24HR HIGHBANKER RESULTS ARE IN

[jog]

Made it down to Quartzville for a day and tried out my homemade Highbanker. "OK" Since I have never really even taken a good look at a highbanker up close and in person and have never used one before I made this one from looking at pics in magazines. Well it did work but it has some flaws.
#1 The Grizzly and how I made it. ( Hoser John will agree with me here ) I welded the bottoms of the Grizzly so they wouldn't move. Lots of stuck rocks.
#2 I didn't build the back of the hopper high and deep enough, I would loose water out the back. Not enough to affect the sluice but just enough to make it wet and miserable.
#3 Didn't make the opening on top big enough for a shovel.
HEY!!! what do you expect for less than $30.00.
Well it's back to the drawing board and I think I will try one without the grizzly. Did find a little color but not enough to right home about.

[maui]

hey jog, all in all it looks pretty good but like you said , the real test is out in the field. keep us posted on your mods.
thanks much, take care and be safe out there. ron

[patches63]

not bad at all for 30 bucks.if there was a hopper/slickplate above the grizzly/under the spraybar area,and holes in spraybar angled uphopper to keep material up hopper better,also a taper,wider up,narrower towards grizzly.having said that,yours is the best first try i have ever seen,at any price.my first diy boxes were wood,and sometimes,20 years later,still are.if you re-do your hopper so that there is a resting/washing place for the dirt,and a spraybar with holes angled so that the material is wetted longer before grizzly classification,might be just fine.is that a ten inch sluice bottom?looks so,but not sure.if you can do that first try,kudos,you have no worries.looking forward to more of your project pictures.and the best box will not catch much where there is little.try a controlled enviroment test with new gear.like some #9 shot mixed in a bucket of gravel.counted beforehand,and after.or some concentrates you know well.good luck.

[Hoser John]

JOG-those who are perfect -produce absolutely nothing-like politicians and preachers. Fun in the sun, a bit a education and some gold don't sound like a bad day to me P63 has a good critique for ya too. tons a au 2 u2 -John

[jog]

Hey... Thanks to everyone who took a look and for the advice. I will do some research and I have a few ideas now that I have seen the flaws of my ways. I will try something else here pretty quick and will send pics and results your way.

[TerryC]

Very nice. Very nice. That water getting away is very important to stop. I fixed my Jobe highbanker to be completely recirculating. I had to goop up some seams to stop the water leaks. Had fine sand in those leaks meaning possibly losing color. I installed a splash guard to re-direct the water that would flow out with the overburden. I classify my intake anyway , so I don't worry about larger pebbles and rocks. My setup cost $700 retail. You're doing GOOD! WTG TTC