Great idear! I'll put it on the parts list with a new spray bar without the water feature. Spray bar was constantly clogging. I was thinking last night about the clean up. I panned everything from the sluice but there was alot of heavy material left in the trough below the trommel barrel I cleaned up but didn't pan. Might be I had the angle set too gradual for the trommel barrel and trough and my gold settled on the smooth trough surface. I'll have to pan that next time I get to the mine. Might be more gold than I thought.
I like it alot! I can fill that 16 ft. white trailer in about 3 hours with custom cut lumber. Couple things I would do different though. The dogs and stays on the mill leave alot to be desired. Setting the height is done with a pin which tends to bend and breaks the chain it's attached to which leaves you fishing for it in the sawdust. Get a trailer! Or pour a concrete slab and fasten the mill to it. Mine is just setting on the ground and getting it all leveled up is a pain. Once those things are fixed it's a good mill. I was chaining logs to the bucket of my tractor to load the deck which is also a major time loss. Got a couple forks that fit on the bucket which speeds loading up signifigantly.
Hope you don’t mind a stranger jumping in here. I was curious if you have any thoughts on an optimal height for that mill. Of course when it’s set up on a trailer it will be higher than what you show in your picture. I’m getting ready to pour a slab and really don’t know if I should make accommodations for having it elevated. Thanks for any suggestions you can provide.
All good man Tesoro I enjoy talking about milling. Eventually, I would like my mill 2 feet off the ground for a couple reasons. Alot of setup is done at the bottom of the log. Wedging the end to account for taper, dogging the log, picking up the cut lumber all involves bending to ground level which I dont like. Getting a couple feet higher would be a back relief. Plus when it snows I wouldn't have to unbury the mill! Turning the log with the peavey might be more difficult with the additional height but I dont know because I only have 25 hours on the mill. There is a increased risk of injury with the additional height. You'll love the smell of fresh cut pine or whatever wood is in your area. Pine is my favorite smell.
I’m looking forward to it for sure. Thanks for the info!
The gold is mostly free milling by the historical records and from what I see not alot of sulfides. The assay agreed with a very generalized that looks like about 1/4 opt in the pan that I crushed. My dream is to mine underground in the winter weather get a good tonnage stored up and then mill it come the melt sometime in May. The spot is only 100 ft back under the hill just enough to be a bit warmer and not be working in the snow. Dream has to wait a few more years though.
You would be surprised what you can do with very little $$ and a bunch of sweat equity. It does necessitate a bit better returns which may be just feet from your sample depending on the nature of your general geologic location. What is holding you back if I may ask? Time is our most valuable commodity, so I’d suspect that’s a major factor. By the way I was hunting east of Ukiah this fall and if I knew I was that close to gold bearing ground, I would have been distracted.
It's time and I have kids in school right now. They will be graduating in the 3 years so I can wait for a full time operation till then. For now I just take time in the summer, prospect and familiarize myself with mine safety, rock breaking methods, assaying, smelting, mucking, and getting the mill operating. Hard rock is something I just dug into the past couple years so there's a steep learning curve. East of Ukiah is definitely getting to the gold country. All the North Fork and many of it's tributaries are good placer gold spots. Been all over the old mining districts, Cable Cove, Greenhorn, Sumpter, Granite. Haven't found much gold but the history and work of the old timers is a treasure by itself. I'm hoping going down into the floor of the stope will have better returns than the sample I took on the side. Either way I'll put some work into it as you said there may be a rich pocket a couple feet further and that's what keeps the miner going.
Ok so definitely not anything holding you back, just higher priorities. That’s admirable. Is your garage full of 5 gallon buckets of potential ore waiting to be crushed? If not it probably will be eventuallyIt's time and I have kids in school right now. They will be graduating in the 3 years so I can wait for a full time operation till then. For now I just take time in the summer, prospect and familiarize myself with mine safety, rock breaking methods, assaying, smelting, mucking, and getting the mill operating. Hard rock is something I just dug into the past couple years so there's a steep learning curve. East of Ukiah is definitely getting to the gold country. All the North Fork and many of it's tributaries are good placer gold spots. Been all over the old mining districts, Cable Cove, Greenhorn, Sumpter, Granite. Haven't found much gold but the history and work of the old timers is a treasure by itself. I'm hoping going down into the floor of the stope will have better returns than the sample I took on the side. Either way I'll put some work into it as you said there may be a rich pocket a couple feet further and that's what keeps the miner going.
