very few people on here this last year??? wet dirt?

[1637]

iam thinking it because the desert never dried out, ive been out a few times only to find the ground was wet 6 inches down, i think it time to build something to dry out the dirt on site, iam not going to spread it out on a tarp. propane? any cool ideas? i really miss drywashing.

 

[russau]

Years back when I was out in New Mexico the ground was damp but I found a sheet of corrugated tin and spread the soil on it for a over night while dry washing what I could until it became to damp . My blower type dry washer had a 3 inch plastic dryer hose going from my blower to the DW and I spray painted it black to help generate so warmth from the sun plus the air going through the plastic that helped create some static electricity which helped retain the fine gold.

 

[Assembler]

iam thinking it because the desert never dried out, ive been out a few times only to find the ground was wet 6 inches down, i think it time to build something to dry out the dirt on site, iam not going to spread it out on a tarp. propane? any cool ideas? i really miss drywashing.

Well the least cost is to spread it out over a plastic or cloth tarp.

The advantage of spreading out the materials to dry is that you can use a leaf type gas blower to continue to move or turn over the material to continue to dry each time it is turned or stirred up. This same process will also help remove the clay and silt minerals that can have a strong electric charge over the surface area of the clay particles.

A wood fire is cheaper then propane however the sparks will start a brush fire. Perhaps the wintertime the fire could be used?

I like the idea of when the materials gets dry enough to use the leaf blower to move the materials over a open sluice box first before running the same materials through the puffer box. This crude extra step can save some extra re-running time.

Some skills is needed to carry out these steps.

 

[Bodfish Mike]

Brad I think there are other reasons why people aren't on here but I won't go into that.

Had the same problem at the spot I'm working but it's very close and a 5 minute drive.
I'm down to bedrock is some spots and what I do is dig the dirt and spread it out on Bedrock about 15 gallons - I come back the next evening and run it then dig another 15 gallons and lay it out again for the next day.

Works good the whole process takes about an hour and a half then back home for a well deserved beer.

Pic is of the dust I'm finding.

Cheers Mike

 

[1637]

Brad I think there are other reasons why people aren't on here but I won't go into that.

Had the same problem at the spot I'm working but it's very close and a 5 minute drive.
I'm down to bedrock is some spots and what I do is dig the dirt and spread it out on Bedrock about 15 gallons - I come back the next evening and run it then dig another 15 gallons and lay it out again for the next day.

Works good the whole process takes about an hour and a half then back home for a well deserved beer.

Pic is of the dust I'm finding.

Cheers Mike
View attachment 2127455

good gold ,glad you are getting out.

 

[Assembler]

I'm thinking that between very wet ground and the economy the hobby of dry washing is going to cycle in the numbers of people going out each season or year.

By the way if you have a large clear area for drying materials use a much larger tarp so that you have a continuous supply of dry enough material for a more even and continuous dry supply to run through your puffer box.
You can easily move the dry material to one end of the tarp to process through the puffer.

 

[Goldwasher]

iam thinking it because the desert never dried out, ive been out a few times only to find the ground was wet 6 inches down, i think it time to build something to dry out the dirt on site, iam not going to spread it out on a tarp. propane? any cool ideas? i really miss drywashing.

we're not allowed to talk about it.

 

[Assembler]

we're not allowed to talk about it.

The ground being wet can be talked about.
The popularity of dry washing at any given time can also be talked about.

 

[1637]

this thread used to be allot of fun with some cool people ,did i miss something

 

[Assembler]

this thread used to be allot of fun with some cool people ,did i miss something

I'm thinking a few may not want to talk about it.

However there are still people to talk with, share things and that is what counts. That is what this forum is about.

 

[Assembler]

this thread used to be allot of fun with some cool people ,did i miss something

Sharing what you come up with and how you make the steps would be nice to hear about.
Thanks.

 

[N-Lionberger]

this thread used to be allot of fun with some cool people ,did i miss something

A couple people supplying all kinds of goofy information to simple questions has a way of shying people away. The debate goes on wether they are actually people.

 

[Assembler]

Putting a little wind to work for you can sure save many hours of work time. Be sure to save your heath by taking precautions and using good PPE's always up wind. This is part of the process nothing new to anyone who moves dry materials around.

 

[AbTexEx]

iam thinking it because the desert never dried out, ive been out a few times only to find the ground was wet 6 inches down, i think it time to build something to dry out the dirt on site, iam not going to spread it out on a tarp. propane? any cool ideas? i really miss drywashing.

Just moved to Wisconsin wanting to use our new drywasher on some of the beaches here.
First thought was a portable diesel heater. They have come way down in price.

Or something like this...

Last resort


AJones

 

[russau]

Years back when I went to new Mexico to dry wash I built my own DWer using a gas powered blower and the air hose I used , I had painted it black to help dry out the slightly damp soil's . This idea was passed down to me from a good friend of mine ( Phil Hontz ) that lived out there . This idea used the sun to help create heat in the black plastic 3 inch hose and the movement of the material through that hose created a static charge that helped saving the fine gold particles that moved through the hose. I had fun using it BUT I'm not a DW type of guy ! I'd rather use my 4 inch dredge !

 

[Assembler]

Years back when I went to new Mexico to dry wash I built my own DWer using a gas powered blower and the air hose I used , I had painted it black to help dry out the slightly damp soil's . This idea was passed down to me from a good friend of mine ( Phil Hontz ) that lived out there . This idea used the sun to help create heat in the black plastic 3 inch hose and the movement of the material through that hose created a static charge that helped saving the fine gold particles that moved through the hose. I had fun using it BUT I'm not a DW type of guy ! I'd rather use my 4 inch dredge !

Excellent point about adding any heat to the mix. When you think it is just dry enough it could be a good idea to dry a little more I say.

Any thing that cuts down on the labor of stirring up the pile of materials to dry will pay off with a better more consistent returns.

The point about the dredge is well taken. Red tape can reduce the numbers of people out there that can now dredge. I'm now just starting to play around in the areas of a 'Dry fluid bed concentrator' as well as 'Gone with the wind tunnel'. I'm even going to combine the two for better returns on the time spent working with the dry materials.

This is going to push my thinking big time into the 'Dry wash out world'...........

 

[Vance in AK]

Its all the sub-forums. I think folks are moving more to the social media platforms, especially for more local stuff

 

[xracer550]

What do you think about making a large barrel tumbler maby 5-10 gal , High enough to build a fire or propane burner under it ?

 

[Assembler]

What do you think about making a large barrel tumbler maby 5-10 gal , High enough to build a fire or propane burner under it ?

Don't see why it would not work. May need some stirring up of the materials. Would be a good idea to put a screen around the fire to catch some of the sparks.

 

[Assembler]

This may be a silly idea however may work. How about a heated steel cement mixer drum?

How about a heated steel drum that you can rotate every hour or so?