4" dredge ready to roll

I did manage to get out on the river this last Sunday for a few hours. Everything ran ok. I could use a little more pitch in the sluice. I think I'll do that by switching the inner tubes. One is a little smaller than the other. I had the larger one under the sluice and when water and material hit it, it did not tip much. The suction was pretty good. I think there was just as much suction as my old Keene mini 4" had. I was running the pump at 3/4 throttle. I haven't gone through the cons yet. Been to busy working. I'll post pics when I'm done.
 

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Thats cool and yes it works, I built one. 90 degree input is fine. Mine is a lowly 2" and a lowly 4700 gph electric pump direct attachment, but it will suck your socks off. I'm currently building a 4" and will have one of those hf pumps pushing the water. Yes it works and forget what the naysayers have said. Until they hook one up and run it, they don't have a clue.
 

Nice work ! panningjack.

You can switch to pontoons made out of 5-15 gallon plastic barrels, cheap and should hold the unit stable.
 

I know this is an old thread but thought I'd chime in anyway.
How did your dredge work out for you? And what improvements have you made if any?

Miners moss over Deep V or v rib is fine, even recommended, but if you put moss over the vortex mat you kill the exchange properties of the vortex which is the whole reason for using vortex mat in the first place, and you'll end up with more cons to process.

If you want to put the miners moss under the punch plate ok but my advice is to leave it off the vortex under the riffles.
That is unless your vortex mat is not working properly due to too much turbulence causing a scouring effect.

GG~
 

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Just a thought, gold cube operator here, wouldn't those riffles cause quite a few of the vortexes not to operate properly? I don't want to crush on your idea, but being level and having even flow are key components to vortex matting as I understand. Please correct me if I am misguided!
 

was there an seen this dredge work it will move alot of rocks even though its a 4". and has good water movement across the riffles.
 

425jesse said:
Just a thought, gold cube operator here, wouldn't those riffles cause quite a few of the vortexes not to operate properly? I don't want to crush on your idea, but being level and having even flow are key components to vortex matting as I understand. Please correct me if I am misguided!
Click to expand...

The vortex mat in a gold cube is set at a 15 degree angle, which equals 3" to the foot of drop, far from being level.
As long as there is sufficient flow and angle to keep the pockets in the mat actively exchanging light material for heavies then gold will be trapped in the mats pockets while the lighter material will be ejected up into the laminar flow of the water as it makes it's way out of the sluice.

However, if there is excessive turbulence over the mat due to the riffles causing a boil at the surface of the laminar flow then some finer gold could also be ejected. To your point 425Jesse, I could see that happening with the velocity that dredges above 2" produce. Of course excessive turbulence at the surface in any sluice is bad news for fine gold retention for that reason.

GG~
 

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PanningJack, have you tuned your infinity device to your pump yet? or did you just go with what seemd enough? to tune it all you need is a good vacumn gauge to install above the flow of the suction line. and then record what inch of vacumn is the best for the adjustment of the infinity and also record the rpm of the engine. this process will get the most out of any engine pump combo going. Ive fabbed up several of these devices out of PVC to see how it works and what is needed to get there. Do what you need todo to get the itch scratched!
 

Gelmac said:
Nice work ! panningjack. You can switch to pontoons made out of 5-15 gallon plastic barrels, cheap and should hold the unit stable.
Click to expand...
I'd actually like to use a 9 foot pontoon boat. But have to sell now. Maybe if I get some money another way I'll keep it
 

Goodyguy said:
I know this is an old thread but thought I'd chime in anyway. How did your dredge work out for you? And what improvements have you made if any? Miners moss over Deep V or v rib is fine, even recommended, but if you put moss over the vortex mat you kill the exchange properties of the vortex which is the whole reason for using vortex mat in the first place, and you'll end up with more cons to process. If you want to put the miners moss under the punch plate ok but my advice is to leave it off the vortex under the riffles. That is unless your vortex mat is not working properly due to too much turbulence causing a scouring effect. GG~
Click to expand...
Dredge ended up working great. Tons of suction and it catches the fines well. I ended up using the moss under the riffles. The riffles had such a large vortex that it scoured the vortex matting. However the same turbulence was enough to keep the moss from compacting while still retaining gold
 

russau said:
PanningJack, have you tuned your infinity device to your pump yet? or did you just go with what seemd enough? to tune it all you need is a good vacumn gauge to install above the flow of the suction line. and then record what inch of vacumn is the best for the adjustment of the infinity and also record the rpm of the engine. this process will get the most out of any engine pump combo going. Ive fabbed up several of these devices out of PVC to see how it works and what is needed to get there. Do what you need todo to get the itch scratched!
Click to expand...
I have it tuned pretty well now. I have a pressure gauge on the pump. I set the throttle at about 3/4. Then I watch the gauge and sluice and listen to the engine while I adjust the jet. When the engine starts to bog I open the gap on the engine just slightly. Even the slightest adjustment on the jet shows on the pressure gauge. Optimum pressure is about 35 psi. If I go higher I get more suction but the box doesn't work right. I would like to have a vacuum gauge though. Be neat to see how much water I'm moving. I know it's a lot
 

panningjack said:
Dredge ended up working great. Tons of suction and it catches the fines well. I ended up using the moss under the riffles. The riffles had such a large vortex that it scoured the vortex matting. However the same turbulence was enough to keep the moss from compacting while still retaining gold
Click to expand...

Did you keep the vortex mat under the moss or go to deep V, or v rib, or carpet?
Would hate to see you have to sell it now that you have it tuned. What else could you sell?
 

Goodyguy said:
Did you keep the vortex mat under the moss or go to deep V, or v rib, or carpet? Would hate to see you have to sell it now that you have it tuned. What else could you sell?
Click to expand...
I just kept the vortex under the moss. If I can keep it I will change to deep v before next season. That vortex sure catches the gold but man it's hard to clean up.
I really don't want to sell but don't have much choice. Doing everything I can to keep it. But matters just got worse. I had to have 2 screws put in my hand and can't work for the next 4 weeks
 

Am I the only one that zoomed in on the picture on the right to see if that was gold on the matting? :)
Wicked cool setup!
 

Prospector70 said:
Am I the only one that zoomed in on the picture on the right to see if that was gold on the matting? :) Wicked cool setup!
Click to expand...
Haha. Thanks. I have changed the top portion of the box since that pic. I'm going to try to get some more pics up when I clean the garage out this weekend
 

Jack , rather than selling your dredge , why not offer it for lease/rent?? sales are kinda slow right now (winter) how about you going out with guys that rent your dredge to keep a eye out on its use / security plus a cut in gold they find??
 

panningjack said:
I just kept the vortex under the moss. If I can keep it I will change to deep v before next season. That vortex sure catches the gold but man it's hard to clean up.
I really don't want to sell but don't have much choice. Doing everything I can to keep it. But matters just got worse. I had to have 2 screws put in my hand and can't work for the next 4 weeks
Click to expand...

Sorry, to hear that. I hope everything turns O.K
 

So any update as where about Panningjack is? haven't got any new updates from him for a while.
 

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