6/13-15 East Fork San Gabriel River CA

So, I went to Heaton Flats for the first time Saturday and it was a bust. I was gonna try to snipe some crevices with my mask and snorkel but the kids up stream were playing in the water it was stirring up the sediment so much that I couldn't see. But hey, they were having blast and honestly I wish I was a kid again playing with them! Tried to sluice instead and came up empty after about 3 buckets. So since I didn't know the area there very well I decided to go back to my trusty spot at the white cattle canyon bridge. I cleared the hole down 2 ft to the bedrock again. So... Friday night at Walmart I saw this water squirter toy thingy for $1 and bought it. I drilled out the end of it and made a bobo suction dredge for fun. AND IT WORKED! LOL!!! It got me the the largest piece in the pic and the garnet plugged the hole for a great bonus! Had lots of fun with that flimsy little toy! Now I'm just dying to make a real one! And that my friends is about it for the day.
 

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Ha! I think I was looking at that same toy in Walmart yesterday -- it's a long tube with plunger, right? Well, you certainly took it to the next level!

Sorry to hear about the accident :o a speedy recovery to your husband.
 

RSMSherry said:
So, I went to Heaton Flats for the first time Saturday and it was a bust. I was gonna try to snipe some crevices with my mask and snorkel but the kids up stream were playing in the water it was stirring up the sediment so much that I couldn't see. But hey, they were having blast and honestly I wish I was a kid again playing with them! Tried to sluice instead and came up empty after about 3 buckets. So since I didn't know the area there very well I decided to go back to my trusty spot at the white cattle canyon bridge. I cleared the hole down 2 ft to the bedrock again. So... Friday night at Walmart I saw this water squirter toy thingy for $1 and bought it. I drilled out the end of it and made a bobo suction dredge for fun. AND IT WORKED! LOL!!! It got me the the largest piece in the pic and the garnet plugged the hole for a great bonus! Had lots of fun with that flimsy little toy! Now I'm just dying to make a real one! And that my friends is about it for the day.
Click to expand...

Nice job sticking with it, changing strategies and all. That gold shows you're smarter than the river lol! They sell a tougher version of that sucker/squirter tool at boat shops...or you can try making your own. There's lots of threads on here devoted to making and buying these hand dredges/shrimp suckers. Nice job mod'ing the Walmart version and making it work tho!
 

Can you please post a picture of the walmart toy you spoke of? You got me super curious about that.

Ive actually been looking at building one of these. Seems like it would work great with a tube off of both sides. one running into the bottom of a hole, the other running into a dump bucket.

 

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Sherry that's a fantastic story. You are thinking like a miner. That's some great looking gold. Congrats.
 

That's a great looking pan. Way to go!
 

Thanks everyone! Your comments help me to be positive about my new adventurous hobby. ;).

Ducky, we are at the surgery center now, I'll send pics of the water squirter toy turned rogue suction dredge later. ;) BTW, I found it in the front area of Walmart with all the seasonal water play and camping stuff. Each part on it is a different fluorescent color of pink, yellow, blue, green etc. The tube is see through. It is about 2 foot long and about 1 1/2 inches or a little more in diameter. The handle is flimsy and help on only by a plastic pin through the shaft, I removed it and put marine adhesive on the inserting part of the handle and shaft interior reinserted the handle and the pin to hold it in ace and removed any excess adhesive. You will still laught at it when you see it.
 

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and they successfully pulled up dirt and slurry? does any material get caught in the tubes even after you empty?
 

Yes it gets caught because the material quickly sinks toward the tip but what I do is avoid pulling the plunger up all the way then stick it in my bucket in which I've filled half way with water then gently work the plunger up and down sucking the water up into it to stir up the material and as you do that you can feel the material loosen and you are also pushing it down and out as you are keeping the material loose. It also helps that when you pull it out if the water to tilt the tip upward to keep the water in it and then the material goes toward the plunger and should automatically loosen as it is falling toward the tip and being pressed out. All that happens within a matter of a few seconds. Just be sure not to man handle it because it is a toy after all.
 

And Ducky, it's small, its not a 2"-3" pipe, it's not gonna give you excellent suction power nor is it gonna give you good coverage and it's not gonna last maybe not even one trip for you. I just didn't have the money to build one out of PCV pipe yet. I saw those at the store in passing, did a little chuckle and said what the heck if it works I'll get a kick out if it and it kinda did. LOL!!! I was sucking out from under a big burried tree limb sticking out of the curve of the inside bend in the river that I couldn't get my shovel under because of big rocks I couldn't see.
 

Try a much larger diameter for 100xIMG951673.png suction power
 

Looks just like what I got at the dollar store.:occasion14: BTW Nice shine 8-)
 

IMG950227.jpg When your ready to upgrade. These can recover large nuggets. Saw Hangtowndiggins pull 3x the cost of the hand dredge in one afternoon.
 

A gas powered pump lol. No just a clean out designed by Hangtowndiggins.
 

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