Hydro-force 3" nozzle - first impressions

brianc053

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Jan 27, 2015
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Hi all. First the disclaimer: I'm just a paying customer, and have no relationship with the maker of the Hydro-force or the equipment provider I purchased mine from. I offer these opinions because I hope they help others in their research of different dredge nozzle options available.

I feel for the folks in California, because this post - and any mention of people actually dredging - will probably just make you want to get out and dredge. Maybe the moratorium will be lifted soon... Out here on the East Coast there are plenty of states, north and south, that still allow us to dredge, and I hope to take advantage of that (while I can). Also, I'm no expert at dredging; this is just my second year with any experience running a nozzle.

I researched, and eventually purchased, the Hydro-force because I've come across more than a few scenarios where I believe there's probably rarely touched areas - dry areas - in some of the spots I've visited. I read all the reviews, watched all the videos, but what finally convinced me to buy one was talking with another owner last month. He couldn't have been more happy with his nozzle, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I got my 3" Hydro-force nozzle this past week; it's the one with the 2" pressure hose fitting. After picking up 3" suction hose and a short section of 2" conventional pressure hose I headed out yesterday to one of our club's properties where the property owner lets us high bank. I mention the short section of 2" pressure hose because here's the setup: my pump is a Pacer/Briggs&Stratton that puts out 190 GPM and has a 2" outlet. I'm running lay-flat from the pump toward the nozzle, but between the lay-flat and the nozzle is this short, 8' section of conventional pressure hose. I'm told this hybrid/combination of lay-flat and conventional will allow flexibility/maneuverability close to the nozzle, it uses a weight- and cost-conscious combination of hoses and it still allows the water to flow well from the pump all the way to the nozzle. Anyway...

Once I got the pump hooked up out in the field, I wanted to run three tests: basic water flow, wet material suction and then the dry land suction. I was NOT really trying to catch any gold - there's not much gold where our club has properties, and what's there is flour gold at a rate of a few specks every 5 gallon bucket. This is the "practice field", not the game-time stadium.

The basic summary is that all 3 test passed with flying colors. I had no issues whatsoever, other than one rock jam in the 3" suction hose itself (not the nozzle). The nozzle sucked material underwater like another 3" conventional nozzle I've used. As for the dry land test, I cleared out around 3 rocks that were embedded in the bank (not undercutting; near the water's edge) in no time. The nozzle worked exactly as advertised, and you can't ask for more than that.

I don't have pictures - sorry - but the next step is a field test, likely down in Virginia later this month. I'll revisit this post at that time and add some field-test observations.

I hope this helps someone.

- Brian
 

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brianc053

brianc053

Hero Member
Jan 27, 2015
972
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Morris County, NJ
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Good catch. Turns out there's an extra zero. The pump is the PACER SELF-PRIMING TRANSFER PUMP, 2 IN. which offers one-hudred ninety (190) GPM (it's an older model; the current models claim 200 GPM).

I've edited the post to correct the error. Thanks!

- Brian
 

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brianc053

brianc053

Hero Member
Jan 27, 2015
972
3,359
Morris County, NJ
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 800
XP Deus 2
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I promised I would revisit my post when I was able to get the nozzle out in the "wild"; a few days ago I joined some of my fellow club members at Contrary Creek and was able to run the Hydro-force nozzle for a full day, with great results.

My son and I chose a location that had bedrock near the water's surface trending toward dry land, so we could test the nozzle in "normal" conditions as well as dry. We moved an amazing amount of material with this thing; I was with 3 other dredgers who had 1.5", 2.5" and 4" nozzles, and it looked like we moved as much material as the 4".
We did that without having too many jams. Any nozzle will jam up, of course, and it's usually operator error. I can say this: I jammed up less with this 3" Hydro-force than I did with a normal 3" nozzle last month. And, with the exception of one jam where a perfectly badly shaped rock got stuck, each jam was easy to clear, without making dents in the nozzle from the rubber mallet.

Anyway, here are some pictures of some of the area we cleared, the gold we found, and a 90-second video from the day.

- Brian

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