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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:11:54 GMT 12
From: RKCNZ Sent: 25/05/2007 5:29 p.m.
G'day Dr_edger, It would be great if Jim could post ... and even better if Herb could post here. Jim Picker and his mate were two ex policemen from Orange who were originally in partnership with Herb when the Goldstriker was first offered for sale, and which was marketed from Orange (or Bathurst ?). After a while Jim and Herb had a falling out and the two sides then came to the agreement that Herb would sell the Goldstriker in Queensland and Jim and his mate would have the rights to sell in New South Wales ... exclusive of each other. Herb was the originator of the Goldstriker in Australia (if "exclusive" is the right word for what was essentially a copy of the American Hall dredge). I might bite (later) and respond to yours and Roscos references to subbies catching fine gold. Regards, Rob (RKC)
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:15:12 GMT 12
From: RKCNZ Sent: 25/05/2007 10:05 p.m.
G'day dr_edger, Now that you point out in your above post that the green subbie on the bottom of the pile of the three dredges in your photo was also called a Goldstriker by Herb I can see where I might have been confused after reading previous posts in this thread. I was not aware Herb ever sold a subbie other than the 4" intake Goldstriker (the green camouflage paint job on the bottom dredge sure looks like how Herb was painting his dredges after he moved to Queensland). I once visited Herbs factory when passing through Toowoomba on my way to North Queensland (Herb was away at the time) and none of the dredges I was shown that were on the factory floor were anything like the green subbie in your picture. The dredges I saw were a 5" near exact copy of the American Ultra/Mighty-lite dredge, that used a surface box (can't remember how it was powered). And the other dredge he had on display was a copy of the American 7" Ultra/Mighty-lite dredge, which again, used a surface box. It was powered by an outboard boat engine (the same as the American dredge). I don't remember seeing any subbie box's during that visit ... I would have remembered, as I would have been very surprised if Herb had persisted with subbies at that time following all the negative feedback (occasionally outright abuse) he received from numerous dissatisfied customers of his 4" intake Goldstriker subbie. I can't remember what the dredges I saw in Toowoomba were called. The Goldstriker I bought (my first ever dredge) was of the first design. It was manufactured by Australian Gold Recovery Systems and sold through a dealership in Sydney. Mine had the aluminum riffles, the flat aluminum jets and the removable aluminum tray. The last time I saw my Goldstriker was when I took it to Queenstown rubbish tip and dumped it on top of all the other rubbish. I kept the Polypump however (which I still have but have not been able to find any use for) and the 4" Barlow hose (Herb was the first to use Barflow hose on a dredge and recognize what an brilliant hose it is for dredges). The best gold story I know of involving the 4" Goldstriker was when some guys used one in Victoria's Big River in the last season Big River was open for legal dredging. The guys were weekender's who were only dredging for a bit of fun on a weekend and they ended up finding the largest single deposit of gold found by a dredge in the 80/90s. They were dredging with the Goldstriker within eyesight of their camp and came across a patch of unmined ground entirely by chance. They produced 70 ounces in a very short time and the small Goldstriker sluice box was packed with the yellow stuff. And it came from a spot on the river that just about every professional dredger who worked Big river in those days had floated over at some time. Regards, Rob (RKC)
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:16:34 GMT 12
From: Roscoe Sent: 25/05/2007 10:37 p.m.
Herb (or Harry) built a few 5inch subbies (and possibly 3 inch subs). Billy and I visited him in T`ba to get the dimensions for 6 inch. We built two of them (what great gravel-gobblers they were) and I made an 8 inch with two trays to remove barren overburden. Unfortunately the authorities moved in and the 8inch gathered dust. One interesting rig we saw on the Goulburn was an aluminum punt (around 20x8 feet) with a Zephyr (?) engine mounted amidships feeding two surface dredges hung out either side on booms. The owner was stuck on a long gravel bank with no water to move up to the next waterhole. I believe he moved it to the Mann, but no further news. Barflow brings back memories. Like hanging it up after a trip to dry, and belting it over a few days to shift the fines. We asked the son of the owner of Prospector`s Home in Sydney why his hire dredges all had Barflow. " My piggy bank", he replied, with a smile
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:18:02 GMT 12
From: RKCNZ Sent: 25/05/2007 10:59 p.m.
G'day Rosco, The 3" Goldstriker was made by Jim Picker after he split from Herb (I had forgotten about the 3" until your post above). I doubt even Herb would have tried to palm off a 3" on the punters. Now you mention the aluminum punt on the Goulburn I vaguely remember someone saying something about such a "punt". In Victoria you always knew when the season was coming to an end as when driving up the river you would see dredgers Barflow hoses hanging from trees with buckets tied to the end. And once the hose was dry it would be hit to get all the bits out. Only a small insignificant disadvantage which is not enough of a reason not to use such a great flexible hose that would never block. Regards, Rob (RKC)
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:20:50 GMT 12
From: dr_edger Sent: 25/05/2007 11:43 p.m.
G'day Rob
Again thanks for the very informative posts; the pieces of the puzzle have finally come together, I had totally forgotten that they were the two ex cops. Herb has always been Know for bringing in the Mighty lite, but the only publications I could find mentioned Jim Picker and the G'striker
The 5’ subbie was most likely painted green by the previous owner. Who also knew Herb quite well from when he was in Orange. this is where it was mostly likely manufactured with only a few of this design being made.
Got to agree that the 4" was plagued with problems and did not work too well. On a patch of river where I was working (With a Keene) there was a not so happy owner of a Subbie with the Polly pump the same as yours, it just did not perform anywhere near as good as the surface dredges, the comment was "stuff this I gotta get a surface, I’m wasting my time"
I will keep a look out for pictures of the mightylite and forward them to you if found.
Regards E
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:21:52 GMT 12
From: Roscoe Sent: 26/05/2007 12:09 a.m. We persevered with the poly pumps for a couple of years, but with gritty water wearing the volutes (at $60-70 a pop), we were losing suction. Voila!!! We discovered 'Shoe Repair'. A smear across the face, a quick assembly, a pull of a plug less engine, dissemble,cleanup, a few hours drying and you had full pressure back. I lost count of the number of times we re-treaded the polies.
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:23:21 GMT 12
From: dr_edger Sent: 26/05/2007 12:12 a.m.
Hi Rosco
We asked the son of the owner of Prospector`s Home in Sydney why his hire dredges all had Barflow. " My piggy bank", he replied, with a smile. Yes great sense of humor, both Greg and Ron, very likable.
That brings back a few memories, Greg and I often had a laugh over this, also the amount of gold left in the hose was a good indicator of how well the hirer did in a particular spot; most told you where it was, but were vague as to the amount, the hose did not lie, E
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:24:21 GMT 12
From: Roscoe Sent: 26/05/2007 12:15 a.m. The boys on the Goulburn using Keene`s subbies were blowing flakes out of their boxes so they hung extensions (one was 13 feet long) to try to catch, but to no avail. Our sub with extractor jets got the thumbs-down till we showed the results. Wonder what happened to Psycho John who found a 50 oz patch under a false bottom? All the Goulburn boys were friendly, but it took a while to soften up the Big River guys.
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:25:07 GMT 12
From: Roscoe Sent: 26/05/2007 12:18 a.m. We rolled up to Prospectors Home about 8.30 one Saturday morning on the way to the Goulburn. We were still magging to Ron and Greg at 10 with a pile of customers still waiting patiently to get served.
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:27:03 GMT 12
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:28:13 GMT 12
From: RKCNZ Sent: 26/05/2007 7:02 p.m. G'day, I've been trying the think of the guys name who dredged on Big river (do you remember Lubo?) with a typical subbie for those times who also added to the length of his subbie until it was an incredible length. It was quiet a sight to see coming down the river ... and extremely difficult to move about. I would have thought that would have been evidence enough to convince the Victorian subbie dredgers of those times to switch to a simple surface box. Just the fact that they were adding to their box's is an admission they were losing gold. Regards, Rob (RKC)
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:29:11 GMT 12
From: Roscoe Sent: 26/05/2007 7:09 p.m. We crossed over from the Goulburn via Frenchman`s Gap to the Big. After hours bush-bashing (and swatting hundreds of March flies every time we stopped) we made it to the Big River camp-grounds about an hour before Lubo turned up with his Unimog. His mate was driving a Falcon ute with a 5 (?) aboard. We all gaped at the `mog with an 8 aboard. Them were the days.
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:31:20 GMT 12
From: Roscoe Sent: 26/05/2007 7:20 p.m. Pumps (and foot valves) gave us more trouble than any other piece of equipment. That`s why we went vert. shaft for a while. To cut out air leaks. Keene clone pumps like HB had shoddy castings, but a spot of grinding usually got them working. Missed Bill Jessie in Vic before he died, but he was full of ideas to improve dredging. Marino Pumps in Briz were on the right track with seal-less housings, but they went bottom up. We grabbed two sizes and cast a few copies for friends. Think it would be borderline in a comp with Jessie pumps, although Marinos were set up for vert. shafts.We even thought of using a flex drive like the Wacker-packers to mount the pump below water. Funny the ideas you come up with around the campfire.
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:32:47 GMT 12
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Post by RKC on Nov 11, 2008 10:33:30 GMT 12
From: RKCNZ Sent: 26/05/2007 7:37 p.m.
G'day Roscoe, Using a "flex drive like the Wacker-packers" is probably an idea worth experimenting with! Regards, Rob (RKC)
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