5inch float assembly for my8 inch gravity sluice?

Keene website has all the measurements you need. Make your own and save a fortune from Home Depot and off you go-John
 

Hello john,



The main reason why i,m thinking about buying a prefabricated assembly are 50 hours overtime at work in the last month and it seems this situation will go on till march or so.I dont have much enthusiasm left for trial and error,building,planning,getting the parts etc.etc at the moment .Also would like to have a bit hydrodynamic pontoons because of flashfloods and also because i will have to drag the dredge upstream.My miner buddy informed me that they shut down acces for "non authorized motorized vehicles" after my last stay in september there...authorized are the parkguards and the "gravel" plants employes.
The keene website mentions they use the 5inch pontoon set up also for there 6 inch dredge which has a sluice that is 26 inches wide.My sluice is 2 inches wider with the bended edges but i dont know if the pontoo frame is adjustable in wideness since i never saw one.I have no motor,jet,pump weight on the dredge so maybe the buyancy is enough with the 5 inch floats.Also this set up would fit in my van which is 64 inches wide inside.
Want to figure out if that would work ,with minor adjustments maybe,then i would ask for the shipping price and decide from there on.
But nothin decided yet.Would love to do all by myself ,like your pontoon setup and also the set up from Reed and others,just would be nice to buy and forgett at the moment.
 

spaghettigold said:
Hello john,



The main reason why i,m thinking about buying a prefabricated assembly are 50 hours overtime at work in the last month and it seems this situation will go on till march or so.I dont have much enthusiasm left for trial and error,building,planning,getting the parts etc.etc at the moment .Also would like to have a bit hydrodynamic pontoons because of flashfloods and also because i will have to drag the dredge upstream.My miner buddy informed me that they shut down acces for "non authorized motorized vehicles" after my last stay in september there...authorized are the parkguards and the "gravel" plants employes.
The keene website mentions they use the 5inch pontoon set up also for there 6 inch dredge which has a sluice that is 26 inches wide.My sluice is 2 inches wider with the bended edges but i dont know if the pontoo frame is adjustable in wideness since i never saw one.I have no motor,jet,pump weight on the dredge so maybe the buyancy is enough with the 5 inch floats.Also this set up would fit in my van which is 64 inches wide inside.
Want to figure out if that would work ,with minor adjustments maybe,then i would ask for the shipping price and decide from there on.
But nothin decided yet.Would love to do all by myself ,like your pontoon setup and also the set up from Reed and others,just would be nice to buy and forgett at the moment.
Click to expand...

Send Keene an email and ask them... [email protected]
 

you don't need to call or ask Keene! all the measurements are right on the picture you posted! the length is:101 inchs the width is 58.5 inchs and 17 inchs high. Keenes site has any other info youll need , maybe the measurements of the floats individually??
 

mostly if my sluice fits between the floats,if i can expect good buoancy and general thoughts welcome .Like to here independent opinions before talking to a vendor.
Thanks
 

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you most certainly can make a aluminum frame! I made one for my 2 inch dredge and it worked out fine. although being a 8 inch dredge and probly in fast water , youll need to make sure its braced enough to handle the stress thatll be applied to this system. and rather than spend LOTSA $$ on those nice looking pontoons that were posted , why not use some 55 or 30 gallon plastic barrels. lots cheaper and probly a lot lighter than those bought from a foreign land. and way more ava. for you to get!
 

Hey everybody ,wish you all a good digestion..

Thats good news russau ,weight is a factor to consider and the alu frame would save a lot of it.

I have a few given factors that predicate the overall size of the dredge ,i have no trailer,so everything has to fit in my van which is 64 inches wide(in the widest section) .64 inches minus 28 inches sluice wideness leaves me with 36 inches room.Divided in two pontoons is 18 inches maximum wideness per pontoon.Also the pontoon should not be higher than 16 inches. That would exclude the 55 gallon barrels already,they are 20 inches in diameter ,(the ones i found so far)leaving me with the 30 gallon option that have 16 inches diameter.Also maximum lenght i can store is 100 inches.I was hoping to get the maximum bouancy out of the 16 inches pontoons .
As i understand it i get more bouancy out of a more square type pontoon rather then a round one with the same diameter and would steal less storage space.And finally i miss the cone shape against flowdirection of the river and should the barrels have a breather bung ? On the other hand ,like you mentioned ,the barrels are cheaper,more lightweight..:BangHead: lets see..

Thanks:thumbsup:
 

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Looks like you have a few choices. There's a simple frame set up at the bottom of this list - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL39A9E7B702FF1B8A
Just build the frame to fit into your van. The best part of using unistrut is that it can be set up to put together in the field if needed but I put the frame on the floor and then everything else gets stuffed in. I've always built everything to fit into my truck and I built my 6" dredge to fit along with camping gear and everything. It's a shame that I never took any pictures of that dredge on the truck but building everything to fit together for hauling was complex. When the dredge was apart and in the truck, the space between the 2 front 30 gallon drums was exactly wide enough to turn upside down on edge behind the driver and it would hold the ice chest in place. Building everything to fit takes thought but you can do it. Just take a chair out there open up the back and look at it for a while.
Truck 001.JPG dredge 2000 002.jpg
 

gold washer ,.. there is a general thought that you should use barrels for you pontoons, looks like you are not liking this idea very well. i really think that barrels would be the way to go. i have built pontoons out of sheet metal,aluminuim stro blocks and barrels. the barrels worked all around the best and easiest to build. ofcourse have used plenty of keene pontoons....

bill/cr
 

You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink. Barrels work fine as used in 3-12" dredges and no problems ever. Seal'm right with a tire valve to adjust for temps and good to go. -John
 

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First of all ;thanks to la T-net Dredging -créme de la crème assembled here to help me out.

Really,its not that i don,t like the barrels themself or think they don,t work .Space,time and skills.
The barrels where the first thing i thought about after seeing all of you guys gear.It,s about the work and testing,learning i have to put in .At the job i will have to put in much overtime during the next months. I will let settle all your input,if i can motivate myself to put the work in, barrels are still a option over buying.
emilio
 

OT cash works just fine. Buy'm at the dump for a couple a bucks each or free at many dumps,clothes dry cleaners,hotels,chemical processing plants,swaps and craigslist. John
 

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