Found the largest arrastra I've ever seen...

[SaltwaterServr]

Out scouting new properties today and came across the largest arrastra I've ever seen in person, or in photos. Steam powered, with 6 crushing wheels 3' in diameter. We couldn't find a date or manufacturer stamp on it anywhere, so no guess of the age of it.

 

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[russau]

Did you pan any of the material that was left in the tray? Or did you do any research into who's it was ? It ought to be in a museum!

 

[Golden_Crab]

My biggest question is why did it get left? It doesn't look like a cheap toy nor does it look cheap to move.

 

[RW]

My biggest question is why did it get left? It doesn't look like a cheap toy nor does it look cheap to move.

When you become filthy rich little things like that don't even cross your mind.

 

[Reed Lukens]

I would definitely go thru the trough with a dust broom and pan out a test sample, you may find a lot of fine gold is sitting along the edges if you actually get to be the first person who thought to check it. I've done well on some old machinery found deep in the woods and its always fun to find gold in discarded equipment. The hills around here are littered with old mining equipment, stamp Mills, boilers, you name it, most of the stuff is falling down and going back into the earth these days but I've pulled nuggets out of tight corners in equipment that was impossible to reach without the right tools

 

[SaltwaterServr]

My biggest question is why did it get left? It doesn't look like a cheap toy nor does it look cheap to move.

I'm going to guess because it's riveted together in a lot of spots. Our best guess is that four mines were using this mill, possibly 6. Not that big of a loss when you split it 6 ways. Why mess with it when you're looking for the next big strike?

Did you pan any of the material that was left in the tray? Or did you do any research into who's it was ? It ought to be in a museum!

No, but we know how they set up their amalgamation tables. There's hundreds of tons of their tailings down the hill. There's no cyanide tanks anywhere so who knows how much they missed. Also, judging by the size of the screens on the outflow, that slurry was pretty big. Hauling all those tails out of there for regrinding, run through a shaker table, and then cyanide might give you insane amounts of gold that could be had at the expense of shovel time.

The biggest problem is this:



Two tires shredded in three weekends. This is not an easy place to get to even with 4wd.

 

[wildminer]

That is just an awesome find!!! Goodyear Dynatrac with an E sidewall is a great tire in rocks, mud, snow and rainy pavement. A plus is you don't need chains with 4wd unless it is really extreme. I'll probably see that arrasta in my dreams tonite!

 

[SaltwaterServr]

That is just an awesome find!!! Goodyear Dynatrac with an E sidewall is a great tire in rocks, mud, snow and rainy pavement. A plus is you don't need chains with 4wd unless it is really extreme. I'll probably see that arrasta in my dreams tonite!

Speaking of chains, I've been thinking of tinkering with using HEAVY duty zip ties through pieces of 3/4" steel pipe and cinch four of them down per tire. Kind of like this stuff.

https://www.bulbhead.com/zip-grip-g...MI9q_45-q61wIVR4J-Ch3yRgA9EAQYBSABEgKEN_D_BwE

But I was considering it more for sandy areas or mud more than anything. They would act more like paddles on those sand flap tires you see for dune crawling.

 

[Obsessive]

That is just an awesome find!!! Goodyear Dynatrac with an E sidewall is a great tire in rocks, mud, snow and rainy pavement. A plus is you don't need chains with 4wd unless it is really extreme. I'll probably see that arrasta in my dreams tonite!

Speaking of chains, I've been thinking of tinkering with using HEAVY duty zip ties through pieces of 3/4" steel pipe and cinch four of them down per tire. Kind of like this stuff.

https://www.bulbhead.com/zip-grip-g...MI9q_45-q61wIVR4J-Ch3yRgA9EAQYBSABEgKEN_D_BwE

But I was considering it more for sandy areas or mud more than anything. They would act more like paddles on those sand flap tires you see for dune crawling.

No comment on the impromptu paddles, but yes, running heavier load rated tires with reduced air pressure while on the trail can help to prevent these types of punctures and give you greater traction over rocks, as well as in sand and mud. This is a common practice in off-road driving.

Load E's may be a bit excessive unless you also tow or haul, Load C's can be a good compromise... however Ive seen a lot of C load tires with thin ply sidewalls that resulted in tears and punctures on the trail... more so than the guys running load E's.

Note that airing down is not recommend for P rated tires. Also make sure to carry a good air pump so you can get back up to cruising pressures for the pavement part of the drive home. You do not want to drive at speed with these low pressures especially on pavement.

I run a load E tire usually at around 40psi for daily pavement driving. But when I hit trails, I may go as low as 25 or 20psi depending on the conditions... If I'm just cruising forest roads I'll drop a just little, to maybe 30psi, which smooths out the ride a bit and helps prevent punctures. I know some guys that go down to 18psi and lower for serious trails, but the lower pressures also put you at greater risk of breaking the bead if you're not running beadlocks.

If you're unfamiliar with this tactic or curious to know more, you can of course find more detailed info on the web and youtube.