Non Motorized Dredge ?

[jog]

Has anyone ever considered trying to run the pump on a floating dredge with a water paddle wheel and gearing and eliminate the engine, is it possible ? I know water speed would play a big part of it. What RPM range do you run your dredge engine?

 

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[specksandflecks]

That would be sight to see. Maybe a 10' diameter, 3' wide water wheel in class 2 velocity water, driving a 4" diameter pulley on the shaft connected to the dredge pump?

You'd think that would be enough to spin the water pump plus the air.

Only downside I could see is the possibility of one of those floaty river keeper hippiecrite things getting themselves somehow caught up in the windings of said contraption.

What a sad ironic tragedy that would be.

One a positive note, I might have just invented a new word!

 

[fowledup]

I suppose you could rig up a Pelton wheel and some serious gearing and it would work. If your wheel was 100rpm and your pump was 1800 rpm you'd need a gear ratio of 18 to 1. It would also limit your location options as you would have to anchor the dredge in the heavier flow. How about anchoring a Harris Pelton wheel (turbine generator) on a small set of floats in the heavy flow and running wire over to your 3/4 hp dc motorized p-180 pump on the dredge? Doable but very spendy! To get the turbine you'd need would be between $1500 - $2000. DC motor that size around $400, plus what $300 or so for the pump.

Better off going gravity or quieting the motor way down.

 

[specksandflecks]

I suppose you could rig up a Pelton wheel and some serious gearing and it would work. It would limit your location options as you would have to anchor the dredge in the heavier flow. How about anchoring a Pelton wheel with a generator n a small set of floats in the heavy flow and running wire over to your dc motorized pump on the dredge?

Could be mistaken but I think he means to operate under low- to - no head pressure. Peltons are cool but I think they require significant head pressure.

 

[fowledup]

Could be mistaken but I think he means to operate under low- to - no head pressure. Peltons are cool but I think they require significant head pressure.

That is true it would require a long run of pipe and a large number of nozzles in the penstock. Never said it was going to be efficient. Paddle wheel would work better.

 

[Lanny in AB]

Has anyone ever considered trying to run the pump on a floating dredge with a water paddle wheel and gearing and eliminate the engine, is it possible ? I know water speed would play a big part of it. What RPM range do you run your dredge engine?

Or, just run a line up the river to use siphon pressure to run your pump. There was a guy on here somewhere on TNET that wrote about that once, and I looked at some online plans once as well for a gravity dredge. (Here's a diagram I just found): Gravity Dredge Plans

I met a guy once that told me he used lengths of aluminum irrigation pipe to get the siphon pressure to run his dredge, and that way he did right away with the pump--never bought any gas. That's what he told me anyway, as I was never lucky enough to see him work it.

Maybe it's possible. Maybe it's not.

Those gas-powered pumps spin at a terrific clip to build up the necessary water pressure for the Venturi, so I kind of see an issue with getting a waterwheel to turn quickly enough to generate enough RPM's (maybe 2500-3500?) for a Honda 6.5 horse.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Aurabbit79er]

That would be sight to see. Maybe a 10' diameter, 3' wide water wheel in class 2 velocity water, driving a 4" diameter pulley on the shaft connected to the dredge pump?

You'd think that would be enough to spin the water pump plus the air.

Only downside I could see is the possibility of one of those floaty river keeper hippiecrite things getting themselves somehow caught up in the windings of said contraption.

What a sad ironic tragedy that would be.

One a positive note, I might have just invented a new word!

Does this count?
I used it to do highbanking but I did think I could make it float and it would be more mobile.

 

[specksandflecks]

Does this count? View attachment 943411 View attachment 943412 View attachment 943413
I used it to do highbanking but I did think I could make it float and it would be more mobile.

Hah thats awesome, I haven't seen that in some years. Was it Alaska gold forum? I'd say thats dam close to what jog was asking.

 

[Hoser John]

Think canyon and gullies and no jets needed as gravity does it all-John

 

[russau]

plus its really quite and can be hard to detect! a little camo paint here and there, and there you go!

 

[jog]

That is what I was sorta seeing in my head, just had the thought and wondered if it had been done on a dredge or if it would even work? With nothing but the pump and compressor there would be a lot of room on top of the dredge for building a gear type system that would increase the pump speed. I'm thinking weight might be an issue though. Problem would also be slow running water in the summer time.

 

[AzViper]

There was a video a while back in the forums where a guy took 100 foot roll of 4" pipe he bought at Home Depot and set up a gravity dredge that feed into his sluice box. He went into complete detail and showed the dredge working. If I remember correctly he had like a 35 foot fall from the top to the bottom within the 100 feet of pipe and had really good suction. When he finished up he coiled the pipe up and took the pipe home to clean out all the catches within the pipe to find even more gold that was trapped in the pipe he used.

 

[bikermike]

jog,

Isn't a paddle wheel a machine? Not trying to rain on your parade.

Mike

 

[Clay Diggins]

Machine is not the same as motorized.

A bicycle is a machine but it is not a motorized machine (motorcycle).

Words do matter in the law.

 

[jog]

I am just seeing what's out there for info, gravity dredge would do me know good. To much flat ground. Just wondering if it is possible to use a paddle wheel to obtain enough RPM to run a high pressure pump. I'm not worried about the compressor, "YET".

 

[Clay Diggins]

That ridged flex tubing will work with enough drop. The smoother the flow the better the suction. Rigid smooth walled pipe with the fewest junctions/turns possible is the key to a really effective gravity suction setup.

In the 70's we used 30 foot sections of 8 inch aluminum irrigation pipe with radiused smoothed junctions where needed. Incredible power with less drop needed than kanaflex type tubing. Stealthy too!

 

[AzViper]

That ridged flex tubing will work with enough drop. The smoother the flow the better the suction. Rigid smooth walled pipe with the fewest junctions/turns possible is the key to a really effective gravity suction setup.

In the 70's we used 30 foot sections of 8 inch aluminum irrigation pipe with radiused smoothed junctions where needed. Incredible power with less drop needed than kanaflex type tubing. Stealthy too!

Barry that's a cheap (ridged flex tubing) alternative for someone on a budget but in this case its a moot point as Jog is working flat land...

 

[Aurabbit79er]

Hah thats awesome, I haven't seen that in some years. Was it Alaska gold forum? I'd say thats dam close to what jog was asking.

I built this in 2000 and used it at Follows Camp ground, on the East Fork River, for one weekend just to see if it worked. It did, about 400 gpm from a 2" hose with a 4' head.
I let it run continuous. It ran for about 30 hours and then the pump couple broke loose from the sprocket. I built it out of bike parts. I tore it apart when I got home, with the intention of building a better one with a higher gear ratio. Life got in the way though. I think a floating generator is now my goal.

I also love the idea of a gravity dredge.

I love gold mining. It really gets my brain juice flowing.
I like building **** as much as mining.

 

[Hoser John]

2 buds put over 1,600' of smooth bore 4"-2" pipe with over 6' of fall and never got a cup a gravel from a dahlke 4" jet. It MUST be all fall as FLAT ground slows,stops flow as you are hense PUSHING and not sucking which takes MUCH less psi as then gravity is working against ya and NOT for ya-velocity=psi---John

 

[dredgeman]

Machine is not the same as motorized.

A bicycle is a machine but it is not a motorized machine (motorcycle).

Words do matter in the law.

Machine or motor does not matter since they changed the regulation in Calif
It now says any vacuum device or vacuum assisted device for mineral extraction. IS PROHIBITED.

Further it states that before you use ANY of the bed stream or bank of a river or lake you MUST notify CDFW.
This effectively PROHIBITS MINING of all forms until you ask.