tailings handling

spaghettigold

spaghettigold

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Oct 14, 2013
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western sahara
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i'm slowly roasting my brain thinking about how to get the tailings builing up in front of my gravity dredge out and away from the riverbed to the shore,with no motors involved.
Since the river i work is mostly very shallow the tailings block the outlet after a few yards and also start daming up water level which leads to weakening my suction because also my dredge gets lifted.
Thought about portabel aluminum cranes https://www.thern.com/products/aluminum-gantry-cranes/ to lift some sort of tipper like this https://www.google.ch/search?q=klaa...ei=7PHHWOniN8WHaLfcrOgM#imgrc=3KmxAyeVZAEvPM:
which would be placed in front of sluice outlet.

but this stuff is very expensive and not built for instream ops .

Thought about a pontoon barge,when filled, float downstream and dump,but the material would stay in the river (risk of backwater)and there,s a risk of getting stuck in too shallow sections of river when fully loaded.(like to dump minimum a ton each time).
Eny suggestions,maybe the oldtimers had a good method?
Thanks
 

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Fist thought is a car hood (used as a rock sled) and a hand winch like a grip hoist

ratled
 

Last edited:
That's the most important consideration with dredging. Where do you put your oversize and tailings. The last thing you want is to be moving it twice. It takes a bit of planning sometimes.
 

ratled said:
Fist thought is car hood (used as a rock sled) and a hand winch like a grip hoist

ratled
Click to expand...

no bad idea,maybe a aluminum sheet slideway underneath so the carhood lasts longer,though i have no middle age or older trees to fix a winch within 400 feet,hmm..there are a few big boulders but concentrated in one spot so if i want to work another place i still need a couple hundert feet cable,hm hm hmmmm..
I never winched before,what type of winch would be appropiate?
 

A popular way to move rocks and tailings. Not a lot of pictures out there of it but this will give you a visual..... and it's cheap too
trac1.jpeg

If you set it up right, you can pull it across a side tilt and it will auto dump

ratled
 

Use a "Deadman" anchor. Dig a hole, use a log or timber as an anchor point and fill with cobble- I'm sure you can find some.
8-14.gif


ratled
 

rodoconnor said:
That's the most important consideration with dredging. Where do you put your oversize and tailings. The last thing you want is to be moving it twice. It takes a bit of planning sometimes.
Click to expand...

Yep ,the tailings where the biggest issues since i have my 8 inch.
Also with my gravity dredge i can't even move them twice because i dump them in the lowest point(from bench in to the riverbed) and have no drop available to re-suck them up.
So i made a 8 inch to move more material but then had to start clearing 5 inch rocks by hand to avoid to quick tailings build up and burn -out of my dredge buddy showeling at the outlet.
 

Ols chain link fence works just fine also. Anchor one end , load the other as you works and fold and winch back downstream. Corrigated metal folded over at the front like a sled works great too. Got a 6" triple 6" down/up a 1,600+ cliff also. Many uses for that stuff. John
 

Hoser John said:
Ols chain link fence works just fine also. Anchor one end , load the other as you works and fold and winch back downstream. Corrigated metal folded over at the front like a sled works great too. Got a 6" triple 6" down/up a 1,600+ cliff also. Many uses for that stuff. John
Click to expand...

Thanks john
would the corrugatel metal be to prefer to chain link fence ?Less prone to friction and get stuck on rocks/vegetation?
 

Yes but does make your location easier to see. I like it lean, mean, quiet and clean and hard to find. No friction and chainlink rolls up like a taco shell and not drug. John
 

or use half a 55gal poly drum with a rope handle "U" tied thru the edge at 9 and 3 o clock, they slide pretty easy when loaded especially when wet on the bottom, over time they will sag at the middle where it is unsuppoorted and lifts the front edge up so its easier to drag
 

thanks diver
don,t know yet exactly which system i going to use.Thing is the poly drum in flowing water could be too floaty when not filled and it holds not enough volume.Should be something that doesn,t fill up too quickly so you not have to interupt dredging every5 to 10 min. But then again it gets heavier..
 

spaghettigold said:
thanks diver
don,t know yet exactly which system i going to use.Thing is the poly drum in flowing water could be too floaty when not filled and it holds not enough volume.Should be something that doesn,t fill up too quickly so you not have to interupt dredging every5 to 10 min. But then again it gets heavier..
Click to expand...
Im assuming ,by your post that you don't have a dredge tender to help you....If you do have one, why isn't he moving the tail of the dredge to keep the waste rock from blocking the tailings? Or at least shoveling the tails away!
 

we move the dredge from time to time but at a certain point that is not enough enymore.During summer,river is between 5 to 2o inches deep average ,after a week it,s filled up,water raises ,etc.
Showeling away tailings from a 8 inch is no fun and i doubt doable as quick as the dredge is capable to discharge. He is also already pretty beat up from his construction worker life(as well as i am)
This is how it looks after a 4 or 5 days ,skip to min. 1.04 .
 

Thanks for the video , it explained your problem and NOW I think the other posts were right in so far as using the rock sled to move your tailings! You put a LOT of thought and planning into this . NICE job !
 

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