Building a Trommel

Thanks guys. This one is going to be for areas I can drive the truck or side x side to. I will be making another lighter weight one out of aluminum that I can toss in the plane to check out other areas I have in mind. I am still working out how to mount the sluice runs so its clean, easy, rigid yet fully adjustable so I can quickly dial in the pitch I want depending on the material and mats I am using. I am pretty sure I have it worked out in my head, but we all know what happens when thoughts in the head get transferred to metal. Change is the only constant!

Next project will be a conveyor to feed both this or the high banker depending on the areas I am working. I think I finally figured out a good use for the tread mill that has been taking up space in the basement for a few years.
 

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My stacker at the moment... The older I get the less I like a shovel. This is not much bigger than a shovel but a whole lot easier on the back!
 

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akflyer said:
My stacker at the moment... The older I get the less I like a shovel. This is not much bigger than a shovel but a whole lot easier on the back!
Click to expand...

Is that contraption home made? Any videos of it being operated??
Would be interesting to see.
 

IMAUDIGGER said:
Is that contraption home made? Any videos of it being operated??
Would be interesting to see.
Click to expand...


It's a kobelco ss1. You can see lots of vids on YouTube. I dont have any of mine running yet.
 

those are some cool toys. your mini should overwhelm your trommel with material. if you stockpile material first you could feed with a beer in hand. keep up the good work. I do think you would love an aluminum trommel. i have one and it is so portable i can set up almost anywhere.
 

dredgernaut said:
those are some cool toys. your mini should overwhelm your trommel with material. if you stockpile material first you could feed with a beer in hand. keep up the good work. I do think you would love an aluminum trommel. i have one and it is so portable i can set up almost anywhere.
Click to expand...

This is just a test trommel.. if I find something worth while I will scale it accordingly. The whole goal of the SS1 is to move dirt with a beer in hand and enjoy playing in the dirt. My 5 yr old daughter has fun with it as well and it wont take her long before she is feeding the sluice instead of just digging holes in the yard.
 

I am very new to prospecting but a very familiar with metal working and wear. It would seem like aluminium would wear out to fast for all the work you have to put into it and maybe expensive for the thickness to make it worth the effort. What are you using to take the side thrust on the barrel when it is inclined? What rate of feed are looking for? I think the 8" diameter is great but I'm not sure about the 14"s of holes, seems like for a little bit more length there you would be able to greatly increase production. Like I said I am very new to prospecting so forgive me if I seem like a smarta$$. I'm guessing it gets ran wet but maybe not, by wet I mean with a good flow of water through the barrel.

Paul
 

yes it will be run wet. If the gold cant fall out in the 14" section then its probably not going to fall out anyway. Running the detector over the tailings pile is in the plans as well. This unit is not really for production, more quick testing of a decent amount of dirt (beats the hell out of panning 5 gallon buckets). I scored a partially built 14" trommel a week ago that I will set up more for production. The price (free) was right so I will take on the mods that need to be done to make it useful after I get this one up and running.
 

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The next trick is to come up with an easily yet completely adjustable was to mount the sluice runs for perfect leveling.

I think I will put some screw in foot adjuster on the bottom of the legs for the trommel. The main leg will drop down and is pinned every 2" to help level it out, but with the adjustable feet I can fine tune real easy to get it perfectly level. Then a bit of adjustment on the sluice runs to dial them in for the correct degree depending on the mats and material I am running.


Funny how a really simple design starts to get a bit more complicated once we start building it and tweaking it for best performance / ease of use.

:occasion14:
 

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that's a thought. Was thinking jack screws on the sluice runs top and bottom as well to tune them. Will see how it comes together when I get home again. The darn ground got a little stiff on me so I am not sure when I will get a chance to run some dirt through it but I need to get it done and wrapped up and off to the powder coaters so I can move onto the next project.
 

I use highbanker legs under my sluices. bolt right on and fully adjustable. and trommel legs are threaded rod with adjuster nut to set height and small feet welded to bottom so it does not sink in.
also for the record aluminum can totally handle the work. my drum is made of 1/4 inch aluminum, it has seen thousands of rocks up to 5 inch . minimal interior dings in wall. no dents or bends, it was worth the extra money for me. IMG_8895.JPG
also a chain and sprocket are overkill. a trommel this size can run off a belt around drum with a simple belt tensioner.
 

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I really like your trommel. Probably go with aluminum frame for my larger one. Will see if I keep the barrel I have now or if I make a new one from Aluminum like yours. For the area I would be using the larger one in weight really would not be an issue for me though.

:occasion14:
 

when I first built it I had to carry it in over rough terrain. the drum is akward to get on my shoulder , but once its up I can carry it a long ways. kinda helps I have been carrying lumber on my shoulders for 27 years though. I would like to build a small screener (maybe 5 inches) with feed conveyor. it would regulate my feed rate, bucket loads seem to send a surge wave through the system on occasion. but if I have an oversize hopper under screener and over feed conveyor. it would be able to keep up with feeding on a very steady rate without surging or without running short on material. I think anyways. lol. gonna try to build it this winter.
 

With the ground being frozen this project took a back burner for a few months. Now that things are thawing out again I am hoping to get back on it. Too many projects, too little time.

I have a 4X8 CNC plasma table on the way so my next barrel will be cut on the table then rolled. Should speed the process way up!

Anyone else been building new toys in the off season?
 

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