Any Large Heavy Duty Classifiers on the market?

[cali209]

I will be going thru a ton of tailings from an old hydraulic mining area with a lot of 2-4 inch rocks and I am looking for a classifier that is much larger than just the type that fits over a bucket.

I'm thinking maybe 2'x 3' in size would work and will probably have to custom build one...?

I would probably want a 3 tiered set up...1", 1/2", to 1/4"...with a big plastic tub on bottom.

Then take that and run thru a highbanker/sluice.

There is mainly fine gold where I'll be prospecting.

Anything like this on the market already?

Or am I getting carried away and a highbanker should work fine for this type of thing?

I just cant imagine dumping all them bigger rocks in the highbanker, even if doing it slowly...

 

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[ChuckNC]

You would probably need to have a custom made job, or you could think of a way to crush the tailings and run them thru the highbanker. Either way, it's going to be custom work.

Another idea would be an over-under sluice setup. Let the larger rocks go thru the upper sluice, and the smaller material, say 1/4in and smaller, thru the under sluice.

Hoser would be able to describe how to build one much better than me.

Chuck

 

[cali209]

Also, I wont be able to use any water. The nearest creek is about 200 feet away. I'll be taking the classifed material in buckets to the highbanker/sluice where I will have it set up near the creek.

 

[ChuckNC]

Take a look at Honcoop Highbankers. They are the Cadilac of Highbankers and work similar to an over-under setup. What size gold does it seem you will most likely recover?

Another thing to think about, how much clay are you going to be dealing with? If you have a lot, you might want to think about a trommel. That way you can add the oversized rocks and be certain theyr'e washed completely. Oh and you could still run a modified over-under sluice if you wanted to.

Chuck

 

[cali209]

Yeah, I been checking out them Honcoop Highbankers for awhile now...

I'll probably end up getting one of those or a Keene...but so far the Honcoop looks better for fine gold.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Hey Cali I have a honcoop (HB-17) though I have not had the luck to try it yet.(pump issues)
If you have questions about them ask and I'll see what i can help you with.

 

[JamesE]

This will do just fine for cheap, if the ground, grade, and your back allow. Mostly it's a bigger bucket and classifier.
Get yourself a contractor grade wheelbarrow and 200' (4x50') of contactor grade 3/4'' hose, or 3/4'' good garden hose and a couple of repair kits.
Form a rim out of 1/4'' by 1'' strap that fits around the edge of the barrow a 1/2'' or so bigger all the way around, weld some 3/8 or 1/2'' heavy mesh over the formed rim. Add rod handles to the 2 sides so you can shake it and roll rock off the grate by lifting it.
Put/shovel/fork the rocks onto the mesh and wash 'em with the hose over/into the barrow, as they say, rinse, repeat.. and wheel to the sluice.
With the right pump pressure, your partner can run the sluice and you'll have pressure at the wash nozzle too. And when you're setting up, keep in mind where you want to walk, a wheel barrow half full of wet gravel still ain't light and it's 10 times that where it's slippery. and yeah, you can dump the extra water if you're careful. There's a way to set up a feeder tray using a piece of plywood so you can just dump the barrow at the intake to the sluice.
Still sounds like job for a nugget detector and a rake. If it's true flour gold, you're going to do a lot of work for small reward. Hope this helps, best of luck, nimby

 

[cali209]

Great idea Nimby.

Thanks!

 

[JamesE]

Glad to help, let me me know if you want to build the "dump" sheet for the setup.
If you were close around here, I'd offer to weld it up for you. nimby

 

[cali209]

I'd be interested to hear about the dump sheet as well...thanks

 

[cali209]

Nimby,

Do you know anywhere online that sells the thicker strong mesh I would need? I couldnt find any strong stuff at our local Home Depot.

I found this one online but not sure if its strong enough.

http://www.twpinc.com/twpinc/contro...ssionid=67D25120C37E67EDB5AFC0C9C4DEABD0.jvm1

 

[JamesE]

I looked around the site, all of it is way too light. More like 1/8'' wire at the min.
Places to try:
Salvage yards especially if they do industrial salvage.
Quarries might have screens that are trash to them but might have a big enough good sections for this.
Regular steel dealers usually have a source for mesh or perforated. From what I remember their pretty spendy unless it's a remnant. But worth a try.
Farm supply stores might have something from grain cleaners.
Farm equip. salvage yards, seems that some combines used a screen drum set up to clean grain
A couple of large heavy duty (like Weber) BBQ grates. or 1 with the edges folded over the sides of the barrow might be cheap, probably won't last but worth a shot.
Or make your own out of 1/4 or 3/16'' rod, might be spendy if you have to pay for the welding.
You don't exactly have to have mesh, if you use rods some long skinny rocks might get through but they usually wash through a sluice pretty easily. or easy enough to pick out while feeding the sluice. My supplier had 1/4'' rod for $1.80 (?) or so for 10' last fall or summer
Whatever you build it's going to be heavy if it's going to last.
How heavy something needs to be depends on how you treat it, if a 4'' rock is dropped from 3' up, what it hits has to be a lot sturdier than if the same rocks are 'set' on it from a couple inches above. If you say where you live I might have better ideas for sources or find someting here and ship it to you if cost efficient. jim

 

[JamesE]

For the dumpsheet, cut a triangle of 3/4 plywood that has the same angle and 6'' or so wider than your sluice flare, paint it and cover it with tin, attach 2 -2x4's so they extend the "V" of the sluice flare so there's a place to dump the barrow on. Put spray bars on the top of the 2x4's. This method would work best only when you can set up on sloping ground and have material to fully support the sheet and not knock your suice around when you dump, otherwise you can rig a chute out of heavy innertube or whatever if you can work on 2 levels.
Kinda' hard to say what's best without seeing the site.
1/28 I've left a false impression here, I haven't used this method, only seen it in use. What I saw was home built from heavy steel in a well chosen location. The tray was at the top of the bank and the sluice went out over the creek, all well supported. The principles remain the same. BUT if you have a direct attachment between a light modern sluice and a tray you dump gravel on, the shock would most likely knock your concentrates loose.

 

[cali209]

Nimby, thanks for all the info...its been a big help.

I'll find something locally here and do some more searching online for the steel screen I'll need.

Thanks again.

 

[Jeffro]

Any sheet metal shop can order for you any size wire mesh screen you want. We use 1/8 wire by 1 inch opening stuff all the time where I work.

 

[JamesE]

Yeah, like Jeffro said. Depending on how remote you are, what you can use probably isn't more than 20 miles away. You might be able to rig something with the old style heavy refrig or freezer shelves. Give us a picture when ya' get it done.
Hey Jeffro I lived in Eugene back 82 and 3, worked at the GI Joes, loved sitting up on top of Spencers Butte in altered states, watch the hawks from above.
Don't tell anybody I said this, the Willamette Valley makes the Mississippi Valley look like a ditch. But the 'sippi do have some pretty nice areas too. Thought I better throw that in before I get an involuntary testeectomy and have to sneak out of IA in the dark. jim

 

[DanB]

I have a gold screw trammel for sale this will do exactly what you want and even put the gold in a cup for you, this thing works great, as fast as you can put 5 gallon bucket full of dirt. rock. I have a custom 3" grizz that pre-screens the large rock I also have a 3 " dredge that can be pumped directly into it as well. if you want more info, send me your number, depending on where you live, I might be able to have it delivered to you.

regards Dan Biermann

 

[Lookin]

Whew! Sounds like you should look into DanB's setup he has for sale. Would save a lot of work/hauling/headaches! If not, then I think you need to consider, rather than some sort of heavy duty hardware cloth, a grizzly set up that will seperate the bigger materials from your fines. They, you would only need to haul your fines down to the creek. Of course, could you grizzly it and set up some sort of luge/trough to send the seperated stuff down, rather than hauling it? Maybe send it dry by using some sort of shaker system? That might be "to much" to consider, since I don't know if this is your land/claim or what. At any rate, consider DanB's offer! Good luck and post us whatever you end up doing for our info and of course, opinions!

 

[cali209]

I have a gold screw trammel for sale this will do exactly what you want and even put the gold in a cup for you

I've read about those but its not what Im looking for.

For now I bought a Honcoop Highbanker and will be trying that out in about a month, then I'll be building some form of the wheelbarrow setup mentioned above once I have some time this spring.

Lookin, I will be doing this on land I own.

Thanks for the input...

 

[Lookin]

I will be doing this on land I own.

Then it sounds like you can go in any direction you want, which is nice! I was just thinking out loud (kinda) as to what might reduce the workload a bit. I hope you find that your wheel barrows are too heavy due to the fist sized nuggets!!!