Using a mini-excavator on remote claims, legal?

[firebird]

I just found out that there are mini-excavators that the chinese make for cheap for less than $5k. They're pretty small but they can still dig a hell of a lot more gravel than one man with a shovel could in a day. Would it be legal to use these on a claim on BLM land? I could break them down into smaller parts and then take them to even the most remote claims and put them together there.

[dave wiseman]

Believe you have to file a plan of operation with mechanized equipment.

[okbasspro]

Your going to need a NOI or more likely a POO along with a large cash bond. Do you really want to enter into a contract with a alphabet agency? Say bye bye to your rights under 1872 mining law. Make sure your deposit is worth it.

[Underburden]

Find a mining partner and both of you will move more paydirt than this thing and you could keep $5000 in your pocket. Don't put the cart before the horse until you have a plan of operation approved...should only take a year or so to get denied.

[firebird]

Damn, I had no idea there were so many restrictions like this. Sigh, back to digging then. Thanks for the info.

[firebird]

Find a mining partner and both of you will move more paydirt than this thing and you could keep $5000 in your pocket.

Thing is I want to be able to work alone. I found a claim on sale last week and got permission to test it but it was an exhausting 3 mile hike to get to it. There was lots of gold but I was too tired to move enough dirt, the only way I could see the claim being viable is if I camp there.

[Capt Nemo]

That would be perfect! All it needs is a trailer hitch to tow a trommel or a cart for a monster hog sluice. Might work nice for moving bigger rocks that you can't move by hand.

But in kommiefornication, you can't do anything!

[goldenmojo]

It would be great. A few hours after you reassemble it on your claim you could hike back out, write a scathing internet review about what a worthless piece of junk it is and try to find non existent parts for it. Stick with a shovel.

[akflyer]

As with any piece of equipment they take a little getting used to, but contrary to the haters, they will move a lot more dirt than a shovel and you can drink a beer while doing it. I have a Kobelco SS1 and plan on making a conveyor to feed the highbanker or trommel depending on the dirt I am playing in. At the end of the day my back doesn't hurt from shoveling either so that turns into more dirt ran as you don't have to stop and take as many breaks. You would b e pretty surprised at how large of rocks you can roll around with one of these little guys.

[firebird]

It would be great. A few hours after you reassemble it on your claim you could hike back out, write a scathing internet review about what a worthless piece of junk it is and try to find non existent parts for it. Stick with a shovel.

The chinese stuff have gotten better recently. The cheapest one I've found is a towable backhoe from Harbor Freight for $2899 with good reviews.



https://www.harborfreight.com/9-hp-t...hoe-62365.html

[Strebs]

ive been pondering those mini excavators, i think it be cool find a complete wheel horse like this, stiffen the frame, add some hydraulic wheel motors n some tracks.

[et1955]

The chinese stuff have gotten better recently. The cheapest one I've found is a towable backhoe from Harbor Freight for $2899 with good reviews.



https://www.harborfreight.com/9-hp-t...hoe-62365.html

Lifts only 800 lbs. ? and did you look at the test soil, soft and no rocks. Before you buy mining equipment know the ground you will be working then adapt.

[seafox]

I had a similar towable backhoe from northern hydrolic . my farm ground was heavy clay and truth is yes I could out dig that 5 horse engine with a shovel for 15 minutes! it wasa the 16th minute and the hours that followed the machine kept going while the shovel slowed down. unfortinutely with the added costs, bonds hassaels ect. thinking that a small electric winch or a come along to move rocks bigger than basket balls wi9ll be extent of mechination.

one thing thought I read somewhere that a dredge under 15 horse power ( 11 horse power? ) did not require added paper work? the question come up what is a dredge? dream of a 5 or 8 horse power unit self propelled that burrows through the ground sorting out the gold as it goes. and poaint the word dredge on the side.

[1637]

i believe in calif its picks and shovels on blm land to dig,but after that we can use drywashers

[OreCart]

I do not know anything about BLM Land and Mining Claims because I own my own land, but you guys also know me and my love of equipment.

I have a mini-backhoe on my log trailer, and I use it A LOT. It just makes sense/cents because it is not just fuel consumption, but wear and tear on the excavator. Do I really want to be tearing into the pumps and rebuilding them because my septic system backed up and I need to change a broken pipe? My little backhoe can do the job with more finesse and less cost. It is the same thing with my little bulldozer, my John Deere 350 cannot push anywhere near what the John Deere 850 can, but tracks for my 350 is only $4500.

My little backhoe is pretty tough. I have busted into frozen soil, and have never found anything it could not dig, it is just slow. The little 6.5 HP engine just does not move enough flow for it to be fast, but it does not matter because I am digging just as fast in the first five minutes as I am at the end of a ten hour day. That does not happen when you are shoveling. And the $5 in gasoline it takes to run it all day is nothing, not to mention the $99 it would cost to replace the engine.

If I get into gold mining, my plan is to use my mini-backhoe adapting it as needs arise. Most likely I will build a trammel and wash plant and directly load into it so that I do not have to shovel; a self-propelled wash plant if you will. But that is for gravel. For hard rock mining, I could put a jackhammer on the end of it, lift the ore into the crusher by the grapple or bucket with thumb.

But that is the thing; when you buy equipment, you do so thinking about one specific task, but after you buy it, you use it for all kinds of things you never thought of, then go, "how did I ever get along without it?"

I have big equipment as a backup, but I use my little equipment as much as I can because it has the least cost. It has really surprised me over the years how much can be done with small equipment.

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.