Going to get my first high banker

[mrmanpig1]

Is a gold hog piglet a good choice? I have never high banked but I have read good things about the piglet and I am sick of trying set a sluice up in my creek so I'm going to get a highbanker I'm hoping it will be easier to set up

 

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[Twinkletoes]

All the Gold Hogs are top quality and I would recommend any of them. If the Piglet would run off a Honda WX10TA (2200 GPM) you would have a super light weight highbanker!

 

[Silversurfer79]

QUOTE=mrmanpig1;5210941]Is a gold hog piglet a sr choice? I have never high banked but I have read good things about the piglet and I am sick of trying set a sluice up in my creek so I'm going to get a highbanker I'm hoping it will be easier to set up[/QUOTE]
I have nothing but good things to say about gold hog. I use the razorback mat in my mini high banker and they work very well! And on a 36" sluice you get a half a cup of concetrates no matter how much I run! You won't regret buying from them!

 

[russau]

I agree that Gold Hog has good products BUT if I were you ,(not having done any highbaking) id wait on purchaseing ANYTHING until you have a chance going out with someone that does have highbanking experience and you have a chance to use one! Then you will have the first hand knowledge and will know if that's what you really want to do. then go buy it! Now it wont sit out in your garage collecting dust if you don't like highbanking!

 

[Hoser John]

Proline the absolute BEST by such a huge margin. Built industrial tough with a "real dredge setup" so 2 pieces of high quality equipment with fines recovery for the price of one. John

 

[Hamfist]

Another vote for the Piglet. I've messed with a couple of other highbankers that use older style hoppers, perforated spray bars, expanded w/ miners' moss, hungarian riffles, drop riffles, etc. Most modifications I've tried to make to my others are already incorporated into the Piglet, so I said screw it and bought one. It's a simple, efficient, robust unit. They are welded instead of riveted now and the whole thing, with mats, only weighs 20-21lbs. At $490, it's also cheaper than most others and seems to run well over a yard per hour, but leaves less concentrates and only takes about one minute to clean out. The old version of GH's Mini, the Excavator) was lower quality and not as efficient.

The Honda WX15 pump ($500!) is more appropriate than the WX10. The Piglet likes 3000-4000 GPH. It's still only 20lbs, though. Piglet + Honda pump = $1,000. You can save around $300 and get a cheap Chinese pump if you like.

The smallest Proline is $2,000, which includes a high-pressure Honda pump that allows you to dredge. Proline also makes very high quality equipment and you should look into it before you pull the trigger on either unit.

Definitely go out with someone who has some experience first, if you're able.

 

[mrmanpig1]

Proline the absolute BEST by such a huge margin. Built industrial tough with a "real dredge setup" so 2 pieces of high quality equipment with fines recovery for the price of one. John

I would like to have a proline but they are out of my price range since I haven't found enough gold to justify spending very much but if I do find some I will look into getting one thanks for the advice

 

[mrmanpig1]

Proline the absolute BEST by such a huge margin. Built industrial tough with a "real dredge setup" so 2 pieces of high quality equipment with fines recovery for the price of one. John

I would like to have a proline but they are out of my price range since I haven't found enough gold to justify spending very much but if I do find some I will look into getting one thanks for the advice.

 

[mrmanpig1]

My iPod is doing something stupid and posting twice in not doing that on purpose

 

[mrmanpig1]

Another vote for the Piglet. I've messed with a couple of other highbankers that use older style hoppers, perforated spray bars, expanded w/ miners' moss, hungarian riffles, drop riffles, etc. Most modifications I've tried to make to my others are already incorporated into the Piglet, so I said screw it and bought one. It's a simple, efficient, robust unit. They are welded instead of riveted now and the whole thing, with mats, only weighs 20-21lbs. At $490, it's also cheaper than most others and seems to run well over a yard per hour, but leaves less concentrates and only takes about one minute to clean out. The old version of GH's Mini, the Excavator) was lower quality and not as efficient.

The Honda WX15 pump ($500!) is more appropriate than the WX10. The Piglet likes 3000-4000 GPH. It's still only 20lbs, though. Piglet + Honda pump = $1,000. You can save around $300 and get a cheap Chinese pump if you like.

The smallest Proline is $2,000, which includes a high-pressure Honda pump that allows you to dredge. Proline also makes very high quality equipment and you should look into it before you pull the trigger on either unit.

Definitely go out with someone who has some experience first, if you're able.

I do like that it uses a destruction zone as they call it instead of spray bars I am going to get a cheap China pump till I find some hose and also is getting a piece of dredge hose to go into the highbanker like gold hog suggests doing really necessary or will the regular pump hose work?

 

[mrmanpig1]

There is no need to spend $$$ on a high banker. The Modern Goldseeker's Manual has an excelent plan made from wood. Any joiner can make it. Unlike the commecially sold models it's modular, so you can change the riffle system AND the sluice with easy.

I have tryed building wooden sluices and highbanker sand none of them have worked I would rather just buy one but I might try making one of those as a project one day even if it didn't work it would still be fun to build

 

[Hamfist]

is getting a piece of dredge hose to go into the highbanker like gold hog suggests doing really necessary or will the regular pump hose work?

You can run lay-flat directly into the high banker but it will kink in a couple of places, which reduces your flow and makes your pump have to work a little harder. Plenty of people do it that way though. It works. A short length of semi-rigid hose (suction hose, etc) just eliminates the kinks and gives you more GPM at a lower pump RPM.

 

[mrmanpig1]

You can run lay-flat directly into the high banker but it will kink in a couple of places, which reduces your flow and makes your pump have to work a little harder. Plenty of people do it that way though. It works. A short length of semi-rigid hose (suction hose, etc) just eliminates the kinks and gives you more GPM at a lower pump RPM.

Ok thanks I will try to get a piece of hose so I don't have to deal with kinks

 

[matt_unique]

I started high banking this past year. I opted for a 9840 GPH Honda pump (but not the high pressure variety) which cost around $430. I like the flexibility of a high banker if you want to dig away from your water source, but floating in the water in your wetsuit on a nozzle sure beats digging gravel. Hoses are an enormous PITA....I started out with super duper rigid hose which weigh a ton and are not flexible. I then replaced those with Keene flexible hose (still rigid, but much lighter and more flexible). I discovered the thinner Keene hose could not handle the pressure when I started getting below 3' of water. Brand new hose was springing pin hole size leaks every 5 minutes at that depth. So - the Keene flexible hose is fine for your water supply intake to the pump, but cannot withstand the pressure of dredging very well on the discharge side of things. I had a Keene A52 sluice and added on the hopper, screens, leg kit, etc. It's a learning process for sure....

 

[49er4ever44]

I have a Heckler 510 with a cheap American made pump and it works great. However I don't use it nearly as much as I should considering how much I paid after buying the highbanker, pump, hoses and other equipment. If I ever move to Alaska tho I'm set!

 

[winners58]

you don't want to buy equipment then find out you need more, a high-banker will get the river run material down to concentrates
then you will have to work those con's down usually later at home. my recommendation would be to start out with the
goldhog multi-sluice $339 Multi Gold Sluice | Multi Use Gold Sluice and Concentrator it comes with 2 mats a river run mat and a washer mat
you can screen the gravel to 1/4" or build a high-bank header you can use it at the river and at home.
you can set it up as recirculating to use in areas that you cant high-bank in a river or beach or like a dry-wash/creek that you bring water in jugs

 

[49er4ever44]

Or for 120$ you could buy a Keene A52 hand sluice. I've ran it alongside a gold hog and recovered the same. Just my experience though.

 

[mrmanpig1]

Well I just got my piglet the other day and I am very impressed with how much material it can run for being so small I also got a 2" semi trash powerhorse water pump from northern tool for 300$ it's has worked very well so far I haven't found anything yet but I have mainly been just testing it in my creek going to take it out somewhere sometime here soon hopefully i can make it start paying for itself

 

[mrmanpig1]

I did some very cold nighttime mining this weekend didn't get anything but it was fun we had a fire by the sluice and a fire by the pay pit and we were set

 

[wildminer]

mr, Did anyone tell you that you have a bad case of gold fever? Regardless I like your spirit and I'm sure you will capture gold with your hibanker!