Okay, now that I have had a chance to examine things up close and personal, I am curious about a few things. I see immediately that GG is probably right about relocating the anti back flow valve to the boomerbox. Gold-n-sand should offer that as an add on kit, and/or as an option outof the box. So GoodGuy, can you fill me in on how you modded yours and where you got parts? And are you running the same diameter hose as stock, or larger? I think you might have made everything from scratch...
Kevin, looking forward to hearing news about what you get in the mail from the silicon hose supplier. And I don't think a semi-flat or flat hose would have any problems with blockage in low points that couldn't be solved onsite with a couple of rocks. And has anyone ever anchored a row of floats (liter bottles or empty milk jugs)across the water with the dredge hose hanging below/downstream from them? Of course not all sites have that much depth and or slow enough current.
Who here has made DIY variants of this hand dredge system? I would love to see them. I am considering ways you could have human powered pumping going on with a second prospector pointing and placing the suction nozzle. What if one person stood off to the side working the pump part, with a hose running from the bottom to the suction nozzle held some distance away by another person? Would this simple pump pull that off? If you replace the output fitting on the pump and replace it with a T fitting, the bottom end would easily sit on the ground, and be a flow through pump design. If you use a short section of pipe below the T, you could use that as a fluid bed catch for nuggs and larger pieces of gold. So one person runs the pump, and the other uses a long PVC suction nozzle pipe to get behind boulders and down at cracks deep under water.
Lots of people in CA would like to be able to get around dredging laws right now...