How much would you pay for a California legal dredge?

[NeoTokyo]

Heya everyone;

I wanted to ask a simple question.

How much would you pay for a California legal dredge?

Lets just say that you could have a 100% legal dredge but it had to be fully underwater, electric and limited to no larger than a 1.5" hose.
Run time would be 2 hours non stop dredging, use the on/off toggle and snipe bedrock and choice gravel and it could last days before needing a recharge.

It would be a small production unit but 1000's of times more than sniping alone, an underwater snipers best friend.



Please be realistic on the price, we all can roughly figure up what pumps, batteries, hoses, nozzles, chargers, and so on cost, also figure in a small mark up.
This would be a complete system meaning you would not have to buy anything to complete it.


Thanks.

 

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[Aurabbit79er]

$500. including Solar Panels and sales tax.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Ok. thats not a bad start but I had not thought about Solar because the unit will be underwater, the battery will be contained in the dredge.

 

[Oakview2]

Maybe it's just my own paranoia, but I would be scared shirtless, to take and electrical device powerful enough to suction up material threw a one and half inch opening under water... I can' stand to lick a nine volt battery

 

[kuger]

I wouldnt give ya a dime for anything smaller than a 4",and thats too small......there is only so much gold laying in cracks,where a person doesnt have to remove overburden.....IMHO

 

[NeoTokyo]

Maybe it's just my own paranoia, but I would be scared shirtless, to take and electrical device powerful enough to suction up material threw a one and half inch opening under water... I can' stand to lick a nine volt battery

Lets say the battery used would not be able to shock ya.

I wouldnt give ya a dime for anything smaller than a 4",and thats too small......there is only so much gold laying in cracks,where a person doesnt have to remove overburden.....IMHO

Whelp in a state that does not allow a regular Dredge that would leave you with few options to pick up the fine gold rich overburden sitting down in the cracks, fanning simply fans it away with the rest of the overburden. Would that change your mind?

 

[kuger]

no cause I never got rich from the fine gold in the overburden in the cracks with my 6" Ha!HA!

 

[trinityau]

Hello Eric, I can tell you from experience that what Kuger said is pretty well on the money. The other problem is future laws. I understand that what you are saying is a valid way of getting around the dredge law, however, the mining and prospecting laws are being circumvented through the California Clean Air and Water. This means that right now they are writing up proposals for any amount of turbidity in the water and will be chasing people down for that. You got lucky and found a bit of gold sniping this summer, I do not know exactly how much, but I would confine my efforts to some form of prospecting where you will be out of sight/out of mind. Sniping can be very rewarding but it is getting harder and harder as so many people are getting the hang of it. I snipe areas where I am being paid for my efforts, anything less is simply recreational. I have a whole list of dont go back to areas all around Northern California. Same with detecting, it is getting harder.


The other thing with your proposal is you will run into more problems than you realize and that tends to take the fun out of it. This is not meant to be a smartass remark but in the Army we used the word KISS. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. As I said that is not intended for you but that is where you want to be, simple. I have narrowed my prospecting down to detecting and sniping over the last few years. You need to do some research on areas to snipe and then spend the time to get in to those areas. I say into because most of mine take a 10 hour walk in and I spend a few days at a location. My friends can tell you of my exploits in the high country over the last twenty years. I have been very lucky as I have been able to see streambeds that have never been worked by any means. These are places where the bedrock is clean and clear with about 18 inches of running water, ice cold. I use to go up one side of a bedrock ledge and pile up all the bigger pieces in several locations. I would do this in the morning and then go back in the afternoon after a warm lunch and fill my aspirin bottles with the gold, yes bottles. I am sure there are few other old timers that can tell you the same about dredging in the early days. I remember being a rock tender for a guy down by Big Bar in the old days when I was a kid. I really did not bother with what was going on then, like I said I was kid, I was just working for a guy and his wife. The water was about six feet deep with one layer of cobble on top of the bedrock, just loose stones basically, but you could take your hand and scrape it sideways and pile up an ounce or so of gold in a few sweeps. This guy and his wife were taking pounds a day for a few years with a five inch dredge and a few compressor's. Before it ran out we ran into a place where the water was ankle deep and you could look down and see pennyweight pieces just lying on the exposed bedrock. There are places still out there, slow down, research, keep it simple, have alot of fun and make some money. TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

 

[robbor]

i dont think it could be done well enough straight electric. It would be a colossal hunk of junk or it would cost 7k and youd be carrying in a bunch of batteries. most battery powered stuff sucks. You cant charge batteries fast enough with a lil solar panel to keep up with a motor strong enough to power a water pump with the kind of pressure you need.

 

[NeoTokyo]

no cause I never got rich from the fine gold in the overburden in the cracks with my 6" Ha!HA!

It adds up though.


Heya Ray, thanks for all the great info.
All we can hope with the laws are that they will allow so much turbidity for the average prospector otherwise they may as well stop people from swimming/wading too as feet cause turbidity as well. On that note, I dont think that it will get to such a horrible state that it would conflict with those forms of recreation.

As for KISS, I live by that.
Thats an awesome story, Big Bar is a pretty nice area, I have been there fishing a couple times.
I may not look like it today but I love to hike, there is a creek on the Trinity that you probably know named French Creek, I walked beyond all of the Rainbow camps several times a summer for a long long time just being a crazy fishing kid doing my stream fishing. There is a huge dredge hole a ways up that you might know too, I went far far beyond that.

I found some good gold this Summer, a couple ounces but I wish I could have seen what you did, I think I would have died.

 

[NeoTokyo]

i dont think it could be done well enough straight electric. It would be a colossal hunk of junk or it would cost 7k and youd be carrying in a bunch of batteries. most battery powered stuff sucks. You cant charge batteries fast enough with a lil solar panel to keep up with a motor strong enough to power a water pump with the kind of pressure you need.

Lets just say it would be around 20lbs without a sluice and be easy to transport.

 

[Hoser John]

Retorical question--how much would you pay to fly--how much would you pay to live forever. You HAVE to read the waterboards rules,regs and laws to fly and your absolutely dead in the water till then with nuttn' but blue sky and bs---educate and learn-GRAVITY IS THE ONLY ANSWER---John

 

[NeoTokyo]

Ok we are getting way off topic here, please stick to the simple question with your answer.

The question is also NOT rhetorical as I have a base set of guidelines set up, enough info to make a choice and please, this is not a debate on how it would not work or would not be legal.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

I would need 3 people with packs to haul it all in, in one trip, but it should run a standard 4" dredge head. If anyone builds it before I do, please post the results. I love messing with gravity.

 

[NeoTokyo]

I like the idea that you have, you could also build a dam and build the intake into the lowest part of the dam to help with pressure.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

Thanks Neo, I like that, that's going to be added to the directions for set up.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

It's added.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Awesome.

 

[Aurabbit79er]

Great minds think alike.