3" combo setup

kilnmaint

Jr. Member
Apr 3, 2009
83
14
Homewood, Al
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Lobo
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I have a Proline 3" combo on floats that i dredge with. I run all UR under the riffles and it does pretty well in fine gold. My dredging partner and I have found a spot with bigger gold and a lot of it (for Alabama). The problem is : I ,get 1.3 grams per day with my 3", he gets 4 to 5 grams per day with his 4". Is the 4" that much better? or do I need to go back to the origional miner's moss set up? I think the boiling mess in my crash box is not catching anything, but because I have ur all the way it is hard to check it. Can anything be done to smooth out the water flow.
 

Bigger dredge=more gravels moved=more gold=much less rock to move by hand also. Must use a blaster nozzle to up production always,got one??? How long is the curtain on that crashbox. Over /under or straight? UR?John
 

Yes the 4" is that much better. for every inch in hose diameter, you double the amount of throughput so a 5" will move twice as much material as a 4" and so on.
 

Jeeze 4-5 grams per day!! Thats a game changer. Id scrap the 4" and go for a 5 or 6 if you have a buddy.
 

If the pay streak appears to be a large one and you have the funds, buy a 4" or a Mini 6" and blow him out of the water. :)
 

Do you have punch plate in your crash box? I would trust the u.r. I have it at the head of my hi-banker it holds fine gold really well. It did do better when I put the punch plate in. ( as far as gold staying at the head of the box I never see any past the first set of scrubber then bedrock matt) I think the water dropping onto the ur without being slowed down some how does blow out the fine gold. When I added the punch plate I started finding the majority of the gold under it.Your difference in take is mainly due to difference in size just like everyone else said. I bet you get more fine gold then your buddy. Or hope so at least8-)
 

I do have a punch plate , but you have to see the boiling mess in the box to understand my concern. I tend to get a lot of cons piled up under the plate. Not cleaning out? I will try to get a video of it next trip . When i got the dredge, the previous owner had put a deflector plate in the crash box to turn the water down before it hit the back of the box. The folks at Proline were insistant that that was not the thing to do, so I took it out and saw an increase in gold! Here is my plan.I will put the miners moss back, use UR under the punch plate and see what the results are. As for the "pay streak", four of us have found a natural riffle area 150 yards long by 100 yards wide that has gold everywhere we punch down. The overburden averages only 6 inches or so, with 6 inches of hardpack. Larger dredges are out of the question due to access and water levels changing. Also got to stay small to not get the state environmentalists involved.
 

I just bought the same unit (good deal I could not turn down) and only run it as a banker once. Please post how the ur works. I will see how this thing dredges Friday, as long as nothing freezes up by then. Can't wait to dredge in 34 degree weather and water! Good luck, I'll watch my box to see how it boils as well.
 

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