building dredge pontoons

[njcommercialdiver]

I used a set of pontoons from a floating pool lounge chair on my sneak 3" , it even has 2 cup holders molded in


now have to upgrade to a p90 pump for more power

 

[russau]

I have Keene floats on my dredge BUT if I were making another dredge, id aquire some of the square 5 gallon cooking oil bottles. cheap , easy to find and easy to replace. plus after cleaning them out you can haul water in them in the meantime for camp use!

 

[Reed Lukens]

I used a set of pontoons from a floating pool lounge chair on my sneak 3" , it even has 2 cup holders molded in

View attachment 1090113
now have to upgrade to a p90 pump for more power

Where did you come up with that old 60's crash box? I like it
The P100 with a 4hp motor would be the minimum and for great suction the HP300 from Proline with a 5hp motor, which is a high pressure high banker pump would be killer.
http://www.prolinemining.com/gold_dredges_3_inch.html

 

[njcommercialdiver]

I looked at a picture and made it, works nice in shallows with the power nozzle. if you look close theres black marks where I estimated it would float, when it was running and a full box of water, it sat exactly at the marks. the pump on it in the pic wasn't powerful enough, so Im using it as a floater with a 2" pump on the bank feeding it

box is 36" long since my bender is only 36"

 

[TxGoldDigger]

I am getting floatation foam cut in OKC for a dredge plus extension......by Taylor Foam Inc. 4 pieces will cost me a total of $55....

that's for 2 pieces 6" x 48" 12" thick for the main dredge
2 pieces 6" x 48" 6" thick for the extension

 

[mikeandwife91]

Here is what I used. 8" Sch. 40 PVC fastened with Unistrut so everything can be easily dismantled. Using the Strut also allows me to slide the dredge forward or back depending on how the weight is distributed.

 

[njcommercialdiver]

heres a couple pics of the sneak dredge running in North Carolina in august, I used it on days when the river got muddy from the rain. it got some decent gold. the first day I was there, I ran it for 20 minutes after I splashed my 4" and got it where I wanted to start working the next day. I found 12 flakes of gold in my cleanout. not bad for a quick run. don't know why the one turned on its side, it was fine in my computer

I also attatched alice pack straps on snap clips thru holes drilled in pontoon framework and can carry everything on my back except motor