Hey all, been away from prospecting for about a decade; but my kiddo going through 4th grade, learning about the gold rush re-sparked my interest when he wanted to learn how to pan.
Anyway, came across this thread and figured I would update it with a review. My experience prior to the Goldibox is 20 years of 1.5" to 5" dredges and everything in between in Northern California.
I picked up a Goldibox in June so I could use it at the local swimming spots incognito while the kids swam. I probably have around 30hrs of use on it.
I am running:
-Oasis 3700gph bilge pump
-12v 30ah lipo battery and get 2.5hrs of use. (I have multiple batteries so no use in carrying a bigger battery when I only have an hour or two to dredge)
-15ft 12ga wire
-Suction: 9ft Keene 2" hose
-Pressure: 9ft 1.25" smooth wall shop-vac hose.
Portabiltiy: I can fit the Goldibox, hoses, battery, pan, tools, mask and lunch in a 70L backpack. Perfect if you want to hike in somewhere and keep a low profile.
Durability: This last weekend my pack rolled down a rocky hill about 30 ft and nothing broke. I use the nozzle just like I did with metal nozzles and use it to dig through hard pack, clay and occasional break off rotten bedrock with it. However, I did put a small crack in a nozzle when I shoved my bar into it to clear a clog a little too hard. Larry the owner of Goldibox is easy to get a hold of and insisted on warranting the nozzle even though it was my own fault for beating on it with a metal bar.
Ease of use: You set it up level and stack some rocks around it. It also sinks once water starts moving through it. Pro tip put the hoses on the nozzle before you put it in the dredge. I have run it a few times as a submersible as well. Just need to set a rock on top of it to keep it from moving. When running as a submersible You need to clear out behind it just like you would with the old suitcase dredges.
Clean up: Easiest thing I have ever cleaned up. It comes apart into two separate pieces, the first part where the hose comes in, is a separate classified chamber where I catch most of my gold. The front part with the screen and fluid bed catches the really fine stuff. You can either dump them into a bucket or dump each half separately into a pan. Takes 2-3 minutes.
Quality: Top notch. I use 3d printed parts with my other hobbies and it's amazing how strong this stuff is. All of the parts fit together perfect everything is tight and although it is extremely light weight it feels solid in your hands.
Gold Recovery: I spent about 90% of the summer in areas with no bedrock looking for fly poop gold. And the Goldibox recovered all of it. Along with everything from 1/2oz fishing weights, pounds of bird shot, a 4" long steel wire and a few lures. For the couple trips I took to look for bigger gold it had no problems recovering the chunky stuff as well.
Overall: For the price you cant beat it. You can have a fully operational 2" dredge that truly fits in a backpack for a fraction of what a Keene or Proline costs. It comes with a ton of extra parts and peices. The ease of use and light weight spoils you. I used it more then my other dredges this season. The Goldibox dredge and nozzle combo weighs less than my Proline's suction nozzle.
Bonus: I ran the goldibox with a Honda WX15 gas pump and 30ft of pressure hose. I was able to run the engine for close to 3hrs on tank of fuel with it set at an idle. I would recommend angling the sluice up a bit if you run it this way so you dont lose as much of the fines. But in my case I was looking for nuggets and it still caught a ton of fines.
Below gives you an idea of how small of gold the Goldibox can catch. Dream mat Clean up Buddy next to the Goldibox below:
Youtube video that shows it in action: *Not my video
