Hey John
Erich did buy Dahlke. I talked to him a few months ago in my quest to find another 4 inch 4B. He said he could not find anybody that would make the floats. Then directed me to Bob Dahlke’s son. I found him and then inquired if he had any extra floats or anything, but he didn’t have anything to sell or a direction to point me in. These are incredibly hard to find. I found a float on Facebook marketplace two years ago, and since built it into a workhorse. I found another older gray model without the flared end on craigslist.
I flew up to Washington picked it up drove it home. It had some leaks that I tried to repair and I think it’s good. In my conversations with Erich I learned that you can use seafoam inside the float to keep it usable. So if you end up finding a used one, that’s a solution if it leaks.
With the price of gold going up and the ease of portability and use, not to mention the gold catching capability these things should be in hot demand right now if he could find a new supplier.
Dahlke kicks proline and keenes ass in every way. I love mine. I hope you find one bro.
