My monster dredge project

[jaguargene]

Here's my 4 inch dredge project.It has a keene p350 3X4 pump with a 450 gph and a 11hp engine.It's 8 feet long sluice,alum 2X2 frame welded nice.I still need a jet, air compressor matting and plates.I plan on using two 55 gal plastic drums up front and two 35 plastic drums in the back.Here's the size of the riffles
3/8 inchs high X 15 1/4 inchs wide X 24 inchs long X 1 1/2 inchs space between them


3/4 inchs high X 15 1/4 inchs wide X 24 inchs long X 2 1/2 inchs space between them


1 1/4 inchs high X X 15 1/4 inchs wide X 36 inchs long X 4 1/2 inchs space between them

Any ideals ?

 

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[cuzcosquirrel]

It looks ok. I ran a 3" off a big inner tube in Clear Creek with my friend when I was a teenager.

That baffel or whatever on the end, you need to get rid of that. It will clog up and not work pretty quick. One of the problems of dredges like this is they build up a large mound of tailings pretty quick and it will rise up out of the water and inhibit flow, tilt the dredge.

Carry handles might be a good idea. The water suck pipe would be better off with a pivot, a weighted ball. or something similar on the end. This should be detatchable and be positioned quite far away from the dredge when in operation. It will get clogged up if hooked to the body of the dredge. The two hoses you run out will also foul and cause pull drag if the dredge is not positioned with ropes. You may want to move the dredge a lot if your tailings are piling up in a shallow creek. There are advantages and disadvantages with how the dredge is secured in the water.


You will want to have the engine and hose level to the back of the sluice box be as low as possible to the water. it will cut down on the energy and work cost to lift the material and water into the sluice.

I don't see the dredge tip nozzel. It's an important part of the dredge. Make sure the neutral engine idle is easy to hit, because of rocks and such. You may want a small box or storage area on the floats for tools, mask, drinks, ect.

The riffle issue I think has a lot to do with the type of material you are going to process. You might get jammed up with stones at the start if they are too close together. you never want the big gold half way down the sluice.

The way the riffles operated on the one I used allowed a piece of carpet to be placed under them and then they could be lifted out at the end of the day and the carpet put in a bucket and hosed off, then replaced in the sluice for the next use.

 

[russau]

way to much motor and pump for a 4 inch dredge!

 

[jaguargene]

My thinking was to use the power of a 5 or 6 inch pump/11 hp engine to remove overburden and materal faster and slow down the engine/water flow to match the sluice action.

 

[ncclaymaker]

Horse power, one can never have too much. Best to have force available than overloading some wimpy, pathetic, low hp engine. Higher hp engines never need run at full bore, can easily dissipating heat, and parts seem to usually last longer, have better MTBF rates. Better to have "industrial/contractor" grade equipment than amateur/recreational... unless the later is your objective or choice. Maybe the recreational grade folks enjoy the constant need to fix their equipment, one failure after another. A professional would never be able to operate with the frequent shut downs that recreation equipment seemingly is designed for.

But who knows... maybe when the allure of the "cheap/inexpensive" equipment begins to fade, people will start to wake up and buy quality. Quality that will last in the long run.

I wonder which will last longer... a fifty hp engine that runs at 1/2 throttle up, or a fifteen hp that must go full bore for the same work load.


Best regards