Keene 151S Recovery Box& Tray

[Relichunter1]

I don't usually complain unless its warranted, but I have to say the new Keene 151S drywash recovery boxes have major design flaws. Recently I built a 5 bank drywasher I decided to go with the new 151s Boxes. Boy was that an expensive mistake...at 550 bucks a pop I wish i would have gone with the Royal boxes instead. Number #1 flaw the glue they use to secure the silk screen onto the aluminum gave way the first season of perhaps 10 hours of use. I am having to now find a better adhesive to redo all my new 151s boxes. Flaw #2, the trays and the boxes are not fitting making cleanups a royal pain in the rear..

. I took all my trays out of the boxes and measured each tray to the opening of the box wear it slides in. Each one is off by 1/4 inch - 1/2 inch so when you painfully try to install the trays onto the boxes it a Royal pain. They don't fit correctly in at all. Again i don't usually ***** but this is driving me crazy...it shouldn't be so difficult to slide these in and slide them out. I regret buying these boxes. The extra matting they provide (gray in color ) to slide the tray on makes it even more difficult to slide them in and lock them on the opposite side... Soo think twice, maybe three times before you buy a Keene 151s drywasher. I did communicate with Pat and he stated they are more difficult to install.. when i sent him a detailed explanation with pictures and measurements I got no response !!! Poor quality control, poor manufacturing practice hence a poor product. Ok , I feel better now.....I wish I had my old Keene 151....I had no problesm, sometimes good things aught to be left alone. The old trays slide in and out....no freakin problem !!!!

Well the more I work with these boxes and trays the more I realize that Keene modified the trays and never changed the boxes.I can understand that redoing the molds to the box to accommodate the tray mods would be costly. But the new trays do not fit the boxes..hence I am having a hell of a time with it. They went from the old black screen to silk screen, than added a foam similar to that stuff you put at the bottom of kitchen shelving, than a plexi-glas sheet to the bottom of the riffles that are screwed and than a separate gray in color matting that goes on top of the box between the tray and box. When you try to slide the recovery box its a huge problem, it don't fit! They should have redone the box to accommodate the new dimension of the tray. This project cost me a lot of money..I was going between the Royal box which would have cost me around 375.00 a piece and I choose Keene based on reputation...550.00 per box X 5 plus shipping 3,500! Well now I am really sorry I choose Keene...its seriously;y is not worth the hassle...When I sent a message with pictures to Pat, he never responded. This was a disappointment...anyways live and learn. I may have to just remove the plexiglass, the foam, and extra gray matting so it fits into the box and just slam it in...and go with what I have this season. I don't mean to ***** about Keene, they have provided the prospector with some great equipment .but this new moded out tray sucks big time.

 

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[1637]

call pat and talk to him.
brad

 

[Relichunter1]

Hi Brad,

Mark has a video on You-Tube on the 151s drywasher...I left him a reply on how my trays do not fit at the top where they put the new scrubbing pins plate. I can slide the tray way up until the last 8 inches. It seems that plate where the scrubbing pins are locate are to low. I tried bending it but the aluminum is way to strong..So basically I have to force the tray under it and pound the hell out of it and it still don't fit right..in fact where the tray clips at the bottom I always have a 1/2"- 3/4" lip basically its not flush with box end. So when I clamp it down i feel there is unwarranted stress on the aluminum tray end. I left a detailed message with Pat...with pictures and he never returned my call...so dry-washing season is around the corner...I'll give him a buzz again...just with that last message I felt he just may want me to go away...lol. I am posting my experience with the 151 drywash trays so I may save someone a head ache..if they are considering getting one..these. I am going to get my 5 recovery boxes out and do a video so people can understand better what I am talking about.



Just went and looked at it carefully again....basically poor fabrication at the factory...it seems who ever was making them was in a rush and didn't do a good job. A very poor job indeed...even with the gray matting out sticking that tray under the scrubbing pins plate is impossible. They should have ground down more aluminum at the end where it goes under the plate so the tray can go as far as the box opening. This is why its sticking out where it clamps down. If I lived in Chatsworth I would take them all to the shop. I am 5 hours away..and have 5 sets...any ways if anyone buys these make sure you talk to someone and tell them to make sure its done right!

 

[Relichunter1]

So Pat explained to me how to fix the issue I am having with the new riffle trays not fitting under the scrubbing pins plate.
Using a 3" sand disc on angle grinder to shave or grind the lip on the back side of the trail, and that would have eliminated all the problems, or use a flat file may need to file 1/16 to 1/8" of aluminum.. X 5 trays...This all should have been done at the factory, someone slept at the wheel...now I am having to spend the time to make this work. If you order one, contact them and make sure they get it right the first time. Spending 3500 dollars plus shipping you would think it would be done right.

 

[Hard Prospector]

I've owned Keene and Royal drywashers and this is my take;

Keene is always trying to innovate and stay cutting edge which is all good BUT; once they get there quality control in production is often left to be desired. Had 3 of their drywashers; two were perfect and worked excellent while the other had crappy welds and was missing rivets. My hunch is that most of their sales come from over seas markets so they are less concerned with "appeasing" prospectors in the USA.

When ever possible try to communicate with Mark as I have found him attentive and easy going, Abraham is also a pretty cool. Pat is a smart guy but can be somewhat arrogant and aloof.

Royal products are basic, effective and bomb proof, Robert has excellent quality control practices and seems to care about his company's image.

 

[Relichunter1]

HP.

I agree with you assessment..I also owned the large Royal drywasher..very well made and had very good fine gold recovery. I picked the Keene as I was building a large 5 bank system and wanted a pull out riffle tray system as it would have been easier to do clean ups based on my drywasher design. So in the next few weeks I will take my 5 trays and do some customizing so it fits under that scrubber pin plate.Its just a pain in the rear when you spend this type of dough and after 10 hours the dang silk screen and glue is coming apart, and you can't get the trays into the box because someone at the shop did't make sure it worked as it should before it was shipped off to me 300 miles away.

 

[okbasspro]

So Pat explained to me how to fix the issue I am having with the new riffle trays not fitting under the scrubbing pins plate.
Using a 3" sand disc on angle grinder to shave or grind the lip on the back side of the trail, and that would have eliminated all the problems, or use a flat file may need to file 1/16 to 1/8" of aluminum.. X 5 trays...This all should have been done at the factory, someone slept at the wheel...now I am having to spend the time to make this work. If you order one, contact them and make sure they get it right the first time. Spending 3500 dollars plus shipping you would think it would be done right.

When I was in the market for a new 4” dredge I called Keene. I was given a 8-12 week lead time. When I asked why I was told they were more concerned with the overseas orders. I love my Proline 4” that I bought instead. Could not believe Keene was that willing to let 4K just go to someone else.

 

[Hard Prospector]

When I was in the market for a new 4” dredge I called Keene. I was given a 8-12 week lead time. When I asked why I was told they were more concerned with the overseas orders. I love my Proline 4” that I bought instead. Could not believe Keene was that willing to let 4K just go to someone else.

Yep, I totally believe it.

 

[Hard Prospector]

HP.

I agree with you assessment..I also owned the large Royal drywasher..very well made and had very good fine gold recovery. I picked the Keene as I was building a large 5 bank system and wanted a pull out riffle tray system as it would have been easier to do clean ups based on my drywasher design. So in the next few weeks I will take my 5 trays and do some customizing so it fits under that scrubber pin plate.Its just a pain in the rear when you spend this type of dough and after 10 hours the dang silk screen and glue is coming apart, and you can't get the trays into the box because someone at the shop did't make sure it worked as it should before it was shipped off to me 300 miles away.

I've talked to Robert about adding a removable riffle tray but he's dead set against it, says it would increase cost and unnecessary anyway. I got to where instead of unhooking the chain and dropping the box, I just used my shop vac and vacumed out the riffle tray every 20 or so minutes which worked quite well.

Sounds like your building a commercial grade production drywasher, sounds very cool.

 

[Relichunter1]

I've talked to Robert about adding a removable riffle tray but he's dead set against it, says it would increase cost and unnecessary anyway. I got to where instead of unhooking the chain and dropping the box, I just used my shop vac and vacumed out the riffle tray every 20 or so minutes which worked quite well.

Sounds like your building a commercial grade production drywasher, sounds very cool.

Yup built it last year and gave it a spin to make sure it worked properly. I gave it a test last Summer worked out well...but still need to make a few mods, one is adding another conveyor to the system so the waste is dumped further form the drywasher. Outside of the Keene issues...the system will run just fine...Robert builds some god products...glad they're giving Keene some competition.

 

[russau]

When I was in the market for a new 4” dredge I called Keene. I was given a 8-12 week lead time. When I asked why I was told they were more concerned with the overseas orders. I love my Proline 4” that I bought instead. Could not believe Keene was that willing to let 4K just go to someone else.

And I believe you got a better built dredge to boot ! I've had several of both Keene and Pro-line and liked them both also BUT I liked my Pro-lines better !

 

[Goldwasher]

Royal and Pro-line Both exist to serve domestic small scale prospectors.

Keene exists to get as much money as they can while they can.

They are over priced.

Their sluices are good because they haven't changed.

The best Keene dredges are purchased on craigslist. Buying a new one from any dealer is not a smart move.

I had a nice Keene drywasher in the Late '90's eartly 2000's

I've been thinking about getting another drywasher it will be a Royal!!

 

[Hard Prospector]

Goldwasher,

Discovery Channel needs to cast you on some sort of a gold show series.......viewers deserve to see the real thing

 

[Goldwasher]

Goldwasher,

Discovery Channel needs to cast you on some sort of a gold show series.......viewers deserve to see the real thing

i've talked to three production companies. one of them produced a show that a member here ended up on.

I've never signed on because they all have stated that there would be "staged" aspects to the show.

Hard pass for me. I told them I would not pretend to find gold. They also wanted to film on private land and call it a claim.

If one comes along that wants to make a real show i would be on board.