6" Dredge Project underway

[AUAlaska]

Thanks mendoAu, I will be able to test close to home until I piss off the neighbors at least. lol
See pond in background.

#2 the second cross member i haven't bolted as of yet, have flare bungied up tight to the cross member, I can slide sluice box back to get flare almost horizontal. where it is currently tide in place is where I think it will run good (but will change like you said as needed)

#3 I have looked around a lot at triple boxes online and have not seen them in water at the back of box, seem to run them flat with a waterfall at back. They do not frame them in a low saddle like single boxes. Now I will see for sure when testing.

#4 The foot valves for sure need to be lengthened, I was looking at that myself the other day. Not sure what to do yet, probably get 4" hose and new "standard" footvalves I do not know was looking forward to using the easy fill hard footvalves..

#5 Thank you very much mendoAu and winners58 ! you guys rock

P.S. The flare is only bolted at the bottom atm but slotting the side bolts is a great idea.

 

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[mendoAu]

This is a fun thread...cause we all like to take pieces of one ol thing and meld it to other stuff around the shop. Don't know if you have tried to alter that sluice box angle up and down but I still have not figured out a simple way to adjust the slope of my three stage 5 inch Keene sluice angle. Not to bad with one old guy with back problems when sitting on dry land and cleaned....but when in the water, loaded with wet material it's a *****. I already have a nice piece of 2x3 under the bottom that sticks out about 3 inches on each side of the rails and slide it up/down to reduce/increase the pitch but .....need some kinda McGiever solution to "lift" the tail of the sluice to take the weight off so that 2x3 can be altered depending on material and flowage. I gotta admit those wingnut/slide member adjusters that Keene came up with needs improving. If you read this Keene's family, I'm for hire as an independent designer/engineer for a small hourly wage..HA!

 

[principedeleon]

There is a couple of things that are energy hungry .. like reed explained having the pumps high off the water will reduce the output off both pumps..

And another thing is the sluice how high it is out of the water. .

The lower the sluice the more suction you will have. .

Im not sure if you could lower the sluice inbetween the floatation because that kind of sluice is bulky compare to a over and under. .

But keep in mind that every sluice needs a way to give a bit of angle especially if your suction aint up there. .

 

[Hoser John]

I liked my old set up best,with a extra 25 gallon barrel under the end of the triple-John

 

[Reed Lukens]

If you can get the back end of the triple within a couple inches of the water, you will be fine. But with more floatation comes the need for more power to get the right results. The higher the motors and sluice are out of the water, the less power you have overall. Sinking the floats makes a tug boat... I would shoot for having the motor plates 3" to 5" out of the water when running. Or just test it first, then if there's too much power loss, you'll already know the problem and can deal with it then. You're adding a lot of weight to the amount of water with it being pushed up out of the water that high. The pumps, the power jet, and the flare all come into play. You want the flare to be as flat as possible for the best results, so the closer to the water, the better. Your large footvalves should work fine about 4" under. Because they have a larger intake, they don't whirlpool as much. A couple jet would be ideal here for tuning.

 

[principedeleon]

Cant 2 floatation device be removed instead of trying to add weight ?

Another thing i kinda noticed that you should be aware of is that the tripple sluice box should run heavier then a normal or smaller sluice. Meaning you might get away with setting it up a bit higher off the normal recommendation.

 

[N-Lionberger]

you can extend the plastic footvalves by cutting them in the mid section and inserting a piece of 4" OD muffler pipe.

 

[AUAlaska]

Motor #1

 

[N-Lionberger]

Nice I put one of those splitters on my 3x4 last year, gotta have that blaster when you get into the hard pack. I recommend zip tying that bugger down onto your suction hose part of the way, if its hanging loose the current is pretty good at snaking it away.

 

[pczim]

That’s an awesome setup, wish I was allowed to dredge well done

 

[russau]

pczim you can !! Just tell them ole Russ said it was ok for you to dredge whenever you want!

 

[logjam]

Here is what I have to work with.
View attachment 1595025
I got a new case for it and check valve for it
View attachment 1595026
Also got the snorkel kit for it
View attachment 1595027
I just today ordered the rebuild kit and replacement fan from Armadillo Mining Co, I order most of my stuff from them. Here is the mock up:
View attachment 1595028

I just got through rebuilding the same compressor. I test ran it today have to re torque the head bolts to 160 inch pounds after running as per instructions. Ordered rebuild kit through Gast and watched maintenance video from their website:
Its not the same model but everything was pretty close to the same idea...tech support people ordered the parts and rebuild kit...they and video very helpful.

 

[Reed Lukens]

Why the T80? The Gast runs at a higher psi.

 

[AUAlaska]

Why the T80? The Gast runs at a higher psi.

Me and my tender will be on the Gast, the T-80 is extra, motor had bracket, I had the t-80 on shelf figure through it on for a guest to dive, hell make it a party down there.

 

[AUAlaska]

Just got in the rest of my parts for the Gast rebuild



Logjam, just watched that video to ty

 

[AUAlaska]

Motor #2 Problems...

Thought I had all parts to get this motor going


Opened it up had a bad valve




Took head off and ordered a new one


It came in a padded envelope broken... reordering now.

 

[mendoAu]

Don't do what I did on that blaster nozzle and leave water in over winter...yep, cracked that brass big time. Solved with a stainless valve.

 

[AUAlaska]

Motor #2 continued...

New coil


New Head




New Carb, fuel tank and air box




New motor base


So now I still need to get a new fuel line because with my luck you get one to short with the new tank you order. LOL
I also need a new pump mount plate. I have both on order today and will start my Gast PCA-10 rebuild next!

 

[winners58]

Nice! you going to get that in the water this year, I know how it goes
I just built a new motor-pump for my 4" still haven't got to use it yet.
my 5" is now illegal in Oregon, even though I have a claim with no salmon.
get as much use out of it as possible, while you still can...

 

[AUAlaska]

I should have had it to my claim a month ago. Never goes as planned, working 40 hr weeks and keeping up on chores around the house etc.. Never enough time plus waiting for parts in the mail you didn't know you needed.. LOL soon tho soon


Happy 4th of July everyone !!