advice needed?

[bowgod1977]

What is everyone running as far as mats in their small (2-5 inch) dredges?
I'm new to dredging, and still haven't quite tuned my dredge to the exact way I want it to run. I'm getting close, but not 100% happy with my mat. I've tried a couple different configurations, but none have really hit the mark for me.
So I'm just curious what everyone else is running, and how often do you have to clean out your sluice?

I asked this question several times on a different forum, and couldn't get a single reply, so hopefully I'll have better luck here. So far this place hasn't let me down, so I'm sure I'll get some good info.
Thanks in advance
Dave

 

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[MikeMike]

What size and kind of dredge do you have or are looking to get? What kind of sluice do you have: a single stage over and under, or triple? How long is it ? What kind of mat are you running and where are they in your sluice? What horsepower and what model engine do you have (honda, briggs, subaru)? And what size gold is in the areas you will be frequenting most?

I hate to say this, because I hated hearing it.......BUT.......it depends on the material you are dredging......there I said it.

Every river...better yet...every section of river generally requires some minor tweaking.
Run for 10 or 15 minutes and check/tweak...run again 10 or 15...same till your happy.

Hope this helps.

[\/]ike

 

[2cmorau]

yuup what mike said, facvtory, or homemade
me i run my box as flat as possible, with no loadup,( missed on a couple of ocassions but caught the dredge during listing stages) give a rats backside about matting, carpet good enough, miners moss way too much black sand, riffles load up, clean, tailing pile tells me the whole story, one fly poop speck per pan in the tailings i am off and running

 

[Hoser John]

MUCH mo'info needed-John

 

[bowgod1977]

MUCH mo'info needed-John

Not really, I'm not asking for suggestions, I simply asked what everyone else is running, and how often they have to clean out on a good run.
I'm just curious as to what mat or mat combinations everyone is running, and how well that combination does when it comes to exchanging out the heavies and avoiding build up.

Personally I run 2 different set ups on my dredge. I either run hog moss under 3/4" raised expanded when I'm in bedrock or other areas with a lot of course gold. When I'm running top layers or creeks with mostly fine gold I take out the expanded metal and put deep V mat under my hog moss.

Both do a good job at catching the gold, my tailings are clean as can be. And I'm happy with it for the most part, but it does build up just a little bit, not enough to cause a problem though.

I just like tinkering, so I'm curious as to what everyone else is running. Having that info will give me some new ideas as far as tinkering with my dredge goes. I'd like to give some other options a fair shake and see if any of them do any better than what I'm currently running.

Being as I'm new to this whole hobby, and I'm self taught actually going through and trying things and learning via trial and error is the best way for me to learn and maximize my own success. Between trial and error, and forums like this where I can learn from the mistakes others have made in the past, I feel like I'm progressing rather well lol.


So anyways back to the actual question at hand. Let's try to keep it on topic and not over complicate the matter. It's just a simple question
"What for mat, or combination of mats are you running, and how often do you clean out during a good run."

 

[Goodyguy]

When in Indiana running gravels and sand setup for fine glacial gold.......

Modified over /under 4" dredge......... 3' long punch plate with 3/8" staggered holes over top of stock Keene riffle tray, last 4 riffles exposed.
Deep V the first 6" then vortex mat the length of the sluice under the riffle tray, clean outs every 2-3 hours. (takes 4 minutes) then at end of day thorough clean out takes about 8 minutes.

GG~

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

The word punchplate is key. Size and legnth vary but ive never seen a serious dredger without at least 3 obstacles in their sluice to catch the gold.

 

[bowgod1977]

Thanks goodyguy that's exactly the kind of answers I'm looking for.

I forgot to mention when describing my set up the top 12 inches of my sluice is ribbed rubber matting with a punch plate covering the top 18 inches of my sluice. My punch plate is I believe 3/8" perforated metal. I've never actually measured the holes so it could be off by +/- 1 size.

I also have a 15" rubber flap to help dampen the water flow at the top end of the sluice. I have been considering extending this flap to cover a larger section of the sluice. Not that my water flow is out of control or anything, but I tend to like the way that the covered section of the sluice collects material over the uncovered section. I have a design in mind for a removable flap that I could run the entire length of the sluice if I wanted to. But that's a test I'll have to run at a later date, as I'm no where close to a gold bearing stream right now lol.

 

[Goodyguy]

Thanks goodyguy that's exactly the kind of answers I'm looking for.

I forgot to mention when describing my set up the top 12 inches of my sluice is ribbed rubber matting with a punch plate covering the top 18 inches of my sluice. My punch plate is I believe 3/8" perforated metal. I've never actually measured the holes so it could be off by +/- 1 size.

I also have a 15" rubber flap to help dampen the water flow at the top end of the sluice. I have been considering extending this flap to cover a larger section of the sluice. Not that my water flow is out of control or anything, but I tend to like the way that the covered section of the sluice collects material over the uncovered section. I have a design in mind for a removable flap that I could run the entire length of the sluice if I wanted to. But that's a test I'll have to run at a later date, as I'm no where close to a gold bearing stream right now lol.

Would advise to use a lighter weight flap for the extension. It will still knock down the float and flour gold while allowing the gravels to wash out from under it.


GG~

 

[omnicron]

In my scalper section (1st stage) I run just plain old 1/2" miners moss over deep V-ribbed mat under 4 pound grating under 3/8" punch plate. In my second stage (underflow section) it's 3/4" alumn. raised expanded over vortex matting. In my 3rd stage it's veranda carpet under 4 pound grating. This whole set-up catches gold like crazy... from micron on up. I only clean my scalper section once a day unless I shut down for a extended time (long enough for the moss to dry out) then I will clean up that section. It only takes 5 minutes to clean out and to classify that section down to -30,-20 and -18. The other 2 section I will clean out only when I'm going home.

 

[Sick4gold]

I don't understand this thread...
It's called "advise needed". Yet your not looking for advise but more of a poll question.
You seem to be unhappy with your setup and obviously looking for a way to improve.
Hoser was just trying to get more info to help you as best he can. You would be well advised to answer him and listen to what he has to say. I didn't take him and a few others here too seriously until I put some of their practices to work.
Many great people here and TONS of info
Btw. Welcome and hope you get the answers your looking for!

 

[bowgod1977]

It's not that I'm unhappy with my set up, I didn't ask "what mats should I be running" I was simply just curious as to what others are running. I figure what I'm running is a very basic set up, and was just looking at what those with more experience than I have are finding works best for them. Be it simple and basic like that, that I am running, or extravagant.
When shopping for mats there are numerous options, some obviously are going to work better for dredging than others. I'm just getting started in the hobby, and I like to tinker always looking for better ways to do things.
I was not trying too be rude or offend anyone. Hoser John has been a great help to me in the short time I have been a member here. He helped a great deal on my other thread where I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my pump. With his advice and some others I managed to get my old pump working right so I didn't have to buy a new one. I'm very appreciative for anyone who shares advice with me. If you notice in my original post, I have asked this same question on other forums, for some reason it seems like everyone is very reluctant to share what they're running in their sluice. I figured it was a simple enough question "What is everyone running as far as mats in their small (2-5 inch) dredges" that was really all the advice I was looking for.

 

[Sick4gold]

No problems and yes it is a simple enough question. The problem is that there are many many factors involved here.
How big is your dredge, who makes it or is it home made, where are you located, what kind of gold are you going for,
What kind of pump/motor, etc.
I PERSONALLY use the stock Proline miners moss and found recovery to be excellent as soon as I stopped trying to reinvent the wheel and trusted my box to do what it was designed for.
I focused on watching my material going up the hose, running and readjusting my angle when necessary, avoiding jams, basic stuff made a HUGE difference.
To sum up I just use the blue miners moss on a completely stock box. It has Prolines new "wave classifier" which I am blown away by for fines recovery.
There are literally hundreds of different combinations out there and people run everything from ribbed matting to miners moss to hog mat to carpet and everything else you can think of.
I know your just looking for more of a poll but the reason behind it is in order for you to consider other possibilities which loops back to needing more info as to what may work best for you.
Anyone that gives you advise without knowing what your running and how/ where is full of crap.

 

[bowgod1977]

That's the thing, I didn't want a bunch of people telling me their opinion on what would work best for me. I've spent enough time on forums for other hobbies to know any time you ask a question like that you just end up with a battle of opinions, and everyone thinks theirs is the right one.
I've always been a pretty logical guy, I know in any diverse market there is no "best" anything. Much of it has to do with A. How the person uses it
B. Personal opinion, and C. Market hype.
I haven't been around the prospecting hobby long enough to know, but I've found often times in other hobbies that last one often is the most prevalent
I've never been a follow the hype kind of person, I like to try things myself and form my own opinion based on what works the best for me. That was the reason for asking the way I did, I didn't want opinions on what would work best for me, I just wanted to hear what others are actually using. From there I can try different methods that I chose and form my own opinion based on which one works the best for me and the way I do things.
To me the learning curve is half the fun, I enjoy tinkering, and trying new things. First thing I do when I make a big change is run tests to see what impacts the change has made. I keep detailed notes so I can go back over things and track my success and failure. I test to see what % of heavies I'm catching, where I am catching them at, and what I can do if anything to better the outcome. It gives me something to do in my down time seeing as the closest place I can prospect is over 2 hours away. I only get out like once a week, the rest of the week I get to tinker and learn things outside of the creek. be it reading message boards, books, watching videos, or actual hands on testing with my equipment and a bag of lead shot I have beaten into different shapes and sizes and painted orange. This allows me to take my one day a week hobby and make it a 7 day a week hobby.