Gold King pump question

ripcurl382 · Apr 14, 2014

I just recently purchased a 2" x 1.5" Gold King pump on a 5hp Briggs & Straton engine. I can't seem to find any information about this pump. Does anyone have any idea about the psi / gpm for this pump or can anyone provide me with any information about the size dredge I could build with this pump? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Hoser John · Apr 14, 2014

2 1/2" dredge is it as 3" and up used the 2" x 2". Company long dead. Periodic musings say coming back--for 15 years that is. 125 gpm but psi evades my ol'noggn' as that pump is not their norm,usually 2 x 2 or 3 x 3-equal in/out-and outta biz sooooooo long ago-that size pump Normally on a 2 1/2 hp engine so should be a good pump for gas hours. Great for a highbanker also-John

ripcurl382 · Apr 17, 2014

Thank you for your response! I put a pressure gauge on it last night and it maxes out at 52psi. However, I was only able to get that at full throttle on the engine. At an Idle I was only getting about 20-30psi. I'm thinking of reducing the high pressure hose to 1" at my suction nozzle to increase my discharge pressure. or should I leave it at 1.5"? I already had purchased 1.5" high pressure hose, and 3" hose (suction hose to run from suction nozzle to sluice box). I tried it out and got a little suction but not enough to move any dirt/gravel. I was thinking reducing the high pressure down to 1" might give me more suction at the nozzle am I thinking this through correctly? I was also thinking of reducing the suction nozzle tip to 2.5" or 2" to see if that helps as well. Do I need to reduce my entire dredge hose (from suction nozzle to sluice) down to either 2.5" or 2" or can it remain 3" and just adjust the size of the suction nozzle itself?

Thank you again!

ripcurl382 · Apr 17, 2014

Success

Ok, so I tried reducing my 1.5" pressure line down to 1" at the suction nozzle and voila! I'm now able to move dirt/rocks/etc...(hopefully gold

) I'm testing everything with only about 1' suction lift and level discharge height, so I don't know how well this will continue to work should I have to place the pump higher up on the bank or dredge out of a deep hole. I'm just happy I had some success finally! Any tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

ripcurl382 said:
Thank you for your response! I put a pressure gauge on it last night and it maxes out at 52psi. However, I was only able to get that at full throttle on the engine. At an Idle I was only getting about 20-30psi. I'm thinking of reducing the high pressure hose to 1" at my suction nozzle to increase my discharge pressure. or should I leave it at 1.5"? I already had purchased 1.5" high pressure hose, and 3" hose (suction hose to run from suction nozzle to sluice box). I tried it out and got a little suction but not enough to move any dirt/gravel. I was thinking reducing the high pressure down to 1" might give me more suction at the nozzle am I thinking this through correctly? I was also thinking of reducing the suction nozzle tip to 2.5" or 2" to see if that helps as well. Do I need to reduce my entire dredge hose (from suction nozzle to sluice) down to either 2.5" or 2" or can it remain 3" and just adjust the size of the suction nozzle itself?

Thank you again!

Hoser John · Apr 18, 2014

Necessity is the mother of invention, I answered your pm-also check out the items noted for even better running-lotza luck-John

ripcurl382 · Apr 19, 2014

John, I do not have any messages in my inbox.. can you please resend your response? Thank you!

Hoser John · Apr 20, 2014

On all pumps bought there is quite a bit to check out. Is the impeller intake flush to the intake body,stick finger in hole,flashlight whatever. If a gap you get blowby and water goes around and around as it seeks the point of least resistance. Is the foot valve flapper flapping and sealing good,just fill with water and see. Does the pump body leak water from the seals BOTH shaft and body halves seals. I take pump apart PRIOR to buying to see if intake veins worn,torn up,plugged up(coat hanger cleans'm out). Does that sn have a restrictor in place within the intake or just straight flow through,simply look in hole. Oil and air cleaner clean?? Sooo many things as this is just the beginning-John

ripcurl382 · Apr 20, 2014

The pump (being 20 years old) is pretty much like new. I had a friend who is a pump mechanic look it over and he said everything was in great shape. I didn't pay enough attention to the suction nozzles provided by keene, Jobe, etc... Their fittings are 1.5" but the pipe necks down to around 3/4" or 1/2". Once I reduced my pvc made suction nozzle to 1" or smaller, it had dramatically better suction. I appreciate all of your time and knowledge. Now I'm just looking for a sluice box to hook up to this thing so I can start testing it out. I spoke to Mark Keene and he recommended a 14" x 40" sluice that he would sell me for $485.00 that would attach to a jet flare that he would sell me separately.. So a total of around $600 just for the jet flare and sluice box. That seems a little steep to me so I'm trying to figure out other options. Is it possible to convert an A52 sluice to a 3" dredge sluice or is it really too narrow for the amount of water that will be pushed through it? I've only found articles about converting it to a 2" or 2.5" so that leads me to believe it won't work.. I've tried looking used, but haven't had any luck finding a 3" dredge sluice without all of the other components. Do you know a good place to look other than Craigslist, Google, and Yakaz?

Thank you again!

kazcoro · Apr 20, 2014

YOu could always have a local metal fabrication shop bend everything up to your specs and use GoldHog matting? That is what I would do. You can check out my thread. Maybe that will help some in your fab process? http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/dredging-hi-banking/399281-building-highbanker.html

kazcoro · Apr 20, 2014

I have 1.5" pressure hose and 2.5" suction hose and nozzle. Works great. Won't take your glove off your hand, but moves material really well. The pump I have runs the pressure hose and a 1" fire hose nozzle at the same time...

Hoser John · Apr 21, 2014

Used but not abused all over here but your back east and not familiar,lotza luck as $500+ shipping is MUCH ado-John

ripcurl382 · Apr 22, 2014

Does anyone have any recommendation as for the appropriate size of the sluice box? I have a 48" x 48" sheet of aluminum that I was planning to cut and bend into a sluice but was curious how wide would be appropriate for a 3" or 4" dredge sluice? Also, how tall do the sides need to be to accommodate the flow of water? I am planning to use a suction nozzle and then a jet flare (without the jet log) to transition between my hose and sluice box. From everything I've read it sounds like this setup would be much better than utilizing a crash box and stirring things up again at the entrance of the box... Thanks kacz oro, I'm looking into the gold hog matting and will probably have a set of riffles made as well so I can compare the 2 for myself. I found a local fab shop that will build the riffles for about $75 (14"X36") and would cut/bend the aluminum sheet metal for $45. Is steel ok to use for riffles? do I need to have them coated to prevent rust or will the rust help/hurt. I can't wait to get this thing together and try it out! Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions!

kazcoro · Apr 22, 2014

You can just use UR mat. That is designed to go under riffles. Hence, UR, under riffle. I would go 12" wide for a 3" and maybe 14" for a 4". I am sure more experienced guys will throw their knowledge at you too. I went 10" for my little 2.5". I probably could have gone smaller. You can just have the riffles made of steel. Any coating won't last long. If you are worried about it, use a better grade of steel. Zinc dipped?? I am not real fluent on types of steel. I would think that even if it rusts, a little run time will take the rust right back off it.