highbanker question

[Klondike Steve]

Hey! I finally figured out how to get on this great forum. Practical question here. I've been panning for about 1-1/2 yrs. here in N. GA with moderate success. Got a coupla grams last week, so I got the fever bad. I want to move up to a highbanker since I've got some access to private land. Here is my dilemma. I built a nice highbanker out of an old carpet cleaning machine. Problem is that it is 20" wide and 50" long. I'm on a budget and want to supply enough water via a gas powered pump. Should I get a 2 hp 1" pump with 2250 gph or a 6hp 2" clear water pump with 9000 gph? Should I look for a pump with trash capacity or just filter a clear water pump carefully. Both of these pumps can be purchased at Harbor Freight (China) for under $160. Any comment would be appreciated.

 

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[Fabrication Specialists]

Good day,

With your box at 20" wide You'll need the 2" pump and that may even be cutting it close honestly. Also if you go with the Harbor Freight pumps see my thread for pump maintenance as it will help tremendously,

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/dredging-hi-banking/340514-pump-maintenance-fyi.html

Let me know if you need anything else,

Thanks, Chris

 

[Vance in AK]

Hi Steve.
Some of the guys here can give you technical answers with the exact volume you will need for that sluice (although riffle design will help them greatly). BUT, I will say that I don't think either pump will have the needed volume for a 20" wide sluice (length doesn't really matter for water volume). The 1" definetly won't. My 1.5" Honda WX 15 (4320gph) is adequate for my 10" wide sluice but I think 12" wide would be pushing it very far from the water source.

OOOOpppppssss... I was typing while Chris was posting!

 

[Klondike Steve]

Thank you for the quick response. I'll be sure to check out your suggestions for keeping the chincofreight motor running. I've got to start somewhere. I'll try to \attach a picture of my 1st part of highbanker construction. I've got to add another 30" piece to it. A friend is welding up legs and stands.

 

[Fabrication Specialists]

Good day,
You really would be better going to a 3" pump on something that wide. The 2" "might" get you working, but that pump will be wide open and screaming all day to keep up. Sadly the Chinese engines just don't last real long when you ask them to run at max performance all day long. Also like Vance said it will also depend on riffles, if you're going with just all expanded you might be ok with the 2", but if you want a riffle (Hungarian, Clarkson, etc) or Gold Hog matting to work properly you're going to need more flow. Basically without getting too in-depth, without proper water flow rates your riffles won't operate properly, your material will simply "fall" over the riffle and pile up on the backside and you'll actually start to lose gold. You need water speed to create vortex's to push out the lighter material and settle the gold down and into the underside of the riffle. Truly pump size is one of those things that will make or break you highbanker, dredge, etc. If you can't afford a larger pump I would look to get a narrower box made, or maybe somehow put some metal down the middle and just use half or maybe 12" inches of your current box Also at 20" wide your carpeting, miners moss, matting, etc will get pricey too.

Just some food for thought,
Chris

 

[Klondike Steve]

Good day,
You really would be better going to a 3" pump on something that wide. The 2" "might" get you working, but that pump will be wide open and screaming all day to keep up. Sadly the Chinese engines just don't last real long when you ask them to run at max performance all day long. Also like Vance said it will also depend on riffles, if you're going with just all expanded you might be ok with the 2", but if you want a riffle (Hungarian, Clarkson, etc) or Gold Hog matting to work properly you're going to need more flow. Basically without getting too in-depth, without proper water flow rates your riffles won't operate properly, your material will simply "fall" over the riffle and pile up on the backside and you'll actually start to lose gold. You need water speed to create vortex's to push out the lighter material and settle the gold down and into the underside of the riffle. Truly pump size is one of those things that will make or break you highbanker, dredge, etc. If you can't afford a larger pump I would look to get a narrower box made, or maybe somehow put some metal down the middle and just use half or maybe 12" inches of your current box Also at 20" wide your carpeting, miners moss, matting, etc will get pricey too.

Just some food for thought,
Chris

Thanks for the advice. I could use the large grizzly and bottom plate as a fan and landing arrea for material and place a 10" or so sluice at the end of it to optimize flow. I do plan to use expanded raised metal and a possible riffle plate.

 

[Klondike Steve]

I just bought a slightly used Keene A52 for $110. MY plan is to modify my hopper so the entire 10" sluice will fit comfortably below it. Then put some legs and a stand under it, build my watering system, power it with a 2" pump and hopefully I'll have a usable highbanker under $500. I used Chris' advice and said goodbye to the 20" sluice idea. Can't wait to set it up on a stream bank and start looking for AU.

 

[Klondike Steve]

Am I on the right track?

Good day,
You really would be better going to a 3" pump on something that wide. The 2" "might" get you working, but that pump will be wide open and screaming all day to keep up. Sadly the Chinese engines just don't last real long when you ask them to run at max performance all day long. Also like Vance said it will also depend on riffles, if you're going with just all expanded you might be ok with the 2", but if you want a riffle (Hungarian, Clarkson, etc) or Gold Hog matting to work properly you're going to need more flow. Basically without getting too in-depth, without proper water flow rates your riffles won't operate properly, your material will simply "fall" over the riffle and pile up on the backside and you'll actually start to lose gold. You need water speed to create vortex's to push out the lighter material and settle the gold down and into the underside of the riffle. Truly pump size is one of those things that will make or break you highbanker, dredge, etc. If you can't afford a larger pump I would look to get a narrower box made, or maybe somehow put some metal down the middle and just use half or maybe 12" inches of your current box Also at 20" wide your carpeting, miners moss, matting, etc will get pricey too.

Just some food for thought,

Chris

I made some modifications to my original highbanker idea. I narrowed my box to fit a 10" Keene sluice. Do you think this will work as a highbanker if I build my spray bar and get a 1-1/2" pump?

 

[Fabrication Specialists]

Good day,

I always tell people when they're buying a pump for the first time buy bigger than they think they need. This will allow for more options in the future such as Gold Hog matting and future expansions of your project (wider, longer, etc). The pump is one of the most expensive things for highbanking so do it right the first time as you can always slow down water flow if need be. With your hopper width and "crash area" under the hopper I think an 1 1/2" pump probably won't be enough to get that material moving from under your hopper to your sluice. For you sluice width the pump size should be fine but I don't think there will be enough volume of water to spread out 20" wide and clear all the material down to your sluice. My feeling is you'll get areas that will flow ok, but you'll have build up in others being that wide. In this situation it's a matter of a lack of water volume and just not enough flow to clean out properly. The only real way to know for sure is to try it, but if I was spending money I'd buy the bigger pump you can always throttle down and if you make a new bigger/wider sluice or highbanker in the future you can use the same pump.

I hope this makes sense,

Thanks, Chris