Keene 2" 'Backpack' dredger

[RTR]

Is anyone using this dredger , is it worthwhile ,or is it too small ? Thanks
>> 2" Backpack Dredge with Power Jet: Keene Engineering Online

 

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[Koalajones]

Looks interesting I dont like the lack of information
Keene engineering puts on there products compared to
gold hog but then again I'm a noob

 

[Jason in Enid]

Is anyone using this dredger , is it worthwhile ,or is it too small ? Thanks
>> 2" Backpack Dredge with Power Jet: Keene Engineering Online

I've never used that model, but the answer to your question is, "it depends". If you have a proven gold producing stream, especially with deep gravel, its a bad choice. If you want to hike it back into places you cant drive to, and run some decent test material, then its a very good choice. just bring a mask and snorkel so you can keep a direct eye on the nozzle and prevent plug-ups.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Looks interesting I dont like the lack of information
Keene engineering puts on there products compared to
gold hog but then again I'm a noob

What information do you think it needs? Its a 2" dredge with a gas powered motor and a single stage sluice box. Thats pretty much all you need to know.

 

[Actionman]

I have used one, a older model on a inner tube. And yes you are basically sniping with it. I also have a 4" dredge with air, and it really is what works. But for a small stream it can be backpacked in a whole lot easier. It takes me two trips to pack in the 4". If you have any amount of overburden to remove, forget the 2".

 

[N-Lionberger]

Make faster work with a shovel but they are handy for cleaning out bedrock. For punching holes in cobble forget about it.

 

[ratled]

I started off sniping and working cracks with a Keene 2" crash box on a stand (easier and small to carry in than floats or inner tubes). I also built some PVC floats for it later on.
Just know it has it's limitations.

 

[alaskaseeker]

If you are cleaning bedrock but just doesnt move a lot if material, motors are small so dont interest me.. My first dredge was a 3" and i quickly moved up to a 5".....You have to have an idea about the stream too, did the area produce gold. Research is very important...

 

[Hoser John]

Your in Virginia so have a ball. Good for cracks in bedrock where gold loves to hide. Fun toy to get you addicted. Add a small garden hose with a lawn sweeper nozzle to blast cracks and get a crackn"-John

 

[Darth Placer]

I'm with John on that one... plenty of shallow bedrock in VA... a thin nail bar will be your best friend along with that nozzle.

 

[Goldwasher]

For small streams with shallow bedrock a 2" can be great.

It is faster to move overburden out of your with with a shovel.

If your puddle jumping with a stand and using a jet log instead of a suction nozzle. You can hike it in with one trip.

 

[RTR]

Thanks for all the input guys.
It will be used in a small shallow gold producing stream in Va. a long walk from the road to where I'm going. And way to long for a second trip just to get to the site.I know it only will do 1.5 yards per hr.But that's a yard that's easier than shoveling .

 

[Bejay]

38 years ago I purchased a similar backpack dredge. I wanted to pack it up into some remote sections of a small stream. Mine actually had straps on it so you could use it like a backpack. I carried the hoses and gear as well as gas up into my remote area....and it got the job done...but it was mostly testing and hi grading cracks and crevices. BUT....!!….I also owned a 2 inch shrimp suction gun. (used for getting ghost shrimp for fishing bait). I sold the back pack dredge and have used the shrimp guns ever since. Easier to pack and use and they can do as much if you learn how to: (suck and shoot)…..either into a tub (gathering material to pan) or a sluice. I have been dredging for 40 years and own numerous dredges.....and would never go to a 2 or 2.5 inch again. Miners who have watched me use my shrimp gun always want one....and over the years I have supplied a lot of miners with the suction guns or info as to how to acquire them.

Bejay

 

[RTR]

38 years ago I purchased a similar backpack dredge. I wanted to pack it up into some remote sections of a small stream. Mine actually had straps on it so you could use it like a backpack. I carried the hoses and gear as well as gas up into my remote area....and it got the job done...but it was mostly testing and hi grading cracks and crevices. BUT....!!….I also owned a 2 inch shrimp suction gun. (used for getting ghost shrimp for fishing bait). I sold the back pack dredge and have used the shrimp guns ever since. Easier to pack and use and they can do as much if you learn how to: (suck and shoot)…..either into a tub (gathering material to pan) or a sluice. I have been dredging for 40 years and own numerous dredges.....and would never go to a 2 or 2.5 inch again. Miners who have watched me use my shrimp gun always want one....and over the years I have supplied a lot of miners with the suction guns or info as to how to acquire them.

Bejay

Well, I don't know about 'shrimp suckers'. But I do know these suckers really suck,and not in the way they were intended

 

[RTR]

Sending y'all a little Sunshine for your help

 

[Bejay]

Well, I don't know about 'shrimp suckers'. But I do know these suckers really suck,and not in the way they were intended View attachment 1776653

Those fill up and you take them apart and empty them. Nah....not my kind of liking. My gun sucks and shoots (squirts the material) immediately into a sluice or tub.

All kinds of suction guns on the market today for getting some gold.....I'll take my way over all of them. But then again we all have an opinion. Enjoy your "sunshine"!

Bejay

 

[Bonaro]

I have owned 3 or 4 of these. They work good but only at the scale they are built. Handy for packing into remote areas. No idea why they need floats because 95% of the time you use these you will be working in the shoreline. I would delete floats and put it on a high baker stand

 

[N-Lionberger]

I doubt you will get the advertised 1.5 yards per hour with that little guy, I could see it maybe happening if you were pumping straight sand but I doubt your recovery would be that great, your capacity on that sluice is about on par with an A52 river sluice, hogging gravel is surefire way to blow out gold. I've built few suction guns, my favorite is the reed lukens style super sucker, it slogs a lot of dirt, it is stupid simple the gasket is an old pair of long johns held on with some wire. The necked down variety like the keene are a pain to use,

 

[Bejay]

We all got out favorites. After 40 years mining I have seen a lot!

Bejay