Light-weight dredge platform

[ncclaymaker]

I sometimes require a bit of time to get out of the box and design something that works or create a new use for existing technology. One of the problems that I've experienced is having to pack the boat with all of the sluices, hose, etc. Quite a pain, but an online friend's idea of integrating the equipment with his boat, sparked an idea.

Most dredge floats are about three (3) feet or so long and weigh about 20 pounds each, and $125 each. Dredges require four floats and cost about $500. Did I mention that welding is probably involved to connect the two floats together. What ever happened to keeping it simple? Dragging this to the site must be quite a drag... literally. I started to do the math on the weight aspect of the power dredges and rapidly realized that this is a team effort to get the rig to its destination without twisting or bending tubing, connectors, stuff.

A friend of mine is a beginner kayaker and has an eight foot Lotus Kayak from Wal-mart ( http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lifetime-C...ndingMethod=rr ) The entire thing weighs about 38 pounds. It's a flat bottom "sit on top" smooth water kayak, and has a rated capacity of 250 pounds. It cannot sink or flood with water and is made of polyethylene high impact plastic. Cost is about $215, easier to drag/transport. How hard can it be to drag a 40 pound kayak, a pump, sluice and hose... when compared to rigs that weigh in at 200 pounds and are designed for a team of people to transport.

I have a jet-ski propelled Jon boat that gets me to the site. Dragging this behind would be a piece of cake. What are your thoughts about using this as a separate tow behind, unsinkable platform to mount and transport a pump and sluice upon. Using the kayak as the float for the dredge, instead of the "standard" drag-along pontoon version from the "Big K" and others. The only thing that I foresee might be needed is to use a light weight outrigger to create a "stable" platform while operating. The cost of standard dredge pontoons are a bit on the expensive side, somewhat heavy, bulky and not easy to tow behind a boat or drag on the ground.

Best regards,
ncclaymaker

[Gramps43]

Sounds like a good idea to me and I agree outriggers that slide out for towing and in a bit to steady it on site. I have, in the past, thought about using 36 inch X 6 or 8 inch PVC capped on the ends for floats on a small dredge. Maybe 4 inch would work for outriggers in your case.

Gramps

[highdesertranger]

i have thought about this also. using light wieght plastic kayaks for floats, but wouldn't you need 2 and put the sluice between the 2. that makes it kind of pricey. howevever if you could get a couple cheap i think they would make excellent floats. highdesertranger

[Hoser John]

4-15 gallon barrels made of puncture resistant plastics cost about $10-15 each and find many for free so 86 the kayak mess please. Dry cleaners,plating shops and many others throw them away and free. 4 to float a 4" in creeks and 6 for raging rivers and all frames easily modified---John

[ncclaymaker]

i have thought about this also. using light wieght plastic kayaks for floats, but wouldn't you need 2 and put the sluice between the 2. that makes it kind of pricey. howevever if you could get a couple cheap i think they would make excellent floats. highdesertranger

Here's the deal - only one would be required. The kayak is 96" L X 30" W X 9" deep. Place the engine and pump assembly as low on the hull as possible. This will create a load that will be a low centre of gravity and a comparable righting moment. the sluice is moounted over the engine and pump. The only add-on might be a short outrigger with a small float to give the kayak more stability from changing load factors due to changing water and gravel loads. The present configuration of most float based dredges must consider the "I think I'll get stupid" factor in its' design. After all, people sometimes do some pretty silly things with equipment. Making a relatively "idiot" proof dredge must take into account the legal legacy that lawyers create. Piper Aircraft Co. is an example... Lawyers killed that company with legacy liability issues.

ncclaymaker

[ncclaymaker]

4-15 gallon barrels made of puncture resistant plastics cost about $10-15 each and find many for free so 86 the kayak mess please. Dry cleaners,plating shops and many others throw them away and free. 4 to float a 4" in creeks and 6 for raging rivers and all frames easily modified---John

The idea of using/reusing polyethylene containers is a great idea. Though they aren't very hydrodynamic, require a lot of welded steel/aluminium to connect them. Using a sealed hull designed for rivers, I will not have to modify anything. I don't think I'll be dredging a raging river anytime soon.

Though I'm not a tree-hugger, but a reasonable conservationist, I would not suggest the use of barrels from dry cleaners, plating shops, etc. I wish to extract gold from the gravel, not pollute or poison the surrounding environment.

[Hoser John]

Have a ball with your tipsy submarine

[shamaalah]

sounds to me like your Jon boat has solved half the battle...why dont you make you jon boat the dredge itself....your motor would provide all the pressure you need.....flexible tubing from engine to custom submersible dredge? what the hell do I know

[oragonads]

Would be cooler if you also used the engine and pump as a jet drive like a jetski. Then you can fly up and down the river to different spots.... Or slowly crawl, not too sure the size and pump would create much thrust

[russau]

at the current prices of used dredges,why would anyone want to mess around with something that probly wont work very well? the California Craigs list has em at low prices! buy one thats not be abused and go dredgeing instead of standing in your garage working/reworking it untill you finnaly realize that it just dont work right! some people can built their own dredges. they have the experience/parts availiable to them,and then again most people dont! why waste your time/money on something that will probly ruin your weekend? i know, ive been there!

[ncclaymaker]

i have thought about this also. using light wieght plastic kayaks for floats, but wouldn't you need 2 and put the sluice between the 2. that makes it kind of pricey. howevever if you could get a couple cheap i think they would make excellent floats. highdesertranger

Using two pieces of light weight 3/4" steel tubing attached to the kayak with a 6in. thin-wall low/no pressure PVC pipe with the ends capped should provide a fairly stable platform to mount the sluice upon. If I had the sluice mounted on the boat and something shifted, 350 gallons of water per minute would flood or sink the Jon boat in short order.

[jog]

at the current prices of used dredges,why would anyone want to mess around with something that probly wont work very well? the California Craigs list has em at low prices! buy one thats not be abused and go dredgeing instead of standing in your garage working/reworking it untill you finnaly realize that it just dont work right! some people can built their own dredges. they have the experience/parts availiable to them,and then again most people dont! why waste your time/money on something that will probly ruin your weekend? i know, ive been there!

If everyone just sat around and waited for someone else to build everything where would this country be? I say "go for it" if it works thats great, if not oh well. Half the fun of having a hobby like ours is making you're own equipment.
I have a few ideas of my own that I might try.
Gitter Done....

[russau]

ncclaymaker whats with the snipity email you sent me? i dont appreciate it one bit!i only try to help people and the help them save some $$ and time. ive built some things that didnt work near like i wanted them to and wasted money. i was only trying to save you some $$ but with that kind of a email you sent me............ well good luck pal! anymore comments from you like that and i wont comment on any more of your "stuff"!

[highdesertranger]

hey russ u2. i got a kinda funny email from him too and all i did was ask a question. your advice about buying second hand seems to make sense to me. i don't know did we piss him off? highdesertranger

[russau]

i guess he has very thin skin and got his feelings hurt! i didnt intend to want to disturb him in that way but (appearently) i /we did! i personnaly like to make my own equipment myself, and a lot of times it dont work like i want it to. but the best deals are out there tobe had if a person would just look around. i wish i had bought a used dredge/dredges/highbankers/sluices/ETC. instead of makeing them. i would have been out there saving gold instead of getting frustrated and going home to re-modify what i built. it would have saved me ti,e and money! im not saying people cant build good equipment the first time. this site has lots of good ideas! haha,heck one of my ideas didnt look even as good as his setup! ohwell! but dont let his email bother you! he/it isnt worth any second thoughts if hes going to have that kind of attitude/comments!

[highdesertranger]

hey russ, didn't bother me i just thought it was kinda of a strange email and when you said you got one too i chimed in. i have gone every way myself. bought a new dredge, new highbanker, new drywasher, bought a used dredge, sluice box, misc. stuff also built a tromel, sluice, auto feeders, etc. they all worked but the stuff i built had to be redone serveral times to get right. we all know how that goes. anyway i didn't mean anything bad towards his idea, just asking a question. i thought it was a good idea but hoser's idea seems a little better and cheaper. thats what forums are for throwing ideas around. sure would like to make one of your guys trips to the arkansas river sounds like it would be a hoot. anyway may you find gold in your pan. highdesertranger

[ncclaymaker]

hey russ, didn't bother me i just thought it was kinda of a strange email and when you said you got one too i chimed in. i have gone every way myself. bought a new dredge, new highbanker, new drywasher, bought a used dredge, sluice box, misc. stuff also built a tromel, sluice, auto feeders, etc. they all worked but the stuff i built had to be redone serveral times to get right. we all know how that goes. anyway i didn't mean anything bad towards his idea, just asking a question. i thought it was a good idea but hoser's idea seems a little better and cheaper. thats what forums are for throwing ideas around. sure would like to make one of your guys trips to the arkansas river sounds like it would be a hoot. anyway may you find gold in your pan. highdesertranger

Highdesertstranger found this strange -
High Desert Stranger -

One reason for creating a separate dredge unit became apparent after going up the Haw River here in NC... I couldn't get the boat easily positioned onto landing spots and safely pump water without the danger of sand or gravel being sucked into the intake. That means an extremely short life for the pump/propulsion unit. The other reason is simple... a viable plan "B". Using the propulsion system on a continuous basis must include the MTBF(Mean Time Between Failure) factor. After all, engine failure isn't a matter of "if", but "when". Isn't at all too wise to go up a river, suck gravel and then loose the only means of propulsion. I decided that dragging something along was saner and somewhat safer.

The other reason to use the kayak is simple. The type of unit I'm going to use is seamless, can't leak or sink. There are just so many places that a boat cannot access, but I could drag a kayak with the pump and sluice over some pretty rough ground with less effort than a pontoon dredge from the "BIG K".

I'll post images when the unit is completed in another month.

Best regards,
ncclaymaker

[russau]

in all fairness i received a PM with a apology from ncclaymaker. appology accepted.

[Doug Watson]

If you're going to try something like that I'd dump the kayak idea and look at pontoon boats for a more stable platform. Doug.

[Jason in Enid]

Yes, dump the kayak and buy a one-man pontoon bass buggy.