12 INCH TROMMEL BUILD

[MrWareWolf]

Thanks for asking.

Honestly the trommel has not been put to use. Had some personal setbacks as well as work related setbacks. I have not been out other than to swing a metal detector. I have a new trailer with all my equipment inside waiting for when I can get out. My shoulder replacement I had thought went well but I developed a minor issue, but never the less I am having pain so prospecting has been on hold. It really frustrates me that I am having to put everything on hold but I have to deal with it and in time all should work out.

Well I hope you get a chance to run her. Get well and thanks for showing us! I hope that you like the results!

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Looking forward to seeing it all dirty!

Hope life sorts out soon for you!

 

[yotaboy86]

That is a masterpiece !! Should have painted it gold lol

 

[russau]

Get well soon AZ! Its been 3 years now that ive been out dredgeing , but this year im going out to see if my ole bones can do it anymore!

 

[AzViper]

Get well soon AZ! Its been 3 years now that ive been out dredgeing , but this year im going out to see if my ole bones can do it anymore!

Oh I am ok... In fact I could go out digging but I choose not to as I want to be 100 percent. Would not serve my family or I to come up with another injury. The company I work for recently was taken over and with that their insurance is the pits. For nearly 26 years insurance was never an issue until weeks ago.

 

[AzViper]

Looking forward to seeing it all dirty!

Hope life sorts out soon for you!

Kevin so am I, In time it will get dirty... Just wish it was sooner, but I know my limitations with the shoulder and carrying 5 gallon buckets of full or half full of dirt, rock, gold is just not in the cards right now.

 

[russau]

yep I understand that! looking to get to 100% isn't in the cards for me anymore! I just want to get out and see what I can do! Heck I may just get the dredge in the water and spend the rest of the time sitting by the campfire drinking to what may/could have been?

 

[Goodyguy]

Buddy how did your 8wk trip turn out. As for me everything has been placed on the back burner. The trailer is packed with gear waiting for me to get out. Just have not been in much of a mode to do much.

Sorry to hear that you're not up to 100% but hang in there, it'll be that much sweeter when the time comes...............

As far as my adventure goes we (my wife and I) had a great experience and as usual met some super people along the way. One couple was Jair and his wife from southern Nevada, (Jair is a fellow member here on T-net) with whom we went on a couple of prospecting adventures, metal detecting and exploring old mines and diggings around Searchlight and another trip up near Alamo Nevada to work some tailing piles using our drywashers and ore crushers. My wife and I also spent time camping and prospecting around the Gold Basin area in Arizona as well as exploring mines around Chloride Az. also while in the area we spent some time camping along the Colorado river at Bullhead city with side trips to Oatman and Needles California. Exploring Oatman was fun and my wife enjoyed feeding the Burros that roam freely all over town.

The most productive part of our adventure was while camping and prospecting on the Weaver Mining District claims near Rich Hill by Stanton Az. First we had to go into Congress to get a membership and directions to the claims. After setting up camp I decided to do some metal detecting down in a wash and had no sooner gotten started when suddenly I was attacked by some kind of bees, (hornets?) as they chased me down the wash I was getting stung while running with my arms flailing about with detector in one hand and swatting myself in the face, neck, back, and shoulders with the other. Just as the bees finally gave up the chase, all but one that is, and that one I was able to catch in my hat and throw him to the ground where I stomped the dirt trying desperately to end his life when I saw him fly away.

Not sure what the prospector thought when he saw me running onto his claim acting like a madman. But I was greeted with a friendly "Howdy, are you ok?" From him.

Turns out He had quite an operation going on exploiting an ancient river channel that he had discovered. He had been there for several months by himself and was happy to share some conversation and a cup of coffee with me. Wasn't long before he asked If I would be willing to help him dig, move boulders, feed the trommel, muck out the settling tubs, etc. for a share of the gold and needless to say I was more than happy to oblige.

There were no nuggets but the flakes were getting larger and larger the deeper we dug. The so called glory hole that we dug was about 20 feet deep when the time came for the wife and I to leave for points east. There was still a long way to go toward bedrock and I suppose he is still at work there as he was planning on staying for as long as the pay remained profitable.

Of course there is a lot more to the adventure but you get the idea. Here are a few random photos from the trip starting with the glory hole...........










Go for the gold
GG~

 

[KevinInColorado]

GG, looks like you had a super adventure, love it!

 

[AlaskaGold]

That's sounds like you had a great trip. Love the photos, I love the desert have not seen it in years. Ran all over the south west while in college. Wished I would have spent more time looking for gold back then but was to busy climbing rocks instead of looking for them. If you have time, more pics!

 

[MrWareWolf]

How fun that must have been! Thanks for the story and pictures. When we cant get out to prospect, the next best thing is/are stories like this!

 

[Goodyguy]

That's sounds like you had a great trip. Love the photos, I love the desert have not seen it in years. Ran all over the south west while in college. Wished I would have spent more time looking for gold back then but was to busy climbing rocks instead of looking for them. If you have time, more pics!

I dont wish to hi-jack Vipers thread with my trip so once I get some more photos downloaded from my camera and cell phone I'll start a new thread. Maybe even go into some detail about the day we were lost in the mountains 4 wheeling with the Samurai looking for a lost mine, it took nearly 10 hours to find our way to a road out.

GG~

 

[MrWareWolf]

Cant wait to hear more about being lost in the woods four-wheeling!

 

[itspaidfor]

You don't need a sprocket

I had thought about that too. If I cant manage it financially I will switch to a belt drive but I can cut the ring gear on the laser here at work. I was thinking 10ga should be sufficient and I'm planning on using bicycle chain. Easy to come by and plenty strong. Also I will leave enough room on the shaft of the gearbox so that I can double the chains if needed. I was thinking about making the motor/gearbox mount 4-way adjustable and adding different gears as needed to adjust the speed so I can keep the motor as close to idle as possible. On the outings I have noticed that the fuel costs are already pretty pricey with just the pump. Now I'm going to be running a trommel and my next build is a conveyor so we can shovel from the hole onto the belt which feeds the trommel and life gets easier. For the conveyor I will be using the worm drive rototiller gearbox but that is another 5hp motor running....

Just weld the chain to the drum make a jack shaft that holds sprocket to drum like a gold claimer.

 

[AzViper]

At last the trommel has seen action. This is just after 5 buckets dirt... Location northwest of Phoenix, Arizona... Sampling the area...

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[dashriprock]

Great news on finally getting out with the trommel and good gold for 5 buckets of dirt. Bet it was nice to get out for awhile. Did it run up to your expectations?

 

[Mgumby16]

Awesome build and fantastic workmanship! Do you know what type of cubic yardage it can run in an hour? Also how many gpm does it require to run.

I am planning on building a trommel that will be fed by a backhoe/mini excavator that needs to be able to run on minimal/recirced water and be able to catch lots of -100 mesh gold, your design looks like a close match!

Thanks!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Should probably move this thread to e "Trommeling" area...

 

[AzViper]

The trommel was sold and in the hands of another prospector living in Arizona.

 

[Bejay]

Should probably move this thread to e "Trommeling" area...

Not sure what thread that would be. But while this one is up and running. I have a built 14 inch trommel (a friend built it for me). Looks almost identical to the AzViper one. However it is belt driven and I have fed it with a backhoe when and if I have a stockpile of pay. I put motorcycle wheels on the back and a hitch on the front so I could pull it with my quad and get it to go over the larger streambed rocks.

Bejay