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Keene 2 inch back pack dredge

a_tinkerer		Posted : Saturday, 31 March 2012 1:42:34 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Dust Groups: Registered Joined: 31/03/2012(UTC) Posts: 6 Location: Christchurch		Came across this site selling Keene 2 inch back pack dredges The price is $2950 - Has any body had any experience with them - are they any good?

goldtimer		Posted : Sunday, 1 April 2012 12:22:25 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 8/05/2010(UTC) Posts: 26 Location: New Zealand Thanks: 5 times Was thanked: 11 time(s) in 9 post(s)		I have not used one but have used larger dredges and I will say this. Any dredge under four inches is a waste of time (In my opinion). And even with a 4" dredge you are pretty limited. When you are dredging, what limits your throughput is not the amount of suction that you have, but the size of your nozzle. With a 2" dredge, every rock that is 2" or larger you are going to have to move out of the way by hand. That is a lot of rock. Don't get me wrong, they would definitely be handy in some situations, such as cleaning out crevices on exposed bedrock. But you could just buy yourself a good wetsuit, a pinchbar, shovel, weld together a few crevice scrapers and you would achieve exactly the same thing, and you can use the change out of the $2950 to buy some fat tyres for your 4WD so you can get off the beaten track (the beaten track tends to be where most hobbyists muck around with their dredges)

chrischch		Posted : Sunday, 1 April 2012 3:04:47 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/08/2011(UTC) Posts: 811 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 192 times Was thanked: 105 time(s) in 104 post(s)		Yes, getting off the beaten track seems to be a must. It's quite hard to do so in a family car as I've found out. You think you are in the middle of nowhere and fight your way through the bush to get down to the river/creek, only to find signs of other prospectors! Aaaargh! Having a 4wd would definately be an advantage. Thanks for your advice regarding the nozzle diameter. I hadn't thought about that, although a dredge is going a bit far in my opinion if you dont have a claim or access to one. I would hate to lose it to the government for being naughty.
		Fisher Goldbug Pro, Fisher F2, Garrett Propointer.

mineforgold.co.nz		Posted : Sunday, 1 April 2012 6:36:00 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 14/11/2011(UTC) Posts: 299 Location: Nelson Thanks: 58 times Was thanked: 38 time(s) in 35 post(s)		They work pretty well. Don't know I would want to pack it too far, but definitely manageable. To say anything under a 4 inch nozzle is waste of time is pretty .. shall we say ... uneducated. You wouldn't want to hit the Buller, or Clutha, with 2 inch dredge - but then that is not what they are designed for. What they are designed for they do very well - and a 6 inch dredge in those situations would be worse than useless. If it is the right tool for the job you have to do then you will not be disappointed with one.
		Own: Lobo SuperTraq, Garrett ATPro, Minelab Excalibur
		WWW BLOG

kiwikeith		Posted : Sunday, 1 April 2012 7:03:08 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 28/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 648 Location: hector Thanks: 359 times Was thanked: 230 time(s) in 154 post(s)		interesting comments i started with a keen 2" went well for what i wanted found that a little to slow when shifting a lot of rock great for carrying somewhere and fantastic in the small creeks graduated to a keen 4" now that is a dredge i would say one of the best sadly i sold it and got another 2" keen had that on stolen but i was working in small creeks at the time now i have a 5" nz dredging co (refer to west coast stories for video of it working i have made a few refinements but its still basicly the same to sum up 2" for the small creeks and crevices and sand deposits keen 4" for medium to larger rivers

Reubin		Posted : Monday, 2 April 2012 1:44:39 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 27/09/2011(UTC) Posts: 32 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 3 times Was thanked: 6 time(s) in 5 post(s)		I have had one for quite some time. They are limited but still an excellent tool for working shallow ground over bedrock and in areas of not much water. If you buy one make sure it has the power jet as opposed to the suction nozzel. You may also want to consider doing some mods to the punch plate as it can be a little ineffective at saving gold if the water is moving through it too fast. The largest piece of gold I found with mine was blown straight through. (It was however quite flat.) Reubin Edited by user Monday, 2 April 2012 1:46:28 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

kiwijw		Posted : Monday, 2 April 2012 7:53:21 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,152 Thanks: 92 times Was thanked: 658 time(s) in 324 post(s)		Originally Posted by: Reubin I have had one for quite some time. They are limited but still an excellent tool for working shallow ground over bedrock and in areas of not much water. If you buy one make sure it has the power jet as opposed to the suction nozzel. You may also want to consider doing some mods to the punch plate as it can be a little ineffective at saving gold if the water is moving through it too fast. The largest piece of gold I found with mine was blown straight through. (It was however quite flat.) Reubin I beg to differ about the power jet over a suction nozzle. The 2" is a great size for portability for one person & is best used in shallow to very shallow smaller creeks for cleaning up bed rock & the cracks & crevices. When it comes to shifting overburden you will shovel material through a sluice box much faster than you could suck it up with a 2". With a power jet you will lose suction & have to reprime it every time you lift the suction tip out of the water. So when operating in shallow bed rock areas that is a pain in the arse. With a suction nozzle you can stab & prod in & out of the water with out having to reprime every time you lift the tip out of the water. Try & do the below operation with a power jet. I was bringing water to the dry schist cracks via the hose attachment & then sucking up the material & gold caught in the folds of the upturned schist Result of the above operation was just over half an ounce for a short afternoons effort. Often the little creeks I work in with my 2" get sucked dry pretty quickly (very little water flow) & I need to wait for the water to build up again. I dont need to reprime the suction hose each time when it sucks dry with the suction nozzle. Ok the suction is a little greater with a power jet but with a 2" it is more about processing quality of material as in the above operation & not quantity of shifting overburden I even use a 4" suction nozzle often on my 4" dredge. JW :)

chchfossiker		Posted : Wednesday, 11 April 2012 11:10:21 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 5/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 151 Location: christchurch Thanks: 9 times Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 12 post(s)		thanks for the pics jw its good to see pics "out in the field"