Increase production

[principedeleon]

You are right jack about being some nice pieces on overburben.. I couldnt reach bedrock last time dredging and i found a .4 grain nugget on the clean up and i have seen some lonely nuggets drop down from the overburden.

 

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[2020hindsite]

Hindsite, keep doing what you're doing, 1/2 throttle plus a little and no more than 1/3 solids through the nozzle. My 34 years experience tells me to do the same thing. Flood gold (some pretty good size pieces too) will be on top of a gravel bar sometimes, so don't rush to bedrock.

Put a mask on and get wet, too! Being IN the water beats breaking your back in boots.

Yes, you will blow gold right out of your box running the pump too fast!

I do not know much about dredging and I don't have years and years experience and I do humbly respect any advise that's given but I kind of want to avoid cranking the throttle way up as it seems counter productive. Sure you get less jams and seem to process more but the ladder says that you will blow gold out. Jeff from Proline recommended that this throttle setting is where I need to be to run the box correctly.
I don't want to say ANYONE is wrong but Mabe for just now I'm not 100% comfortable running that fast. It could be partially my ignorance and partially my inexperience but I'm not even sure I could keep up with nearly full throttle. Damn even at just over half throttle the nozzle will hurt you if your not careful.

I really do like the tips and I think for starters this year I will try and making much wider holes before going deeper.
Thank you

 

[G1sammons]

I do not know much about dredging and I don't have years and years experience and I do humbly respect any advise that's given but I kind of want to avoid cranking the throttle way up as it seems counter productive. Sure you get less jams and seem to process more but the ladder says that you will blow gold out. Jeff from Proline recommended that this throttle setting is where I need to be to run the box correctly. I don't want to say ANYONE is wrong but Mabe for just now I'm not 100% comfortable running that fast. It could be partially my ignorance and partially my inexperience but I'm not even sure I could keep up with nearly full throttle. Damn even at just over half throttle the nozzle will hurt you if your not careful. I really do like the tips and I think for starters this year I will try and making much wider holes before going deeper. Thank you

You don't have to worry about making me mad ! I'm already mad ...lol
Hay what works for one doesn't for another .. I don't run a proline .. I run a keene and I run it full till with the p180 pump and it's still not enough I went to a hp 400 proline pump and will see what it does this year ... But this is what iv found
Running alittle better than half throttle I recover about 10 percent more but it cuts my over all production in half ..
Running full throttle I loose 10 percent but cover twice the volume plus .... So it more than makes up the difference ..
I never rush to bed rock and I don't hog material either ... I feed steady and if I stop to move cobbles I cap my nozzle ... So I don't run my box out of material. I done a lot of testing with my dredge . And know what it capable of doing and what it's not..

And you'll will have to do the same .. Your style is your own and you'll have to push your bounty to find where you can increase and where ya can't . But never let people steere you where you don't want to go .. There are some thing you have to learn for your self ...

 

[Goodyguy]

Avoid plug ups at all cost! More time and gold is lost due to plug ups than any other thing, provided your sluice is set up properly.
The more material you run the more gold you will get, that's why you're dredging in the first place instead of running a high banker.

Look for more efficient ways of doing everything so you can spend more time sucking up gold. Don't process your cons when you could be dredging, run your cons at home.

GG~

 

[2020hindsite]

Capping my nozzle with a rock is an awesome tip! It may seem basic but I never thought about it.
I have usually just let it run assuming that as long as water doesn't stop I was ok.

Also do you think it's better to have 1 guy tending the box and resting up to be fresh and take turns or
1 guy clearing rocks at all times?

 

[omnicron]

Capping my nozzle with a rock is an awesome tip! It may seem basic but I never thought about it.
I have usually just let it run assuming that as long as water doesn't stop I was ok.

Also do you think it's better to have 1 guy tending the box and resting up to be fresh and take turns or
1 guy clearing rocks at all times?

Have the second person doing both, he/she can clear rocks and watch the dredge at the same time. Work out some hand signals to be able to communicate.

 

[G1sammons]

You should not need a box tender on a 3"
And if your not running your dredge hard you should not need to cap it ..
But even when you cap it it still flow water from the pump just not enough to wash the box clean...
Never never never shut your dredge off while dredging to check the box out as when you shut it down most of the materal falls to the back of the riffle and when you start it back up it blows out .. Big rookie mistake.. They always want to look and that ok just do it running at low speed ..

 

[Armchair prospector]

Running the dredge motor hard? I can't see that being effective unless you want to burn it out. We don't drive our cars with peddle to the metal. A 3" isn't as good as a 4" in moving material and so on going up in size. Depending where you are a 4" is as big as you may want to go if by yourself. It is the learning curve and you will figure out what is or isn't working and make adjustments. My dredge runs at "NO" throttle because I live in CA.

 

[russau]

throttel speed depends on YOUR sluicebox! if it is a over under box youll need the extra water to feed the lower sluice,or itll starve out and end up loading up the lower sluice!on single level sluices, your right.

 

[G1sammons]

Running the dredge motor hard? I can't see that being effective unless you want to burn it out. We don't drive our cars with peddle to the metal. A 3" isn't as good as a 4" in moving material and so on going up in size. Depending where you are a 4" is as big as you may want to go if by yourself. It is the learning curve and you will figure out what is or isn't working and make adjustments. My dredge runs at "NO" throttle because I live in CA.

unlike a car engine these are governed and it will run all day at full throttle .. No problem what so ever
There not that much difference in material moving between a three and a 4" just a bit
The 3 will be more efficient than a 4" with the same set up

 

[specksandflecks]

Best case scenario is to find someone or a group/club that has experience dredging in your area and actually know what they are doing. As has been said it's more common sense and paying attention than rocket science. Besides seeing how other local dredges are set up and operated for max efficiency in your area, these folks will probably have all kinds of other helpful info regarding local gold.

These kind of forums are great for advise from people willing to share and some of them are worth a couple reads, that said eyes on hands on is always best. Seeing something done correctly for 5 minutes and knowing why leaves a lot less to be lost in translation. T-net will still be around in a few years (hopefully) though some of the 'old timers' in your area might not. Good luck out there.

 

[Bigwill]

Thanks for all this great info guys. 3 years ago my 1st time dredging a guy at the Alabama Gold Camp told me never raise throttle over half so thats where I have been. Many aggravating plug ups wore out a dead blow hammer beating that hose. I will try increasing the throttle this year

 

[Hoser John]

Morning Mad Jack I just posted a link in prospecting forum here with your info to your fight to keep dredging in Maine bud. Need more publicity as I put on GoldDredger over a month ago too. Ts top quality also and thanx for fast shipping bud. Tons a au 2 u 2 Jack-John

 

[russau]

John beat me to it! i was going to post it but, there was Johns post! i did post some stuff on another club site.

 

[Bejay]

Thanks guys... Couple things,
I don't know how to run my engine hard? I have a proline 3 inch and was told to run just over 1/2 throttle with up to a 1 inch drop on the entire box. This is how I've always ran it. Wouldn't jacking up the throttle blow out gold? I know the water speed is not increased in the box but the water depth.

Second I have no idea what kind of dredger I am. I use a 3 inch proline with a power jet and just try and limit my plug-ups. I am a novice for sure. But I'm trying desperately to get better.

The area I must work has about 1-1 1/2 feet overburden which is not ideal for my dredge but I gotta do what I gotta do as this area has great gold for my area. Nearly all the exposed bedrock has been worked like a Mardi-gras hooker.
The overburden is mostly broken bedrock pieces which piled up over many years and are flat rocks which are difficult to run without plugging up.

One of the biggest issues I believe is my holes keep collapsing in on themselves and I continually have to process the overburden to keep making the hole bigger. I was taught to punch down to bedrock and then start widening your hole but I'm not sure how good my teacher was.

Thanks again guys and hopefully your pans are full this coming year

Hi 2020hindsite. I have been dredging for 35 years and have a number of dredges and I also have a 3 inch Proline. You can not just run the engine as fast as it goes.....on the Proline you must set the unit so it loads properly (water flow/depth/angle/etc.).

It sounds as though you are experiencing many of the same issues dredgers face constantly in lose packed material. I suggest working backwards...downstream with your nozzle so that any current keeps the upper sidewalls from collapsing in. Get your hole large enough to get in and then just face downstream with your nozzle. Also pulling the nozzle back to the material helps lessen the "ooopppss I did not want that rock to go up to the nozzle". When you get a hose plug up try burping the hose by lifting the nozzle out of water and then placing it back in.....this will often times allow a multi rock clog to settle and pass. Flat jagged rocks are a real pain.

With the 3 inch I suggest placing one gloved finger into the end of the nozzle (hard to do with 5 inch and larger.....the ouch factor). This will allow you to play with what "comes up to the nozzle by mistake" and pull it away before it goes in (larger rocks).

Clogs/plug ups and equipment failures slow down your production as well as having to clear out the end of the sluice if your tailing pile gets to large.
Also make sure your hose couplings do not create "neck down" circumference issues.

Lots of little tricks to dredging and I notice all dredgers encompass things uniquely. We all do what works best for us.

Bejay

 

[Goodyguy]

Burping the nozzle will sometimes clear a jam but at the same time will cause a blow out in the sluice. Again, avoid plug ups at all cost! You will lose gold and productivity for every plug up.

If you are having lots of plug ups then it's better to put a 3/16" bolt through the end of the nozzle than to waste time and gold on plug ups.
The bolt can easily be removed as material and skill dictates.

* the bolt will end your plug up problems but will also slow down production as you have to constantly clear the larger cobbles from it, so only use it until it trains you to feed the nozzle properly.

Another tip is to listen to the sound of the hose when it is sucking up gravels if the sound slows down then you need to slow down the feed or risk a plug up.

A little plug up can often be worked loose by pushing and pulling the hose, push in a straight line toward the jet (making the hose diameter larger) and pull back in a straight line, after several tries hopefully the clog clears.

Hope this helps,

GG~

 

[2cmorau]

why i liked the crash box over the jet flair, you can lift the nozzle out, with out fear, easyer to get that rock off the tip,
I alwys ran at half throttle maybe a little more and with the five, held the tip with a full hand, gloved of course, every now an then you would get a smacker, always seem to happen right after moving rocks and picking up the nozzle, but i could go all day no plugs in the line, yep it's a bit slower moving gravel, but whole lot better then hogging the nozzle and would frustrate others. best part though who ever got a plug would clear it and then tend box until the other would get a plug in which he would have to clear and then tend box.

 

[Bejay]

[Quote Goodyguy] Burping the nozzle will sometimes clear a jam but at the same time will cause a blow out in the sluice. Again, avoid plug ups at all cost! You will lose gold and productivity for every plug up.

If you are having lots of plug ups then it's better to put a 3/16" bolt through the end of the nozzle than to waste time and gold on plug ups.
The bolt can easily be removed as material and skill dictates. [End Quote]

Two issues that deserve some discussion. Using a power jet can cause the "blow by factor" to occur, and much discussion has occurred as to whether this will result in losing gold. The "blow by" is a result of leaving the nozzle out of the water for too long a time. We all have our thoughts on this issue, and I don't worry much about it....as 90% of my gold 1st locates in the upper most rib matt portion of my sluice and I have a lot more sluice left to catch unstable gold....should that occur....the remaining 10% is nuggets that don't go thru the griz....they get to the riffle portion. But I also have a 4 inch triple layer Keene and I have never found gold in the lower fine black sand tray. And I have had a few "blow by's". But we can argue this point till dooms day.....and I know the specific gravity of gold does create a huge catch factor. I have a "long tom" sluice on a large trommel and the "V" matt was glued to the bottom of the sluice.....(it no longer is tho)....and I would have the hardest time flushing the gold out of the "V" matt with a garden hose spray nozzle during clean up.

The reason I don't use a "bolt across" the nozzle is because I don't just shove the nozzle into the gravel. I decide when and where I want to place the nozzle and the "finger" in the end allows me to achieve the same thing but "feel" what is happening. If I wanted a 2 inch dredge I would get one. On a 3 inch dredge I actually want 2 1/2 inch rocks to go up the hose......I don't want to be "throwing/tossing" all the 1.5 inch rocks all day. As that is what you will be doing if you "bolt across" the end. That really slows production.

The secret to dredging is do what works for you. It never hurts to try a few different techniques as you learn. All I know is dredging by yourself requires one to learn how to resolve those issues that slow you down. If you are under water, with weights and regulator/mask and have to come up out of your spot every time you get a clog you will NOT BE getting much production done.

Oh and I forgot one good de-clog trick I use often. When and if you decide to burp the hose it can help if the hose is fairly straight and you can give a tug on the hose at the same time......be quick about it so you don't get a "blow by". I can't stand a "suction nozzle" two hose set up. I like the single hose and can tip it vertical and cup my gloved hand around the nozzle in order to slow down the suction in shallow 1 inch water.....and be careful so not to get a "blow by".

We had a whole thread discussion on "blow by" gold loss on the GPAA forum and those who feel it causes gold loss have their strong opinion that it does. I don't want it to happen and I don't like it to happen, but for me it is not that big an issue....I want the dredge sucking up material and depositing the gold in the sluice....and my sluice systems work......my Keene triple layer can and does prove me right.....but then again I am not dredging "fly poop" gold.

Bejay

 

[Goodyguy]

What Bjay said

 

[principedeleon]

I have also unplugged some rock jams by just putting my hands on and off the suction hose inside of the water and it works depending the plug up.. I guess it plays with the velocity inside of the hose to loosen the jam; doesnt completely stop the suction like taking it out of the water but becomes just enough to loosen it..Thats Just the first thing i do before i have to send the rock man up to unplug the rock jam.