Highbanker build deaign ideas

b.jmining530

b.jmining530

Full Member
Mar 15, 2014
185
133
Oroville Ca
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Aluminum is standard. I would suggest at least .070 thickness for longevity. You can use galvanized metal, just wipe it down really good with vinegar and be aware that in years to come it will rust out. Make your hopper as big as you want, the bigger the better. You want a nice big target when shoveling or dumping a bucket. Consider what you want to do with it now and in the future. Do you plan on dredging in the future? If so then don't get a trash pump. At a minimum get a cheep harbor freight clear water pump. Also, why 9"? Why not go 10 or 12? The bigger the sluice the faster and more material it will process.
 

In cal we cannt dredge , but I would like to have the ability to use it as a dredge. I thought 9 inches would be an ok size and I want to get the gold hog mats and I would be able to get more for my money by having a 9 inch wide space instead if 10 or even 12 inches . I could get 2 feet out of 1 mat if I had it 9 inches wide .
 

You want the sluice size to be dependent on the water flow/depth being supplied by the pump. The water depth is critical to the size of material allowed to pass over the riffle system.....so the grizzly in the hopper sets this standard.....as does the normal angle of the sluice (1 inch per foot will be a good start). I would suggest you make a decision on the size of material you want to run and THEN make the decisions on sluice width/length/pump. All MUST be done cohesively....as it is the method of creating something that works properly. Length is one consideration that can be dealt with depending on how you design the riffle/mat layout. With all the new "inner workings" the length is predominantly determined by the "capture" potential.

I'll give you a current for instance. I am currently out in the Az desert mining and my mining partner is really a hard guy to convince that fine Gold is going to "stick" in the sluice. So this year I set up a 7 ft long tom sluice that has two sets of riffle systems in it with the standard "miners moss" underneath the riffles and the diamond screen in one section and of course the "V" mat in the upper end. We run material in it every day. The second/last 3.5 ft portion of the sluice gets checked/cleaned first and we NEVER find any gold in it....only black sand. ALL the gold (even the finest fly poop size) is in the upper 1st 3.5 ft section.........and in that section 90% is stuck in the "V" mat and above the first riffle. Round nuggets tend to ride over the first riffle at times. Personally I think the 7 ft length is just a waste of time....but I wanted my partner to see that for himself.

The other reason for the 7 ft length was to get my partner to feed the sluice quickly....as he wanted to dribble the material in ( I have always considered that to be a waste of time)....as I want to run material....and let the water/riffles work. I want the material thrown in; a small shovel full at a time, and let the water do its' task.....as gold drops out of water immediately...no matter the size IMHO.....and the riffle system is what captures and holds the gold. Currently we are running a recirc system.....you can however overload the system and have the riffles clogged up.......as that ruins the capture....so the FEED factor is important.

So give consideration not based on what you think, but rather how it all fits together cohesively and works.
Size of material entering the system.......water flow/depth........riffles/capture....then length. Width is also determined by water depth and flow. To wide and the water depth diminishes....per pump output/supply.

Most manufacturers such as Proline and Keene figure all this out; so you might want to check out their products. Pump/hose size....sluice size...etc.

Good luck with your project, and I hope your efforts produce some values worthy of the challenge.

Bejay
 

Thanks for the info/ideas . It is a lot to keep in mind when designing something g like this. I want to make a unit that I can feed constantly with shovels of material. I figured that the longer the sluice area used with high water speed/flow I could feed it faster with material.
 

That is true, but there is a point at which the length is not needed. If the sluice were 20 feet long, the ability to load the system faster with material increases without loss of gold. BUT if the last 10 feet never shows gold you are wasting time cleaning and panning the last 10 feet. There is a cohesive balance that you want to achieve. You are basically understanding a goal, and just need to give further consideration on how it will all come together.

I remember watching Hoffman on the Gold Rush series make a decision that his wash plant "Little Blue" was losing gold out the end.... so he removed it from use and then he and his crew sat for about a month with NO wash plant. I immediately thought "How Stupid". He could adjust the sluice and add length if he wanted to continue to feed it the way he was....and/or adjust the water flow/depth/angle. Or he could have fed the system slower and cleaned more often. At least he could have run material and accomplished something. But we know he was, and is not, the brightest guy in the neighborhood.

So pay close attention to the name brand units and how they are designed.

A number of years ago I purchased a Proline 3 inch combo to use here in Az when water was flowing in some normally dry creeks. I also had a Keene 3 inch combo at the time. The Proline sluice was shorter and wider, and underneath the riffles was Proline's miners moss. I was use to the Keene sluices and had been using them for many many years. So I modified the Proline riffle system to have some carpet as well as miners moss. BIG Mistake....as I found large pickers in the last 3 riffles of the sluice. I called Jeff at Proline and he explained HOW the Proline design worked and so I immediately changed the sluice back to "stock". After all my "thinking I was improving" the system in the beginning, I found that Proline had it all worked out and the pickers and nuggets always remained in the upper "V" mat area of the stock sluice. Nothing of any size ever went over the first riffle. To this day the unit is stock and gets the gold.

Design is extremely important and all logistical diagnostic issues MUST be cohesive.

Bejay
 

Yeah mr Todd Hoffman definitely was not making some of the brightest choices, but live and learn I guess but when you spending that kind of money you don't want to learn the hard way like they did...... I am really am wanting to get a gold hog highbanker/dredge combo am studying the designs of the gold hog viper pro flare and the extended gold hog viper units. I wish I had enough money and time to go some where that I could dredge. The monster gold hog looks like a beast of a dredge/highbanker but that is a little out of my budget lol. I used to work in a metal fabrication shop and I am still friends with some of the guys and am going to have them help me with the sheet metal work .
 

a great dependable pump is the duro-max 2" 7hp. i bought mine last year to run my jobe, 10 inch 6ft highbanker. v-mat in the top foot, then riffles over expanded over miners moss over v-mat. the lower section is riffles over expanded over ribbed carpet. the pump works great. ive been working a hole about 80 feet from the creek at about a 25 foot lift, and get all the water i need. bought the pump from waterpumpsdirect.com for $220. no tax and free shipping. received it in 4 days. i only run the extra 3 feet of sluice for an emergency catch because i like to run alot of material. havent come across any yet though!!! but you never know.
 

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