The 3" Keene dredge is pictured working in less than ideal conditions here.
It is painted in camouflage so it can't be noticed too easily. When I go back to camp at night, I cover my dredge over so no-one will know it is around. One of my friends has had his dredge stolen and I don't intend for that to happen to mine!
The pool I am working in here is only about 5 metres wide by 30 metres long and would be 50cm deep at best. This means that the water is constantly circulated and is quickly churned up.
If you look carefully at the picture you will see a jet of water coming out the back from the seal in the pump assembly. The most probable reason for it's failure is the dirty water. The silted water wears the parts quicker.
The other disadvantage of the dirty water is that you can't see the gold in the crevices when you're finished.
Here's a list of the sorts of tools I bring with me when I dredge:
A Jamming Rod............
A 2 meter rod to plunge down the hole in the header box and unjam any rocks that have lodged in your hose.
Some Chicken Mesh.....
In case you have to wrap it around your hose intake to stop leaves from being sucked up into your pump and blocking the impellor fins.
Spare Spark Plugs And Tools........
In case of a breakdown.
Crowbar and Prybar...............
To break open any crevices or lift heavy rocks.
A Wetsuit............
To keep out those pesky Leeches.
A First Aid Kit.............
It's very easy to get hurt when dredging so make sure this is close at hand.
The leeches that were living in this pond were over 10cm long with racing stripes...... YUCK!!!. I was picking them off my arms every ten minutes or so.
Gold does strange things to people.
If anyone has suggestions on how to get rid of leeches without killing everything else, please let me know.
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