Non-suction dredging

[jcazgoldchaser]

Was watching Bering Sea Under the ice as they worked one of these..



Started thinking, harbor freight sells one, why not put a tube around the auger to bring material up like an Archimedes screw




Oh that's right, they already have these



Drop the end on the gravel/rock bed and push/shovel rock towards the auger.

 

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[Goodyguy]

I like the way you think
However a bucket dredge works without suction and you don't have to push a shovel.

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

I like the way you think
However a bucket dredge works without suction and you don't have to push a shovel.

Not sure how those DFG folks would like you on the river with a bucket dredge.

Even that clamshell dredge of the miner that unfortunately died ran looked like rough hike in.

Plus any of those single bucket jobs, there is a great lag time between material dumps as one returns for the next scoop.

Drop the auger to your hole. Shovel material towards it. Toss big rocks aside like you would a suction dredge. As you get deeper, you lower the auger. And as you're getting deeper, shoveling is more pushing gravels down the sides of the hole.

Or you treat the auger like the suction nozzle. Swinging it back and forth, augering up material.

 

[Goodyguy]

Not sure how those DFG folks would like you on the river with a bucket dredge.

Even that clamshell dredge of the miner that unfortunately died ran looked like rough hike in.

Plus any of those single bucket jobs, there is a great lag time between material dumps as one returns for the next scoop.

Drop the auger to your hole. Shovel material towards it. Toss big rocks aside like you would a suction dredge. As you get deeper, you lower the auger. And as you're getting deeper, shoveling is more pushing gravels down the sides of the hole.

Or you treat the auger like the suction nozzle. Swinging it back and forth, augering up material.

Auger dredges have been around awhile but used for sand. Rocks have a way of jamming them up.
And you cant get gold out of crevices with them or with a bucket dredge either for that matter. Hard to get away from needing suction.

GG~

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

Auger dredges have been around awhile but used for sand. Rocks have a way of jamming them up.
And you cant get gold out of crevices with them or with a bucket dredge either for that matter. Hard to get away from needing suction.
GG~

Yep, once you get down, you switch to a non-powered suction tube.

 

[strickman]

go for it ! more than one way to skin a cat .

 

[Gravel Hog]

Non-suction dredging....

Dang shame only "the king's men" can use heavy equipment in the rivers.

 

[Jason in Enid]

It will never work. River gravels are a mix of sizes from sand to car sized boulders. An auger will jam up almost immediately when you start moving things any larger than sand. Even suction dredges won't work unless you have a man on the nozzles keeping large rocks away. You put hands near that and you will have a very nasty end to your mining days.

 

[Fullpan]

I may be wrong, but don't all the sand and gravel operations use augers to sort and size the gravel?

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

It will never work. River gravels are a mix of sizes from sand to car sized boulders. An auger will jam up almost immediately when you start moving things any larger than sand. Even suction dredges won't work unless you have a man on the nozzles keeping large rocks away. You put hands near that and you will have a very nasty end to your mining days.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Well, that will certainly keep oversized material away from the head. As long as you have a PTO to drive it, but I still question it's efficiency.

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

, but I still question it's efficiency.

Compared to a clamshell bucket or hand shoveling into a bucket?

 

[Goodyguy]

Any idea on how much an auger outfit with boom and drive motor would cost?

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

Any idea on how much an auger outfit with boom and drive motor would cost?

Spent some time trying to find used ag equipment, but guess we're not a popular grain state. Looked at earth augers and there isn't an inexpensive solution to make those of any length (~$150/ under 4'). They extend by simply adding a pole, not more flights. Stared at diy auger designs and let's just not go there. You can buy preformed flight sections and weld them to a shaft though.

Was looking at this today,.. $360+freight. 22' long (not sure if that includes the drive area)

4 Inch Bulk Feed Tank Grain Auger 22' long Jet Flow | eBay


(that same photo is used on all their ebay ads so the length is not to scale)

Jet Flow Four Inch Bulk Tank Auger 22' long. Bulk tank augers are used on applications where a protected inlet is not desired, such as in a bulk feed bin, hopper bottom bin, or bulk seed hopper.
Bulk Tank augers are offered in 4", 6", 8" & 10" diameters. Standard lengths are 12', 17' & 22'. Extensions can be added and come in standard lengths of 5',10',15', & 20'. Six inch augers are also offered in both a standard and heavier screw & drive pulley.

Included Quick detach motor mount

Auger head kit
Quick detach motor mount
Auger screw
Outside tube
Auger pulley
Belt
Belt guard, are all standard.
Motor and Motor sheave not include

10' extensions are $190. A 12' unit is just under $300, then it would be easier to carry (not knowing the weight, but 20' of anything isn't easy to carry). How you mount it would depend on how you extend it. I imagine the red section unbolts and you stick the extension in there. Pivot point on that red section. Now, that means the motor is tilting which, with a flung oil engine,.. not ideal. So either oil pump or maybe a pto type config with the engine fixed on the raft/float/barge/sluice. Oh, maybe drive the flight with ujoint to the pulley on a fixed bearing {fixed to the raft}. Then the engine can be fixed.

We have supplied augers for fly ash, Portland cement, masonry cement, aggregate, sand, wood chips, saw dust, cherry pits, wood pellets, brass machining waste and may other materials.


Call us with any questions and talk to a real person the first time, We are friendly and helpful.
Call us with any questions or for a quick freight quote at 800 283 7107 or 417 682 5551 or email us [email protected] 24/7 Fax 417 682 3987.
It is truck freight, shippable on one pallet. Custom sizes built also!

They also have a guards for $70, but I'd think it better to make a custom intake scoop. You'd need to direct the outflow to the sluice. Maybe a couple of those plastic, rectangular kitty litter boxes. And I kinda think you'd still need a {small} pump for water over the sluice.

Still some issues,..
Don't know what kind of wear you'd get.
Don't know if there would be any flex issues,.. leading to
Don't know what sort of jamming problems you'd have.
Positioning seems like it'd be an issue with any sorta current.

Last, 4" means at most 2" because of the shaft. Since that could be 2" in diameter, now you're down to under 1" material.

 

[xracer550]

Dredging is dredging & they say it's a No No! in Calif.

 

[Oakview2]

Dredging is dredging & they say it's a No No! in Calif.

Actually the moratorium has a very narrow legal discription of a suction dredge. It is three parts, remove one of the three, and it no longer meets the states criteria. I am not going to post it, as to give fuel to the other side, but the information is readily available.

 

[russau]

Any idea on how much an auger outfit with boom and drive motor would cost?

Nothing if you wait untill the FS guys go to lunch or quit for the day!

 

[Gold Maven]

Non-suction dredging....

Dang shame only "the king's men" can use heavy equipment in the rivers.

I've built bridges for nearly 30 years, and the regulations regarding entering the stream actually make it impossible to build the bridge. You are not allowed to cross the stream, but in many jobs you have to slightly relocate the channel, pretty hard to do when you are not allowed to disturb the stream.

They are so afraid of a little silt, when most river valleys are nothing but silt. It rains a couple inches and more silt goes down stream naturally, than 100 crossings with my excavator. It pisses me off that I have to break the rules to do my job, but some rules were just made to break.

I asked the county engineer once at a pre-construction meeting, how I was supposed to move the channel with out disturbing it, he said "very carefully".

 

[jcazgoldchaser]

Funny this came up again. Picked up one of these just this week at the,.. thrift store



Need to find a section of pvc now

 

[Aurabbit79er]

I'm in the process of designing a very small drag line bucket that uses a Harbor Freight $60 wench with a $100 battery and a $70 solar panel and a used back hoe bucket. I want to drag material from just off shore onto the bank and trench along the pay streak at the river bend.
It's just an idea now. But that's how my waterwheel pump started.
I'll post my concept drawing when I finish it.
There are as many ways to mine as there are people with imagination.