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Post by themako on Sept 13, 2014 22:41:16 GMT 12
Hey everybody, just thought I would post the dredge that I'm building at the moment... Some details about the dredge.. 6" dredge just over 3m long 2x9hp honda motors And for some pic For the floats, we are using 250l barrels   Frame... Tread plate 3m x 1.2m Alloy sheet 2m x 1.4m Box section 5 x 2m  Will post lots more photos during the build |
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Post by themako on Sept 14, 2014 12:50:35 GMT 12
Afternoon everybody..... just some things that I have done today Made 12 stainless steel straps to hold the barrels in place, may have to run a steel strip along the alloy to replace the washers I have in there..  And have mounted the motors on the alloy... And just working out where to mount the winch bar..  Time for a nice Sunday drink... |
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Post by themako on Sept 14, 2014 20:28:23 GMT 12
And this is the box we will be using this season... The gold we get is very fine..   |
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Post by themako on Sept 14, 2014 20:34:54 GMT 12
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Post by RKC on Sept 15, 2014 11:45:50 GMT 12
G'day themako,
Your dredge is coming together well. Thanks for posting.
Nice combination of punched plate and woven wire mesh covering your sluice box. I guess you really must be only expecting fine gold with a classifier covering the entire length of the sluice box. Its the first dredge sluice box I've seen like this. As with any dredges that are used in Otago the major consideration will be how to deal with the heavy black sand that is in such abundance in Otago rivers. There have been a number of previous posts in the forum about the problem of black sand accumulation in a dredge sluice box.
Regards,
Rob (RKC)
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Post by themako on Sept 15, 2014 22:47:19 GMT 12
Hey rob this is our second season up on the claim, and from what we have seen, it's all fine gold.... But in saying that we will most likely put a nugget trap at the back of the box... Yeah the black sand isn't to bad where we are..... But we do clean the top mats out every couple of hours which helps... At the moment we are working on the heating unit, last year we were running a califont, which worked well when you used a large filter, and it's not windy, the other problem we had it was to heavy for our factory 6" keene dredge... This year we are trying the exhaust method, with a few safety measures to make sure we don't get steam down our lines...  |
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Post by RKC on Sept 15, 2014 23:44:10 GMT 12
G'day themako, The heating unit (HWS) is something to get right the first time. There are various suggestions in previous threads about HWSs and how to prevent steam burning the diver. I personally have always relied on a filter to prevent burns along with being able to quickly remove the hose from the wet suit. Previous HWS threads ... golddredgingforum.proboards.com/thread/73?page=1golddredgingforum.proboards.com/thread/874I'd be most interested to see a photo of your HWS when its finished. Regards, Rob (RKC) |
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Post by themako on Sept 19, 2014 22:01:29 GMT 12
Just a wee update... We have just made the box mounting frames, and mounted the winch to the front..   We hope to have her in the water for testing next week. The hot water system we are going to make will run from the pump through a inline filter then the copper tube in the exhaust to a tank, which will have valve that will open if it gets to hot and pump cold water into the tank.... Around 55deg... And there is an adjustable alarm on the dredge which will go off, to alert the person on the dredge and that will be set at around 50deg.... |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2014 23:31:37 GMT 12
Howdy,
Looks good, I like the mussel float idea for the nose of your pontoons.
With the heater, whatever safegards you put in we have always had the hose that goes into your suit instantly "ripoutable"
Hotwater will go to steam in a millisecond if the filter blocks.
Mixing chamber before it gets to you is a good idea. We used a 100mm plastic plumbing pipe inside a 150mm ish one and packed it with insulation.
Also on the heater cylinder (copper tube inside) drill a small hole in the bottom to let overnight condensation out and pull the motors to the top of the stroke each night to stop hydraulicing in the morning.
Just 2 cents worth hope something helps.
Cheers
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2014 23:32:36 GMT 12
Dont know why this censored hot water
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Post by oro e lavoro on Sept 20, 2014 5:27:03 GMT 12
Hi Themako,homesouth, Rob and everybody.whats wrong with ho****er ?? I make my soup with ho t w a t er (i,m also learning english here)
How is the mussel float mounted on the barrels?
I,m gathering infos about floats now,don,t know yet how i will do them,barrels or aluminum and other details.
Thankyou
Emilio
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2014 21:06:06 GMT 12
Hi,
What size tubing are you using? May look a little large.
When you wind back the flow to get some heat in that amount of water it might be less comfortable than a higher flow in thinner tube. You wont need much volume in a tight fitting wetsuit to stay warm.
Cheers
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Post by boaraxa on Sept 21, 2014 8:56:39 GMT 12
Dredge looks good...is the sluice a 3 stage ? p180 pumps ?
Phill.
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Post by themako on Sept 22, 2014 18:04:01 GMT 12
Hey guys, sorry been busy over the last few days.... ok to answer all the questions.. boaraxa.... The box is a modified keene box, we were having trouble with the standard box blocking up... and the pumps are hp500 powered by honda gx270s. homesouth... The copper tubing is 10mm and it's about 10m long.. The reason we went with the larger tube size is, I had a friend make one with 6mm tubing and all he got was hot steam coming out of it. Not to sure what he did wrong there.. And thank you for your 2cents, I find you can't have enough info.... oro e lavoro... The barrel are plastic weld on, plus I will melt some mesh into them to help lock them in place... And today's photo.....  Will have to start working on the trailer soon.. cheers Dan |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2014 20:21:39 GMT 12
Hi Dan,
Sounds a bit big.
Dont know how your mate got only steam cant have had sufficient flow.
I had a ball valve (with the handle taken off in case it got bumped) at the pump outlet into a garden filter into the heater then into mixing chamber then into water hose bound to your airline with a rope going up to the dredge tied to a shackle. Zip tie them together and then duct tape over the ties. Have some slack at top with the water and airlines. You can climb up your airline when in deep water without fear of ripping off the airline. Was running 9hp honda on the 5" and 2 13hp on the 8".
Also on your water hose have water going through another tap that sits near your hip, you can fine tune it without comming up top. Dont plumb the hot water into your suit, just put the outlet near your crotch in your long johns and then put your jacket on. If it should get too hot just rip out the whole thing and dont muck around.
I spose if you want an idea of the flow it would be about what ya can pee when ur a young fella lol.
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