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  1. Tom, I'd like to see some pictures of gold from Indiana. If you can narrate it a bit for us that would be great?
  2. I was feeling sickly all year, still am, but winter will be here soon, so....I put in for a week off next week to play. I will be taking my homemade 2 inch suction nozzle dredge out for her maiden voyage in an Indiana creek. I need to know how to anchor the dredge so the creek doesn't take it when I let go of the hose? I will be dredging along an inside bend maybe 100 feet long x 25 feet out into the water and there are trees within 25 feet. This area was all 3-5 feet deep to visible bedrock a month ago. Now its all filled in with small gravels, no bedrock in sight. I happen to know the area upstream is gold bearing gravels so am hopeful this will be easy to dredge with few jams and gold to boot. The water is barely ankle to knee deep now. How long does it take for gold to settle down thru the gravels to bedrock after a flood, days, weeks, months, years? How do I find the paystreak? I do have a waterproof Garrett AT Pro, dunno if that's a waste of time or not? Do I just get to dredging a hole or is there a method to use? I don't want to dredge , then end up re-dredging my tailings. Just long arm dredging here, no air. I do have a plastic pipe I could attach to the nozzle to get down 3-4 feet. -Tom
  3. Published on Aug 15, 2017 - In this video we work on finding a promising area to set up the gold dredge and then get it up and running. We work it for a day. In the end, I pan out my concentrates, but did not capture the final pans. But I think it's an interesting video and I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did making it.
  4. I know, this has already been gone over but im looking for the most flexible not the toughest like most people want. Hello I'm looking for 6" suction hose. I have a proline 6" dredge and the hose I have is tough which means stiff. I'm trying to find the most flexible suction hose with matching ribs on the out side that is compatible with proline thing that threads on the outside of hose. I would like to add a 10' very flexible section. And sometimes use just the 10' for tight spots maybe even get 15'. Thanks in advance.
  5. This is an interesting dredge. I was really into subsurface dredges for portability. Keene for a brief time sold a set of inflatable pontoons, so I got a pair and in 1999 put this 5" subsurface dredge together. The frame was homemade out of stock aluminum, and the pontoons were held in place with plastic drums I split in half length-wise. The tube was a standard Keene 5" subsurface dredge tube of the time. The old black marlex version was a pain because the tray clipped on at the forward end. I had to reach into the middle of the assembly to release the clips, and then the tray would drop down in front. In current this was a problem for sure as the current would want to grab the tray and knock it down. The later granite gray marlex tubes were improved with the release clips at the rear, which were easy to grab from the back of the dredge. The rear of the tray would drop down and was easily slid out to the rear. Much better. 5.5HP Honda powered Keene P-180 pump with 5" suction nozzle. Nice dredge, very compact and light-weight. This was on the Mills Creek Cooperative claims on upper Mills Creek on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. We got a lot of nice gold in the stretch in the picture as a narrow canyon widened out at this point. Bob(AK) is a member of the forum, and he also did very well here. Another couple photos of the dredge taken with the crappy digital cameras of the day while being built in my back yard.
  6. Late to the thread I am, GB_A.. Before I dive in though, and/or to what extent, I need to know a couple of things -- welll, one for sure: Have you already committed to yourself about going after Indiana gold, or are you in the investigative stage still trying to determine if doing so is worth your time, effort and additional monitary investment..? While there is Au in Indiana, due to its typical sizing along with most of your bedrock's type/nature, the gold there isn't the easiest to recover.. Ergo, if you're wanting to do some placer-type recovery while starting from scratch equipment-wise it's fairly easy to drop a couple - few hundred and still not even have all the unpowered basics much less any situation-specific specialty harvesting tools/aids.. As long as those early $$s have been figured into the start-up budget, there is no problem.. Some people get taken by surprise though.. I don't figure you as one to get caught out like that.. But you are talking classifiers, which tend to be leading.. So yeah, I am curious as to where your head is with this possible addition... Swamp
  7. Ok so I live in tuolumne ca and i got a proline 6" dredge on order and will be picking it up in a few weeks. And I can't decide where to go? Looking for guidance on good out of state spots. I used to kill it arround here begore it went illegal. Not to say i ever stoped but im sick of sneaking arround! I have unfinished holes that are right off the side of the road, good half ounce a day holes! That I had to walk away from after having law enforcement chase us out. Used to be my only income. Really screwed me!!!! Any way I could botch about it all day.lol. I have some hard to get spot arround here I might go for but would like to take some vacations to somewhere legal
  8. I'm looking at buying a custom dredge, it has a honda 9hp with a Keene 3x4 450gpm pump coupled to a tri haul jet. My question is that it seems under powered? but I have never seen or heard of a tri haul jet. The claims are that it is equivalent to a typical 6 dredge with 16hp and a normal jet set up. Please help .
  9. I am inspired to write this post by sjmpainter and his recent dredging expedition. It looks like so much fun. The intent is to share dredging tips, practices and modifications. Currently I am going through my equipment in preparation to move back to Alaska this summer. So I will start with business end. I put an extension on all dredge nozzles to give leverage to maneuver. I have seen many variations but all of them that I have built are made from aerators because I liked the shape. One of these is on a 6" and the other is on a 4". When I first decided to do this it was because I was mining in an open cut where all the work is done by feel standing up. I used to take them off for river dredging but now I leave them on all of the time.
  10. This one sure brings back nice memories! My old Keene 5" dredge parked on lower Stetson Creek on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska in 1979. The first of many years dredging on this creek and on Cooper Creek, which Stetson feeds into. This was one of my more pleasant summers of dredging. The weather was nice, the water was low, the gold was good. This location was giving up about an ounce a day, better than the average on Stetson Creek. Mainly because of plentiful shallow bedrock. The gold is almost all on bedrock in Stetson Creek with little or nothing in the overburden. The more overburden you process, the less gold you get overall as a rule. This is because Stetson Creek is a classic gulch deposit, a very steep creek with waterfall after waterfall. Mother nature's giant sluice box, and the gold has been well settled and concentrated. The paystreaks were small and very well defined, move over just a foot and it was like crossing a line, you were in the gold and now you are out. There were large stretches of creek with smooth bedrock and so little gold you would think there was none in the creek if you got into one of those sections. The gold was nice - lots of jewelry gold buy nothing really big. The two pennyweight nugget in the photo was about as large as I ever found in years of mining, though the records report a three ounce nugget having been found on the creek. Must of been a fluke from what I saw, if it even happened at all.
  11. A friend gave me this little backpack dredge. It came with a nifty little "Couple Jet" nozzle made by Gold Divers, Inc., formerly of Mound House, NV, but now out of business and retired. The dredge didn't come with an engine or pump and I'm trying to figure out what would be the best pump/engine to get for it. I understand, but not for sure, that the Couple Jet or Infinity type of nozzles work best with a higher volume lower pressure pump, as opposed to suction or jet nozzles that work best with higher pressure and somewhat lower flow. I checked with the guys who now make the Packrat 2 dredge and they didn't recognize this dredge. The overall dimensions are about 2 feet by 3 feet, the bottom is completely flat and not pontoon shaped like the Packrat dredges. Possibly Gold Divers made a backpack dredge and it's one of theirs? Sure appreciate any comments or suggestions for a pump or a picture of a complete dredge from this unknown manufacturer. Since I got the dredge for free I can afford to spend some money improving it and also on a good pump. Thank you, Bob
  12. Remember when you used to be able to dredge in California..... First photo is beginning of last dredge I built. Second is dredge in operation. Notice my huge jet... all of about 10 inches long. Got tired of wearing the metal ones out.
  13. Thought this might be a good add. Now I can have a hot sandwich wile I'm dredging.
  14. Edit: this topic was split from this thread on modifying a pump intake. Steve, I believe that "plastic cuff" you are referring too on the P-180 dictates the pressure of the pump? I had one P-180 setup that I had a pressure gauge on the outlet side of the pump. (4" dredge) New, I think it was about 38 lbs. of pressure. I filed off the "stop ring" on the plastic inlet fitting and tapped it in towards the impellor until I felt it start to drag. I now had 54 lbs. of pressure at the outlet.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. I get to prospect in the west about once a year, thanks to this forum and others, I get to keep up with things in-between my trips To return the favor, here's a video of some recent, close-to-home NC dredging, hopefully show you all a different perspective. Enjoy! -Dave
  18. My first gold dredge! After seeing a guy running a suction dredge at Crow Creek Mine south of Anchorage, Alaska I ordered my first dredge in early 1973. I had never seen a dredge before, and this guy was wearing a wetsuit running a 4" dredge about chest deep in the water. He saw my interest and shut the dredge down, pointed at the first riffle, and there was more chunky gold than I had ever found. I was hooked! I got the dredge direct from Keene, only way I could get one back then. Knowing nothing about dredges I saw no reason why I should spend extra money to get floats. I figured 2.5" was too small and 4" too big so a 3" must be just right. I learned a lot with that dredge. The first thing I learned is when you put it on bank with powerjet way above water it is nearly impossible to prime. And that when you finally get it primed, the entire hose will fill with gravel, then everything stops. Once I took the 15 feet of hose off to shake all the gravel out, and did this maybe three times in a row, I realized the dredge cannot be operated more than a couple feet above water. In fact, keep the place where hose and jet meet at or below water level for best results. Which made finding a place to use it quite a challenge. You need something like in this photo - a nice rock or pile of rocks or sawhorses next to water. This basically eliminated almost all the places I wanted to use the dredge, so this photo was the last time I ever dredged without floats, way back in 1973. You pretty much have to have them as a suction dredge that does not float is very limited. I did not find a lot of gold here but found my biggest nugget to that date. I think it was only like a pennyweight but it seemed huge at the time. Photo taken in Wrangell Mountains, Alaska on Skookum Gulch.
  19. I made a call to BLM in Canon City Colorado to see what it took to dredge on the Arkansas River. In years past the permit was free but then it cost to get the same permit. I talk with this Lady at BLM and told her what I wanted. I told her that is was a member to GPAA and Gold Prospectors of Colorado. The first thing she told me I could get a dredging permit from the GPOC and that is because they have a bond covering the members. When she said that I knew that is why the club charge extra for dredging. Now at the same time she said that GPAA hadn't done the same so I couldn't get a permit to dredge on GPAA claims. They do have a Public access called point bar I can get a permit for 25 dollars and it's good for two years.( I think that's right ) I've dredge for a long time over the years on the Arkansas River and even wrote story that ran in GPAA mag. years back about it. I've also been working on a dredge that can collect that fine gold and get it all. I say all because of test I've done here at home. Oh well! Right now I checking into the club on the west side of Colorado to see what they have to offer. Just like to hear from someone on here that does dredge in Colorado. I know it is other clubs in Colorado and that's another thing I'd like to know more about each. I'll take any and all help I can get. Chuck
  20. I met a new buddy and he is getting some nice gold pickers and multi ounce copper nuggets at a spot where I have permission but was told by others that it is all worked out? He is using a 4 inch dredge with a hookah air system and going down about 6 foot, whereas best I can do is long arming or hibanking He told me the gold is there no matter how hard he and others pound it. It is a bedrock bottom creek, flat and smooth, with FAST water, 1-4 feet deep. One gravel island maybe 100 x 50 feet, 2- 50 foot long gravel bars. Its on a large curving bend. There is no gold on the slick bedrock. No place for it to catch people tell me. Am wondering why these gravel areas stay put even after heavy floods ( a giant size deep pothole holding the gravels in place? ) and why is this glacial gold being replenished? From upstream gravels perhaps, gold scooting down under the gravels and along the slick bedrock during floods is my guess anyway. Wonder if it would work to dig a pit waist deep into the gravels and hibank ? Does using a steel tined rake to rake away the cobbles make sense too? And them copper nuggets I could easily detect the bigger ones a foot down. -Tom
  21. Brandon, lost his case here in California. To me this is terrible. I guess this will go to the federal level now. http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S222620.PDF
  22. I know most of you detect for gold and it is very dry out west, but I like to dredge. There is not many nuggets here in Ohio, just small gold and in some places there is quit a lot. I was just thinking about looking for a air compressor to use with a small motor . The creeks are not very deep, most I can use a Snokel and mask, but would like to have air. Dose anyone know where I can get a good used compressor? I have a 2" Keens dredge and a 3" Keens Highbanker dredge combo. Steve have you sold all your dredge parts when you moved from AK. ? I just wish CA. would let people dredge, I would like to get out there sometime where there is some real nice gold. Thanks Flintstone
  23. A current and very well explained view of the current situation regarding suction dredging in California. http://www.goldprospectors.org/News/News-Details/ArtMID/3269/ArticleID/162/Dredgers-defend-mining-rights-in-California-Supreme-Court-
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