Latest Dredge Trip

[omnicron]

Figured I would share my misfortune again with you guys...
I went up to sample/dredge a new spot up creek from where I pulled 5 ounces last year. It started out with this:


Caused by this:


I'm lucky that I had a spare/jack/tire iron.
But my luck ran out there...
Once again I had issues with my new Keene foot valve. I pump and pump and it leaks back out the rubber flap. In 3 days I guess I lost almost 3 hours of dredging time trying to prime the engine, taking the valve apart looking for the cause... I have decided to add a bilge pump priming feature to solve this problem. I'm going to plumb it in through the hose port. Hope it works!
So back to the spot I tested...I move roughly 8'x20'x36" of overburden to get to this clayish type of material. It's greyish blue, has small pea sized gravel and what looks to be pyrite but very little gold I punch a hole down about 3' of this clay type of material bed rock only to find the bedrock is smooth, not worth the time. Kind of surprising considering this creek was bucket line dredged in the late 1800's or early 1900's. Total for that day... point eight grams...doesn't even cover the gas in the engines.

So I pack up everything the next day and go back to my old spot. I stopped dredging there last year and all there is left is "crumbs" as I call it.I decided to fall back to were I started last year, dredging where my tailing pile was. So once again I cleared a 8'x20'x36" of overburden to the hardpack. I didn't touch the hardpack that day.
Gold for Saturday... point five grams.

Sunday I start in the hardpack following what should be the path of gold (inside bend) In three hours I cleared a 4'x5' section of hardpack with cracking/crevicing the bedrock. I did fast clean up of the mats... point four grams...Not good
I jump to the other side of creek (out side of the bend) and cleared another 4'x5' section of hard pack with cracking/crevicing the bedrock in 3 hours. I finished running my cons today from my last run... two point seven grams.

I want to add this for people who are on the fence about gold hog mats...
They work and they work good. Look at the fine gold I'm catching. There's no question about how well they recover. I'll add that I don't have a way to catch 100% of my tailing working by myself so I just checked my tailing with a gold pan from different spots. I didn't find anything but that doesn't mean I'm not losing gold, just means I didn't find any and the material I was running wasn't very rich.

See how fine this gold is? Lovin the River Hog.

 

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[Fullpan]

About 10 threads down - "Grizzly Tales..." there's a discussion about foot-valve probs. - ck it out.

 

[omnicron]

Just checked it out. Funny thing is, in order to pump the valve and get water to the pump, I have to remove the hose from the "blaster port" and pump and pump till water comes out. Then when I pull the starter cord, the water level drops 5" down the hose. I have to repeat this so much to get the engine running that I'm winded when I finally get it primed and running. The other engine has just a strainer on as the other foot valve fell off and is lost. Once the one engine is started it primes the other pump and its just a matter of getting the engine rpm's up enough to reverse the flow.

 

[timberjack]

Put a t and 90 on the blaster port with valve,,put a funnell in valve fill with water close valve,,done,,,,,or do it like reed,,,2.7 grams would be the motherload for me in my area!!!good luck!

 

[omnicron]

I'm considering it the tee/funnel idea but also like the bilge pump idea. Anything I can do to make things easier/faster/more productive I'm all for. With the tire getting a side wall puncture, once again I went in the red on the books.
I blame the EPA for this...if they didn't close off water ways to dredging I would be on better gold and more then likely have paid for the dredge build and be turning a profit already! As it is so far my season total is only about 6 grams...pitiful for a 6" dredge and 4 outings.

 

[Hoser John]

Point/counter point-you found 5 grams in your tailings man as you stated never touched the hardpack,so how can that mat be worth a squat as there should have been ZERO as just worked?? I've had dozens hit my tps and zero,zilch,natha nuttn'.....to thine own self be true-John

 

[omnicron]

John, I didn't find 5 grams but point five (.5)(half gram)
Also I should of stated that the winter run off more then likely washed my tailing from last year down stream. And the ground under my start of dredging last year was un-touched by me last year. Also I know for a fact that the start of last year I was blowing gold out of my box 'till I got it figured out.
As for the GH mats, took some time to figure out how to run it in my dredge. I have a lot more water then I need so I had to figure out that pitch. Think I got her though!

 

[Reed Lukens]

Basically that's why I never buy Keene Foot Valves. Proline valves are worth the extra money & can be easily rebuilt, plus they work every time. Still the best thing to do is put a camlock on the jet and fill the entire hose & pump combo with water. Then put the pressure hose back on the jet and go°°° That way the pump is full because the intake hose is full & the pressure hose holds water till it bends below the pump. So there is lots of water even up past the pump. If you don't see a leak in your footvalve then you are not sealing to either the pump or the footvalve with the hose. Fill the hose & footvalve with water, hold it up out of the water while full & find the leak. If you don't see one then it's either not sealing to the pump with the clamps you are using or you have a bad pump seal. If you find the leak is internal in the footvalve and can't be fixed then get 2 new footvalves. This way if one side fails, the other will prime the system. How many times are you going to come back with the same sob story!! Buy the footvalves & shoot that Keene piece of S¿it

 

[omnicron]

I can fill the valve with water and watch the water leak in 3 places, the upper swivel ring, the threaded connection and from the rubber flap. The plastic "seat" that the rubber flapper seats on is not flat. Both valves where like that from the get go. I'm about ready to just get rid of it and buy a different valve completely. I sealed the upper ring, used Teflon tape on the threaded part and weighted down the flap and it seemed to be sealed down here but once I got up to the mountains it started leaking from the flapper again.

I'm kind of glad I lost one of the valves other then I'm out the 50 bucks. I had a proline foot valve on my 4" and never had issues. As for installing a cam lock, I do not like them. IMO they add to much restriction for my liking.

 

[Reed Lukens]

The camlock may add a little restriction where it is being restricted to 1" at the jet anyway but it's not noticeable and you can fill the hose and everything completely, hold the pressure hose high in the air, full of water, and start up with a prime every time. Plus it makes priming in really shallow water easy cause you can put a rock on top of the footvalve, which is laying just a few inches under water, put the suction hose close to it to dig a hole for it, and prime the hoses with a bucket of water when there is little or no water to start with and open up a nice hole for the footvalve easily without having to pump it at all.

 

[mendoAu]

Dredging is hard enough without wearing yurself out before you get started. A footvalve that does not hold water overnight needs to be chucked...........I have a twin five Keene and my valves work well. I've had problems in the past with a three inch Keene but it was caused by a faulty rebuild by me. A little petroleum jelly on the outside rim of the flapper before installing it cured the problem. Make sure it seats correctly and does not "twist" when assembling it. I've also had problems when I used to pump with too much forcable agitation causing the flapper to dislocate in the housing.

 

[panningjack]

Bummer man! Hopefully sinker will pay off better for you. Not too much longer until SF opens up. I've been fighting my foot valve recently as well. It's a different style than most people have and hopefully I finally got it figured out. Good luck to you.

 

[russau]

the problems ive seen with foot valves stemed mostly for the way people store their FV during non use. I always hang it with the valve hanging down (closed) to keep the rubber flap from distorting for long periods of non use . plus I mark on my valve where the rubber hindge is for the Fv and when installing it on to my pump (after filling it with water) I make sure that the mark I made is pointed towards the surface so that the flapper will be prone to push down against the seal while in the water. once I did this, it eleiminated any leak down of the FV for me! its a Keene FV and its 12 years old!

 

[principedeleon]

Like what i see.. You did a good job in catching the fines and cleaning it!

 

[omnicron]

So I went up again Thursday and had to come home today as I ran out of gas. 12 gallons in 3 days...ouch. The trip didn't start out very good, I got up at 3am to finish getting ready. I left the house at 6am and made 2 stops, walmart and then gas. The cashier at the chevron made the comment that my truck was smoking. I said yeah, I have a leaking valve cover. I pay and as I walk out I notice that this wasn't oil smoke but steam and I could smell coolant. Turn out I blew the upper radiator hose right at the t-stat. Wouldn't you know it, chevron put the water in the air compressor box and charges $1 now.
I drive back to Boise and look for some water. I shorten the hose and fill up with water and hit the road. I finally get to my spot and walk back to my trailer to start unloading and see the door came open. I ended up losing the battery that I run my bilge pump off. I also notice that all my crevicing tools are missing. #$#&$#&#3 I'm pissed. That's over $100 worth of equipment scattered along the 70 miles I drove.
So, guess what! The problems I have been having with my foot valve has vanished. I primed the intake hose one time and never touched it again in 3 days. The fix you ask? I replace the pump seal! Live and learn.
I don't have a final tally yet on my gold count but right now im sitting on 6.5 grams with the cons from today to process. I'll finish tomorrow.

 

[Oakview2]

Omni, if it weren't for bad luck, you wouldn't have any luck at all. Let's hope the gold gods smile on you for your perserverance.

 

[Campngolf]

Good karma should be headed your way for all the issues you've had to deal with.

 

[omnicron]

Oak, I'm about ready to name my dredge "Bad Luck" The iceing on the cake, I backed my trailer into its parking spot and noticed I lost the outer bearing...as in it's completely gone.
So finally finished up my clean out from yesterday.
This is my third year dredging this location and this is the first time I've found mercury. Half my gold is coated and I have no nitric acid...
Total for 3 days 8.5 grams.
I found a piece that looks like a tadpole.

 

[omnicron]

Camp, god I really hope so. I need some major good karma coming my way.

 

[omnicron]

So another week and another trip. I'm finally making a wage now for the last 2 weeks. After I replaced the hub and bearings on my trailer I went to leave Thursday morning to only notice I had a flat tire on that tire I just replace the hub on. I air it up and find that it had a hole in the side. God! Is nothing ever going to go right for me? How long can I have this bad karma. So I wait till 8am and go buy a new tire and I'm on the road by 9am.

So I must say, I'm more and more impressed with the Gold Hog River Hog matting. I've been trying some different things with it and so far I find that running at almost full throttle with my sluice more flat seems to work well. I'm catching gold so small that I can't see it unless I'm in the sun light. Seems to be catching the larger gold also.
10.4grams for 3 1/2 days, not the best but it's a wage at least.