| Having the right equipment is critical to being a successful gold prospector. "Prospecting", at least in my book, means "looking". Prospecting is the most challenging part, and probably where I have the most fun. Sampling creeks and streams, bars and benches, it's the thrill of the hunt that makes this hobby so much fun. Once I have found a placer deposit that I want to recovery, I then determine what piece of equipment would best accomplish the job. My basic prospecting tools used for discovery and testing: Various gold pans of all sizes and shapes Shovels, pry bars, and hand tools Classifying screens 4 - 100 Gloves, rubber and leather Various sized buckets and catch pans Keene A52 Sluice Snuffer bottles Magnifying glass After I've made a discovery that I think is worthy of going after, I switch modes from "prospecting" to "recovery". Although panning and sluicing is fun, you're not going to recover much gold in a pay streak with just a shovel and pan. Shovels don't get on the bottom, in the cracks, and through the clay. Sluices cannot break down hardpacked material where gold has been lodged for ages. It's time to move to the next stage using the bigger equipment. Once I've found a deposit that I want to recover, I determine what piece of equipment would best help recover it. I do alot of traveling, and each state has different requirements that you need to be aware of. Here's my equipment aresenal: 2" Proline Highbanker/Dredge Combo 2" Keene Backpack Dredge 3" Proline Highbanker/Dredge Combo 3" Keene Ultra Mini Dredge 4" Keene Dredge 4" Proline Dredge Condo I Condo II 5" Proline Dredge 6" Proline Dredge Proline 2" Highbanker/Dredge Combo This was the first piece of dredge equipment that I purchased. I love this machine, and right now my son Chris is using it on a small stream out in the woods. It has great utility in smaller streams or when you are just packing in for a one-day trip of discovery or testing. Just keep in mind that it is a 2" dredge, and you'll be touching a lot of rocks. I like the combo units because in most cases on the smaller streams, it's easier & quicker to shovel into the highbanker until you hit bottom, then convert over into dredging phase. It works quite well, and for me, it's much faster than trying to put all that material through a small nozzle. The Proline 2" Combo is a fairly lightweight piece of gear and has plenty of power. We always joke that the engine sounds like a chainsaw. As a highbanker, the sluice can handle as much as one person can shovel on a normal pace. I purchased this unit used, and recently replaced the suction hose and nozzle. Overall, this is a great piece of gear that can move more material in an hour than you could classify and hand-sluice in a day. I would recommend this unit to anyone as a great first dredge, highbanker, or both. It's exceptionally light weight, versatility, and gold retention makes this a fine piece of prospecting equipment. 
Proline 3" Highbanker/Dredge Combo I purchased this combo used in the fall of 2009. Similiar in build to the 2" combo, this 3" is a hungry beast. The 3" is build just like the 2", except everything is larger in size. The frame is sturdier, the hopper is larger, the engine and pump more powerful, and the sluice is longer and wider. I've only had the opportunity to use this machine a few times, but like the 2" combo, I love it. You can set it up practically anywhere and use it in either highbanker mode or dredge mode. You need to watch the flow of water and the angle of the sluice box. I have learned that there are different settings for the engine and sluice when dredging as compared to highbanking. The 3" combo is a fine machine, capable of handling two or three people shoveling at the same time. As a dredge, it will prove it's worth as a solid performer with exceptional gold retention. 
Keene 3" Ultra Mini Dredge I just purchased this used dredge in January 2008 from a prospecting buddy down in North Carolina. The 3" dredge is a great dredge for someone who needs air, but doesn't want the bigger (heavier) 4" dredge. It has a 4 HP Honda with a T-80 air compressor, which is plenty of both. At 170 pounds, this small dredge is both man-portable and efficient enough to pull material through 20' of suction hose. The 48" sluice box runs fairly smooth. I used this dredge extensively in the fall and winter of 2009, and am very pleased with its operation and recovery. This dredge has been used in creeks and rivers of all sizes. I love it because it will slide into the back of my pickup truck fully assembled. The dredge fits perfectly in smaller creeks and really doesn't require too much water if you're running at the proper speeds. Cleanups are quick and painless. It's light in the water and easy to move. This Keene 3" model has run next to a 6" dredge in California, in 10 feet of water, and done just fine! The Keene 3" is a very nice overall dredge and a good intermediate model for those who want to move decent amounts of material yet may need air production for the occasionaly dive. This was taken in January 2010. You can see the difference in size when the dredges are side by side.  More pictures of the Keene 3" Ultra Mini 
I bought my 4" Proline in 2007 and have been spoiled ever since. This 4" is a very nice machine, and what I call a "one-man production dredge". It's big enough to process yards and yards of material and still small enough for one person to easily handle. In my opinion, it's the largest dredge that fits in the recreational prospecting category. This 4" Proline has a 5.5 hp Honda powerplant and T-80 compressor. The air system is plenty for one diver, but putting two hard working men underwater on the same T-80 may cause a lack of air. The 4" is a big dredge, no doubt, and if carrying it by hand to your spot, expect make a couple trips! Overall, the 4" dredge is a workhorse, and this Proline easily answers the call. The dredge is very easy to use, a little easier than the Keene's to adjust, and definitely capable of putting in a good day's work. I have both a 4" Keene and a 4" Proline. Each has it's pro's and con's, but they find and retain gold and I love them both. 
Keene 4" Dredge I just purchased this 4" Keene dredge in February of 2010. It's about 10 years old and runs like a champ. This is not a 3 Stage Sluice or the Triple Sluice design, just the plain old straight sluice, and I love it! Like the 4" Proline, the 4" Keene is a serious one-person sucking machine. It's light but big enough to put in a full day. The straight sluice has absolutely no problems retaining both ultra fine gold, -100, and nuggets, and that was proven to me over the spring of 2010. This 4" Proline has a 5.5 hp Honda powerplant and T-80 compressor. The air system is plenty for one diver, but putting two hard working men underwater on the same T-80 may cause a lack of air. The 4" is a big dredge, no doubt, and if carrying it by hand to your spot, expect make a couple trips! 
Condo I Enter "Condo I". Well, we got a ton of snow over the winter, and bored minds are dangerous. Many of the creeks I work in are shallow, but have plenty of overburden to float a dredge once you get a hole established. However, as most of you know, holes fill quickly when dumping tails into them, and you can spend hours a day shoveling. If I'm working an area with a dredge, I know I've already proven the gold. I'm not into dumping tails on virgin ground, and definitely not into shoveling more than I have to! Work smarter, not harder... My Condo approach is similiar to a highbanker combo. The frame holds the equipment high above the surface of the water on a frame. I decided that I wanted to be able to run two 4" dredges side by side taking up as little space on the creek as possible and using the same platform. I built "Condo I" out of 1" PVC. The engine platform is part of the frame, and two 4" sluices fit easily on the plastic frame. The sluices are out of the water, sometimes up to 28". I've also placed the Condo in a 30" deep hole and still had the sluices and engines out of the water. The versitility of the Condo allows me to dump tails exactly where I want them, covers less virgin ground with tails, and requires much less shoveling of tails. The height of the sluices also makes cleanups a total breeze. No fighting with catch pans in shallow water, no shoveling of tails for 10 minutes just to get a bucket under the sluice. Condo fixes all of those pains. Condo I was the first model prototype. I used it over the winter and spring of 2010 and recovered well over an ounce of beautiful Virginia gold, incredible fines and nuggets up to 1/4 ounce. You run the sluices as if they were on the pontoons. Same angle, water speed, etc. Engine RMPs must be a little higher to achieve the same flow due to the elevated pumps. I logged about 100 hours with the unit and immediately made plans for a bigger and better model. In a nutshell, Condo I gives me a twin 4" dredge platform that takes up the same space as one 4" dredge. I can run it in or out of the water, put tails where I want, shovel less, clean up faster, and most importantly, preserve virgin ground. 
Condo II Enter "Condo II". After logging in about a hunderd hours on Condo I, I began to create the next prototype model. Condo II is much larger than Condo I and able to accomodate two 5" dredge sluices. The frame is 8" taller and 12" wider. I used wider and stronger PVC and constructed individual sluice adjustment bars so that each sluice's angle could be adjusted independently. I've yet to use Condo II with twin 5" sluices, but will most likely do the trial run with twin 4" sluices. 
Proline 5" Dredge I purchased this 5" dredge from Proline in 2007 after buying a gold claim out in California. I needed a dredge that could handle deeper and faster water. In my opinion, the 5" dredge is the largest dredge one person can effectively work alone. There is a MASSIVE difference between a 4" dredge and a 5" dredge. I do not recommend putting your hands in front of this nozzle when she's eating... This dredge has two 5.5 HP Honda powerplants and can flat out move material. It has run side by side with a 6" dredge and held her own. The twin engines provide perfectly smooth action over the sluice at about 70% throttle, and a tank of gas can last just about 3 hours. The suction power, even at 15', is phenominal, and the sluice runs as smooth as glass. The dredge is fairly portable and I am able to pack the entire unit in my Blazer. Gold recovery? This dredge catches the flour gold and the nuggets, no problems! This dredge, without a doubt, is my favorite one-man suction machine. Man-portable and self sustaining, the 5" dredge, in my opinion, is the best all-around dredge available. 
 
Proline 6" Dredge The 6" Proline suction dredge is a production machine, bar none. This hungry beast will pull rocks to you. Do not try to stop a rock as it enters the nozzle. You best stop it about a foot in front!. The 6" dredge is not a one man dredge. The hose is not very flexible, and the amount of material it can process requires the dedicated use of a "rock man", working a couple feet in front of the nozzle. As with all dredges, check your sluice box frequently. This dredge rarely gets backed up, but when she does, she loads down very quickly. The PCA-10 air compressor easily pushes plenty of air to multiple divers. Twin Honda powerplants provide plenty of suction power at 20'- 25'. We've had two and three divers on this particular model at the same time with no problems, although if moving rocks or working hard underwater, you might want to trim down to just two divers. Gold recovery is awesome, fines and nuggets enter the box and stop dead on the first sets of riffles. This is not a beginners dredge. This is a serious piece of gear. A team of well-seasoned vets can effectively run a small operation with just one 6" dredge. 
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| I've had enough experience with my dredges to figure out how my particular dredges run efficiently. I've adjusted engine speed, adjusted angles, done frequent cleanups, and also re-dredged entire tailing piles to test my recovery rates. Every dredge is different, and each dredger has his own setup. For my Proline dredges, I run the engines at 70%-85% throttle and run the sluice box practically flat. I've spoke to the folks at Proline who have years of testing experience, and they concur that their dredges should be running relatively flat, with just a slight angle. The angle will increase when the sluice begins to fill with concentrates, so you must keep an eye on that as well. My 5" runs and retains best with the back of the sluice out of the water about an inch, and the front of the sluice in the water about an inch. This means I had about 2" of elevation on a 5 foot long sluice. I tried the "one inch per foot" that you might hear when referring to a hand sluice, and that was WAY TOO MUCH ANGLE with forced water flow. I even tried 3 and 4 inch elevations. Still way too much. Just experiment with your setup and be sure to test your tailing piles every once in a while. That way you know if you need to adjust your setup. I run my Keene dredges much slower, about 40%-50% of engine throttle. The Keene's seem to catch better gold when running a slower. The riffles clear differently than the Proline dredges, and I normally have a little more angle on Keene sluices, where as I run Proline sluices relatively flat. Keep a close eye on your foot valves. Make sure they are not sucking up sand or being blocked with leaves or debris. This will reduce the water flow into your sluice, which results in material buildup and improper clearing. It will also reduce your suction power, causing more frequent nozzle and hose jams. Additionally, reduced water (or air) in your pump will cause the pump seals to burn up. It's no fun replacing a seal on the river, or being down for two weeks while you get a new seal. When dredging in water with lots of debris, I've place my foot valves in large buckets and also used large screens to keep a nice clean area for the intake of water. Keep those foot valves clear! Finally, watch your material intake. Any dredge will eat until there's nothing left to eat. Keep your pace moderate and in tune with what your sluice is properly clearing. Check your box every so often to make sure the cobbles are clearing and that nothing large is caught in the sluice, affecting the smooth flow of water over the riffles. |
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