos even if you`ve got Sesame Street in background.

Bit of a Jonny Cash fan myself might put a but of cash in the next vid mate 

My sweep speed would be way too fast if i listened to that music---hahahahaha

 

I would have to take my Geritol.. 

 

Give me some more videos!!!!!

I think you are getting a big fan base over here.... i love watching those rippers come out of the ground.....big or small----me likes them all !!!

 

 

paul

 

PS I am from Tennessee..... country music capital--(although todays C/W aint what it used to be----(is anything)

Hillbilly !!!

Just try not to mix it with Viagra.............. or we'll have to scrape you off the ceiling!

Thanks Guys

I thought that Australia was the only place black opal came from.

Yours looks very similar to ours I'll dig up some photos of opal and Sapphire I have mined.

 

Here is the last parcel I sent they are all over 1ct there is just over 1000ct cut in the picture.

The container is a larger ceramic baking tray to give you an idea of scale, over $200,000 in the photo.

I got $14000 alone for the 6ct gold one just down from the top left.

 

Cant find my opal photos at the moment.

 

 

Mine worked fine for my CTX since its release, I've never had any issues.

But I'm running 3x 120ah deep cycle battery's in my car + the cranking battery.

And the ZED charger hasn't given me any problems yet.

It must have something to do with an in-adequate power supply, every one who has this issue seems to have smaller battery's in their car.

Inverters do use extra power but its not over the top, if the inverter is draining your battery it is definitely inadequate.

I would consider getting a decent sized deep cycle battery and a charging regulator.

If you are charging off your cars starting battery it is not ideal for prolonged power draw, as its a cranking battery.

Its not the minelab charger, in all of the other cases I have seen I identified the cranking battery inadequacy as the culprit. 

I didn't think you guys got opal over there.

Does your opal have color play like ours does?

I've found some nice opal in the desert here in aus, we get black opal and crystal opal and yowah nuts.

 

Do you guys get Ruby and Sapphire as well? I used to mine sapphire for a while, found heaps of nice ones getting a parcel cut at the moment.

PAUL!!!!!Dude,that is Perfect Circle...as in Maynards other band than TOOL. ...blasphemy!! Oh, the gold is cool too,lol.

 

Maynard is the best!!!!!!!!!!!

Love the gold and the enthusiasm....

 

Not to keen on the music---but hey....i could always turn it down right?

 

Beautiful 2 ouncer !!!!

Come on Paul

Crank it up! 

Get a bit of youth anti establishment culture in to ya!

If Tool and A Perfect Circle don't get ya detecting arm swinging nothing will 

IN GOLD WE TRUST

 

14" is that sweet size, the allrounder, I don`t think it was just a coincidence the GPZ came with a 14", Minelab knows.

I've been hammering any minelab guys that I meet for years with that info and 100's of other suggestions that I have to improve their detectors.

Ya never know, I'm planting seeds at every opportunity I get.

I was thinking the very same last night, even better they made one for the tdi. I have being looking for a 14" for my tdi but by the time you get one shipped from the US to Europe and put customs duties on top they are just to pricey.

The best all-round oil for the tdi would be a smaller one like 11in mono as it is not as sensitive to small gold nuggets as a gpx5000.

All detectors have different coils that are best in all-round performance you need to learn about your machine.

 

If you are using it for treasure in europe I would consider a larger coil like the 18 x 15in sef.

A larger dd coil on a pulse induction detector is deadly on hammered coins and large deep items in europe.

Good to hear of your positive experience Dale. I have a couple DeTech coils but never used one on my Minelabs. We can certainly use some price competition in accessory coils for the Minelab PI detectors so the more the merrier. We do not hear too much about these because so many dealers are already heavily invested in Nugget Finder or Coiltek.

 

Its a pity they never made a 14in mono coil for the GPX, I'd have bought one straight away as the 14in is the best all round coil for the 5k.

Hi Steve

I run the 18in SEF DD as my standard coil for treasure hunting in Europe on my GPX4800.

Its a good stable coil that punches deeper than a standard dd, perfect for anything from a single small hammered coin up to large deep items or a cache.

Its been flogged and never developed any touch sensitivity.

Detech is based in Bulgaria so its probably better to buy direct than import from Aus.

The sef were also my go to coils when I used the etrack. 

 

A mate runs a few of the mono's on the 5k and swears by them.  

Yes the 4 Runner was an OZ model few years back, taken off the OZ market  before the Prado was introduced. Had a top rep as all Toyotas do here in OZ, in fact you drive down any highway in OZ, Toyotas would have to be the most popular by far and every second in the bush or better. I went down from the larger Toyota to the Hilux for its lightness and narrowness and nimbleness as Steve has found, but think it appears they may be now made for lighter duty than the bush bashing we require.

 

I`ll report back on this after I take it up with Toyota, because it is relevant to our fever. See if they answer my emails or are like Minelab in that dept.(gotta have a shot at Minelab at every opportunity  ) Thinking back my first Toyota was a Stout back in early 70`s. The Stout was the forerunner to the Hilux but only in 2WD and 30cwt. I love my Toyotas and rely on them as much as my Minelabs. The theme to the Toyota TV ads in OZ is "Oh what a feeling" not sure I agree with it at the moment.

 

Strange the diesel Toyotas aren`t everywhere in US, reckon that`d have something to do with your big manufactures influencing the Govt. We have very few locally produced 4WDs, well even cars too in OZ. Not sure but think sleeping in front seat downunder is "resting" too, well it`ll do.

 

My Hilux with its turbo direct injected diesel pulls a mates 19ft boat surprisingly easy up and down the great divide. Toyota have progressed a lot with that little diesel, Dale yours would be the indirect injected I suspect as in Missus Prado.

Its not that it wont pull the weight its the handling and stopping is adversly affected once you go over the tonne.

Im not talking about in a road towing situation, I'm talking about on rough bush tracks.

Here is my old 4-Runner in Alaska. It was a 2005 but after years of Alaska wet weather and salted roads was getting some body rust, so I sold it when I moved south with 170,000 miles on it. Upgraded to a used 2008 6 cyl with "only" 75,000 miles on it. I have towed 3000 lbs with it and it does ok but but it cuts the gas mileage in half.

I sleep in the front seat a lot. There are many places where camping is not allowed, but in the U.S. sleeping in the front seat of your rig is "resting" not "camping".

Thanks Steve.

They do appear to be the same chassis.

That no camping rule must suck! I never listern to what the stupid government says when it comes to stupid laws like that.

I had the cops try bother and move me on when I stopped on the side of the road in between country towns on a long commute between Sydney and the central Australian desert.

I just said that I got sleepy all of a sudden.

Then asked if I should drive when I was at high risk of falling asleep at the wheel?

They said that I should not!

Then they just left me alone as they have a duty of care.

We call an interesting rock an F.L.R. (funny looking rock) my wife and I have collected FLR's for years last time when we moved house they were a real headache to pack and move I reckon there is 3 tonne of them.

My favorite's are rocks that are close to a perfect sphere they are very rare.

But we will collect any that look like somthing too or mineral specimens.

Hi Steve

I think your 4runner is the same as what we aussies call a hilux but yours is a sedan and ours is a utility.

I run a 2004 model hilux as my prospecting rig, and its served me well!

Like you say its narrow width is handy in some areas, and its chassis flex helps a lot in climbing up rugged hills.

They are easily one of the most competent 4x4 available, but they do not tow or carry over 1 tonne very well.

Tremain runs a landcruser and it carries the weight a lot better but they are not as capable as the hilux in very rugged terrain or sand.

Because we spend so long living out of the car carrying weight is a major priority for us and after seeing how Tremain's cruiser handles the weight I am going to get a diesel cruiser next.

I thought that you guys might all use some ford or gm or somthing we don't get over here.

No we dont...we have the fj, the tacoma, tundra, and four runner. No diesels. There is one company I found thats importing used here.

Im a fan. Have a 1971 fj40, since 1987, and a 1979 hilux.

Mate you cannot get a better 4x4 for prospecting than a toyota Land cruiser diesel.

What is the most common/best 4x4 used in Yankee land?

Ive seen some pretty cool looking Yankee riggs on the tv.

I heard that the later model hilux's have a common problem with the fuel pump that is easily rectified with an aftermarket job, may be you should look into it Vic.

My next car is goig to be a tubo cruiser as they carry the heavy load's that we constantly carry a lot better but the hilux has been very good to me!

You might be interesed to know that I get all of my spare parts from Don Kyat 4x4 spares.

They are MUCH cheaper than any other spare part company and go out of their way to help you.

Like express couriering parts to you in remote contry towns.

And their parts are all top quality.

Example for $35aud I can buy a sevice kit that has: oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, injector cleaner.

You'd be lucky to get the oil filter alone for that at any other part place!

Yeah the Cruisers are tough and the Hiluxs were until that put those bloody ifs on front. You folks don`t have them over there?

Im running a 2004 hilux diesel Vic

I've never had any thing break like that and I've done 340 000km now nearly all hard bush driving and corrugated dirt freeway.

And it has a constant minimum load of 500kg due to my custom canopy with solar system, fridge, freezer, 300l of diesel 80l petrol, 120l water ect ect, plus all the gear needed for an extended trip so its not unusual to be over 900kg.

The ifs has never given me any problems, but I'm a stickler when it comes to maintaining it!

For example every 100000km I change all suspension bushes, shocks, springs, wheel bearings front/rear, ball joints, belts, clutch, fluids, ect ect.

The only things I've had break on me is 1x rear diff and 1x spigot bearing and clutch and 1 rear wheel bearing.

Replacing wear components BEFORE they break is much preferable to replacing them when they break in the middle of farken know where stuck on some steap ass hill!

Ive found that if you minus about 30% off the usual life of the componant and replace it at that interval that you will never have many problems.

And it is infact cheaper to do this maintenance like I do rather than waiting until it breaks which will oftern be before the usual service life of the part.

HILUX un bloody breakable......... Oh yea!

Gold Hound,

Man, those are some heavy duty picks! Nice work!

I will check out the leaf spring steel. My reality is that I don't get out in the field a fraction of the time you do and at this rate it would take me years to wear out the ones I made. Always looking for a better way for any project. Thanks for the tips and for posting the pics of  your picks.

 

Dean

 

 

P.S.- What is your pipe/ handle diameter?

I use 3mm wall thickness 40mm diameter steel tube then I just squash it in a vice until its oval shaped to take the end of the handle, which is a sledge hammet handle 1m long American hickory.

Some pics of my picks made out of 4x4 leafs

I usually make about 10 at a time and the lucky few get to own them.

I use 1m long hickory handles and the head is 450 long.

They are only for real men who need to dig deeeep holes.

 

I use 4x4 leaf springs.

I like ones that came off a jap car like toyota as they use very high quality steel.

I get them for free from 4x4 suspension place they have bins of old ones at nearly all of them.

They are spring steel so it flexes rather than breaking or breaking the handle.

I've never broken one made from 4x4 leafs yet!

I make my wife's out of car leafs as its a bit lighter for her to carry. 

 

Your picks will be fine until you need to break hard rock then you will notice the jarring I'm talking about.

The vibrations up the handle will hurt your hands.

They look good mate.

But they may have an issue with jaring when digging rock because you used flat steel rather than curved steel.

A flat pick head transfers the shock of the impact into the handle alot more than a cuved pick head dose.

That is why nearly all pick heads have a curved profile, its not for looks its a functional necessity to eliminate jaring.

I build all of my own picks too, because none of the commercially available ones can last over 2 months in our crew but we get around 6-8 months out of my home built ones.

And out of the handle materials I found American hickory to be the best for our handles, it is light and very strong and has a straight grain.

I tried various Aussie hardwood's but they are heavier and break alot more often.

So I've now settled on the hickory.