Help me set up my new to me used dredge

[Vance in AK]

It's been a couple of years since I have made time to get out and play so this is the year...
I wanted to step up from my little old 2" Keene backpack dredge & 2.5" A-52 adapted dredge/hibanker combo so I grabbed a used 2.5" off of C List that seemed like a good deal.
It's been modded to a wider box. Not sure what model the Keene pump is (anyone?)
What do you think, what would you change, problems you see, etc... Best mat/carpet?

 

[Vance in AK]

 

[okbasspro]

Boy that box is awful wide for just being a 2.5. Pump looks big enough to run it though if it was me I would take it out and run it and see what it does. You can always use your 2 on the tailing pile to see if its losing gold.Best mat and or carpet is what will work best in your area I have 3 different setups for my 4" depending on where im running it. I am very fond of the over/under setup though.

 

[Reed Lukens]

Boy that box is awful wide for just being a 2.5. Pump looks big enough to run it though if it was me I would take it out and run it and see what it does. You can always use your 2 on the tailing pile to see if its losing gold.Best mat and or carpet is what will work best in your area I have 3 different setups for my 4" depending on where im running it. I am very fond of the over/under setup though.

+1 though I like the wider box myself, you may find that pump to be too small. Best to use it as is because a lot of thought went into this dredge. Looks like they took a stock 14" wide 3" box and flared it down to the 10" 2½ box. Lots of times, I felt the 12" box was way too narrow myself and even the 10" wide on the 2's were a joke

 

[Vance in AK]

Thanks guys
Reed, I can't find any model# on the pump. Any ideas on model?
We have a fair percentage of fine gold around here so I was hoping the wider box would be a plus.
The problem with waiting to run it before I play with it is it's winter here & I can't really go play till spring. I'd like to tinker a bit :-)
For now I want to at least address the carpet/moss. Right now it has unbacked moss with no v-mat under it. I'm assuming it should at least have v-mat under the moss? I've always used carpet so miners moss is new to me.
Maybe I'll get that figured out & then just tuneup etc.

 

[Reed Lukens]

Thanks guys
Reed, I can't find any model# on the pump. Any ideas on model?
We have a fair percentage of fine gold around here so I was hoping the wider box would be a plus.
The problem with waiting to run it before I play with it is it's winter here & I can't really go play till spring. I'd like to tinker a bit :-)
For now I want to at least address the carpet/moss. Right now it has unbacked moss with no v-mat under it. I'm assuming it should at least have v-mat under the moss? I've always used carpet so miners moss is new to me.
Maybe I'll get that figured out & then just tuneup etc.

No vmat is needed. I don't know the pump model but it's a high pressure and would work great on a small highbanker. I never used that small pump. It's equivalent to a P100 but probably more like 80 or 90 gpm. You should check the impeller.

 

[Jason in Enid]

There are so many schools of thought on sluice bedding. If you are in fine gold territory (most of us are), I prefer expanded metal over deep-V mat. Even if you keep your riffles and moss, you need to put a shallow-V mat under it to prevent gold from migrating out under the moss.

As for the pump and box width, only testing will determine if it's a good combo. If you find the gravels are packing up the riffles, you should increase the angle of the box a tiny bit at a time until you get to a point it's working.

A word of caution though, when you have a steeper box, the water "pressure" of the riffle vortex will be holding the material. As soon as the water flow stops, all that material will immediate slump downward to the front of the next riffle. If you slam the water back to it after that you are going to blow a lot a gold out. So if you are dredging and have to shut down, or you run out of fuel, then you should pull the riffles and do a quick cleanout. This is the reason I like the deep-V mat; it gives the gold a place to settle where its very hard to get it out.

 

[winners58]

I had that motor and the p100 pump replaced the motor with a newer 3.5hp brigg's
some of the p100s that when they first came out with the replaceable intake it was smaller than it should be.
you can get a replacment P100 Hose Adaptor - ArmadilloMining you may need a different foot valve hose?
the outlet may be restricted also, I like to use a lager hose to the suction nozzle to allow pressure to build up.
I just used a short piece of threaded and pipe adapter to 1 1/2" hose, I had the new 12" box. looks like the same flotation?
I was in a little too deep of water and flipped it one day, talk about surreal not getting air then looking up seeing it upside down.
.

 

[jog]

I think that pump if it's a Keene 2 1/2" dredge may be the same pump they use on the 4s but not sure without seeing it.

 

[Hoser John]

Decent pump for that unit as has a hose bib and ?metal adaptor to mount pump to engine?? Paper or rubber gasket for the 2 pump halves? Pump inlet seems to be necked down quite a bit.Insert finger and see if plastic adaptor fits snug up against the impeller for a proper seal and no cavitation as around and around does no good.That header is VERY early 1970s and miniscule with no distance from feedin to crashbox head. Missing the diffusion rubber flap also as most important. Haven't seen that old a header in many years with a unplug plug in the TOP of the header OMG shades of Goldvac. It will be FRAGILE even if stored properly as few old school plastics last 40+ years and from condition well used.. Frankenstein assembledge of pieces and parts and box expansion was pretty lewd,rude and definitely crude. W58s pic is closer to how you want it to be as I have the best superlong 2 1/2" flare and bigger pump and that lil'ol' puddle pumper is actually fun to run as portable as can be. MOST important is the distance inside the front discharge of that header as that will tell you what you can do with it. So dimensions predicate what you can do to get it to recover gold. Box width at that header would help also as so old and small. First is viability then fix if possible. Lots of luck Vance and thanx for pm as will be open/closed as you prefer to assist you. John

 

[Vance in AK]

Thanks guys
Short history on the unit. The guy I bought it from had it for (I believe) 2 yrs. It was in this configuration when he bought it. The floatation had been updated not to long before that (according to the guy he bought it from). The guy he bought it from was going to a bigger dredge.
The guy I bought it from said it worked well for him but they now had a good established claim so he's ordering a bigger dredge for next season. Indicated that this one paid for the bigger one... Thems the stories at least

Winner, the current intake measures 1.5" od. Do you know the specs on the one from Armadillo? Looks like you are running layflat to the suction nozzle?
John, I will ck the impeller clearance. As to gaskets etc not sure but will ck.
Reed, I watched that video a while back but will watch it again. The guy said pump seals were in good shape but it wouldn't hurt to tear it down & see how it looks!

 

[russau]

as cheap as seals are if your going to tear it down ,you might as well replace the seal. and keep the other seal as a spare in case of a OH Sh*t which is bound to happen if your in a hard to get into / out of location!

 

[Frank Tillman]

I had that motor and the p100 pump replaced the motor with a newer 3.5hp brigg's
some of the p100s that when they first came out with the replaceable intake it was smaller than it should be.
you can get a replacment P100 Hose Adaptor - ArmadilloMining you may need a different foot valve hose?
the outlet may be restricted also, I like to use a lager hose to the suction nozzle to allow pressure to build up.
I just used a short piece of threaded and pipe adapter to 1 1/2" hose, I had the new 12" box. looks like the same flotation?
I was in a little too deep of water and flipped it one day, talk about surreal not getting air then looking up seeing it upside down.
.
View attachment 1384441

winners58,

I have a couple questions 1) Where the suction hose connects to the flare I don't see a metal coupler to connect it?
Do you use one, how do you have it connected?

2) Looks like flat hose as pressure hose to suction nozzle, any problems with it?

Thanks

 

[winners58]

I got the 2 1/2" oversize flare, the hose fits inside, but on my 4" I had to get a connector I found a pvc one for hvac/sawdust collector at Jerry's $5
I used a piece of pressure hose so the layflat didn't get kinked, the layflat did good for 2 seasons then started having blowouts.
got some of that blue kanaflex it didn't last much longer, ether one will get splits and leak if they get stepped on a lot, plastic connectors are cheap.
.
.

 

[Frank Tillman]

I got the 2 1/2" oversize flare, the hose fits inside, but on my 4" I had to get a connector I found a pvc one for hvac/sawdust collector at Jerry's $5
I used a piece of pressure hose so the layflat didn't get kinked, the layflat did good for 2 seasons then started having blowouts.
got some of that blue kanaflex it didn't last much longer, ether one will get splits and leak if they get stepped on a lot, plastic connectors are cheap.
.
View attachment 1384552 . View attachment 1384553

Far Out!

Thank You!

 

[brianc053]

I have the same setup as Winners58's picture on the left. I use lay-flat from the pump, but it connects to 8' of the kanaflex-type rigid hose near the nozzle. It works great - I haven't had any issues with it so far, other than acorns in the nozzle (which is a reference to another thread of mine: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/521840-heavies-what-these.html, sorry I'm not trying to self-promote, but I felt like the reference made sense).

- Brian

 

[Hoser John]

PURPLE FLARE now that has flair. I love my kanaflex hose as never ever a problem and solid rocks my world always. Never run a micro 4" with a transverse engine or suction nozzle, must be a mini thang? The submarine plop is a mini norm as too skinny for good stability with a suction nozzle as NO swivel sucks bigtime and over she goes. Questions asked are in relation to replacement parts(header/pump availability) and if enough room in header output to add a curtain as most important to any dredge. John

 

[russau]

Johns right! a damper off the flair out put is the cheapest /easiest way to control the flow of water and flatten it out to help disperse the bubbles to help get that gold to drop out of suspension! I have it on all my dredges for that reason.

 

[N-Lionberger]

Hey I have the same pump/ crashbox.

 

[Hoser John]

Had to go online from pm info and look at pic to whatzup. Pic does not show the restrictor on the pump exit you mentioned as taking a 1" outlet and adding a 3/4 reducer is a huge flow kill on smaller pumps. The IDs are- tiny old 1" x 1" p90,p-100= 1 1/4' in x 1 out or p-120=ID 1 1/4" in and 1 1/2" out =much more flow. Is that restricter screwed on over threads or into the pump output?? Yes the tiny thin shims on the plastic mount age the pump much older than metal and impeller next to impossible to find parts. Next is the impeller itself plastic(marlex) or metal and check that fit as with a flashlight look in both ends to see composition, condition and flush mount as remove a even number of shims to close that gap. Fins on pump must be nice and even and not missing chunks/pieces/ or goughed. You can trace the gasket on rubber and cut out with a x-acto knife. OSH/Capitol rubber sell Teflon impregnated rubber that lasts about forever and with Teflon threads industrial tough and no distortions. You have a project on your hands so must start at the foundation to know what--or if-- to procede -John