Ok guys I've been building on this for awhile now it's kind of a spin-off from Doc's design off of the viper gold hog. (Sorry Doc!) but I took a 13" x72" dredge and turned it into a high banker believe it or not I found an 8000 GPH 12v pump I'm having trouble trying to figure out what matting or moss to use? I would like to get away from the metal riffles. And I'm tryin to keep my cost as low as I can! So if anyone has any ideas send them my way! Thanks guys
Tom
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I always clean up in a controlled shop anyway then if you have any question run the cons twice that will let you know for sure if you are loosing any thing out the end. As far for the metal or wood riffles I don't see why you are not using them unless its for weight? with a box that long I would run riffles and carpet then carpet to the end, but it depends on angle and water flow as well! Just a thought
Thanks Keith the weight thing was kind of an issue but for a 13" x 72" sluice I don't think it's gonna make much difference. And for the carpet I do like it but I was kinda thinking about the hog matt where I didn't have to use the riffles maybe my thinking is all wrong?
in order to run a dredge you ned both a volume and presure fo it to work efficent am not sure you can get at least 50 psi from the pumps your going to use i will say this you dont need 6 foot of sluice to do what a 4 foot sluice can and will do if its set up right as far as matting its a preffence thing i have used the vortex for over 40 years now i run it in all my equip includeing a comerical tromel my personal experiance expanded metal with metal riffles works best 1 thing to concider is all equipment will catch fing and corse gold but very few will catch all the fine gold there are a few things that can be done to help inprove the efficeny of any piece of equip any loss of black sand is the same as a loss of gold that has the same weight as the sand washing off the end of the sluice
Tom > KEN AKA BIG FOOT MOUNTAIN MAN IDNovember 14, 2013 at 9:09am
Hi ken thanks for the info I'm leaning to the vortex matting does anyone on here sell it?
WOW That looks like a GREAT build project. Very nice and clean. I like Keith H reply much better then mine. I think having several different types of material is better. I think it is just that much more of a chance of catching gold. I think your gonna need an army to keep material running through LOL I dont want to step on anyones toes here and I am not sure who all sells the vortex matting. But I do know that KenakaBigfootMountainMan on here sells it. Plus what ever he sells because of goldprospectorsspace.com he donates a portion to the site. Just a thought
Thanks for the info guys I have been lookin at the vortex matting. Not sure yet also been tryin to figure out the hog matting on how much I need. I did do some lookin last nite if I'm thinking right I was gonna do all moss with the riffles it was gonna cost close to 200$. Here are some pics of what I started with
My two cents worth. I won't talk about vortex matting, Maurice gave you a good write-up on it and I have no personal experience with it. People are getting away from carpet because it doesn't hold the larger gold and the finer gold gets down into the weave and is difficult to get back out. Miner's moss is popular but I feel that the 1/2" thickness is wasted because only the top eighth inch or so is being exchanged. The lower part just packs full within the first few shovel fulls and sits there, doing nothing but giving you more material to pan out later. I have seen miner's moss completely wash clean when used on a beach where you have very fine sand. The water literally washes the sand out the bottom of the sluice leaving it clean. If I were to use moss, I would get some that is 1/8 thick and put it over V-matting to act as mini riffles with the matting under to hold the gold.
My choice is a combination of V-matting and Gold Hog matting. I have 12 inches of V-matting at the top of my sluice with punch plate over it. I then have 18 inches of Under-Riffle Gold Hog matting with nothing on top of it and not riffles. The next 18 inches is UR matting with riffles spaced 6 inches apart with expanded metal between the first and second riffles.
Gold Hog matting has an advantage in that it likes lots of water flow. I can set up my system with more slope than normal and high water flow and run material literally as fast as I can shovel it.
I have had very good luck with this system, catching about 50% of the gold in the V-matting, 40% in the first 18" of UR and very little at the tail end of my sluice. I have tested my sluice several times for losses. In one test me and a couple other gentlemen ran for 2 days and got just less than 1/2 ounce. We had their two sluices set up below mine so that everything ran through all 3 sluices. We found 2 small flakes in the second sluice and none in the third. Some of what we ran was mixed with clay and we figure the 2 small flakes were attached to some clay and didn't get washed off till it had passed out of my sluice.
Replies
I always clean up in a controlled shop anyway then if you have any question run the cons twice that will let you know for sure if you are loosing any thing out the end. As far for the metal or wood riffles I don't see why you are not using them unless its for weight? with a box that long I would run riffles and carpet then carpet to the end, but it depends on angle and water flow as well! Just a thought
in order to run a dredge you ned both a volume and presure fo it to work efficent am not sure you can get at least 50 psi from the pumps your going to use i will say this you dont need 6 foot of sluice to do what a 4 foot sluice can and will do if its set up right as far as matting its a preffence thing i have used the vortex for over 40 years now i run it in all my equip includeing a comerical tromel my personal experiance expanded metal with metal riffles works best 1 thing to concider is all equipment will catch fing and corse gold but very few will catch all the fine gold there are a few things that can be done to help inprove the efficeny of any piece of equip any loss of black sand is the same as a loss of gold that has the same weight as the sand washing off the end of the sluice
WOW That looks like a GREAT build project. Very nice and clean. I like Keith H reply much better then mine. I think having several different types of material is better. I think it is just that much more of a chance of catching gold. I think your gonna need an army to keep material running through LOL I dont want to step on anyones toes here and I am not sure who all sells the vortex matting. But I do know that KenakaBigfootMountainMan on here sells it. Plus what ever he sells because of goldprospectorsspace.com he donates a portion to the site. Just a thought
Come of folks, what are some other great ideas?
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My two cents worth. I won't talk about vortex matting, Maurice gave you a good write-up on it and I have no personal experience with it. People are getting away from carpet because it doesn't hold the larger gold and the finer gold gets down into the weave and is difficult to get back out. Miner's moss is popular but I feel that the 1/2" thickness is wasted because only the top eighth inch or so is being exchanged. The lower part just packs full within the first few shovel fulls and sits there, doing nothing but giving you more material to pan out later. I have seen miner's moss completely wash clean when used on a beach where you have very fine sand. The water literally washes the sand out the bottom of the sluice leaving it clean. If I were to use moss, I would get some that is 1/8 thick and put it over V-matting to act as mini riffles with the matting under to hold the gold.
My choice is a combination of V-matting and Gold Hog matting. I have 12 inches of V-matting at the top of my sluice with punch plate over it. I then have 18 inches of Under-Riffle Gold Hog matting with nothing on top of it and not riffles. The next 18 inches is UR matting with riffles spaced 6 inches apart with expanded metal between the first and second riffles.
Gold Hog matting has an advantage in that it likes lots of water flow. I can set up my system with more slope than normal and high water flow and run material literally as fast as I can shovel it.
I have had very good luck with this system, catching about 50% of the gold in the V-matting, 40% in the first 18" of UR and very little at the tail end of my sluice. I have tested my sluice several times for losses. In one test me and a couple other gentlemen ran for 2 days and got just less than 1/2 ounce. We had their two sluices set up below mine so that everything ran through all 3 sluices. We found 2 small flakes in the second sluice and none in the third. Some of what we ran was mixed with clay and we figure the 2 small flakes were attached to some clay and didn't get washed off till it had passed out of my sluice.
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