Highbanker to buy or to build....

[shivan]

Howdy again all, after my second trip out panning iam really keen to get a highbanker so we can get thru a little more material than just panning. My initial instinct was to build a highbanker with the great designs and photos from this site, but iam very limited with tools ( i have allmost none), and as i have no work bench will probably have to get my metal bent elsewhere.
This also got me thinking that even with all the great photos and designs, i have never seen a sluice in action and am extreemly worried about wasing money building something destined to fail.
My mate and i decided we will take a trip to sydney one weekend to a prospecting shop so we could look at some sluices and highbankers close up and get ideas.
This is where i kinda thaught well maybe we should just bite the bullet and buy a highbanker.

Ok sorry for rambling a bit.. the two things iam trying to establish is :
a- For the people who have built highbankers, what was the rough cost of the build and do i stand any chance of making one with bugger all tools

b- The two units we are looking at purchasing would be either:
1-The Prospectors Choice 2 Tier Sluice www.minersden.com.au/default.asp?pageid=Products&template=PRODUCTCAT&catid=724&prodid=1776&site=15
2-G-1 Concentrator from US Prospectorwww.minersden.com.au/default.asp?pageid=Products&template=PRODUCTCAT&catid=724&prodid=1973&site=15
Just wondering if anyone has used either unit or had any feedback on them.

[jeffu]

Hi Shivan.
If you get a chance this coming Sunday, wander out to Oallen Ford.
I will be out there with my highbankers. I have 3 of them, 2 are bought and one is home made (made by a member of AGP), it is by far the best highbanker for fine gold like is at Oallen.
Come and have a look at them and make your mind up to build or not to build. Building one is a mucher cheaper option than buying.
If you have build questions, ask Grandpa or Nugget893

[chimpy]

G'day Shivan
I just recently had the same dilema, build or buy? I went with a bit of both. I really wanted a G1 but the cost was prohibitive so after a bit of research I went with buying the upper and lower sluice trays (16"x42") without the spraybars from casluicebox.com. They cost me $75 each and posted using shipito.com for $140. I am building the frame and spraybar arrangement myself. These trays are very similar to the G1 design and this way less than half the cost for the finished result. I will post a few pics when it all comes together

Cheers
Chimpy

[shivan]

Thanks Chimpy,that seems like another good idea i can look into. I look foward to seeing some pics of the finished product.

Jeffu, i would love the chance to come and meet you and to see your highbanker/s to get a better idea what i want to do. My mate and i were talking about camping out there this weekend depending on weather and if he is working or not, but camping or not i will make sure iam there on sunday ;D

[jeffu]

Hi Shivan.
It will be great to meet you. She who has to be obeyed and I should be there around 9 - 9.30 on Sunday. Hopefully I can help point you in the right direction.
Jeff

[shivan]

Well being impatient and unable to find any reasonably priced material, i have bought The Prospectors Choice 2 Tier Sluice with the idea to modify it to suit my needs as i go. Eventually i would like to add spray bars as it is just got a water spreader on it at the moment, i would also like to get some expanded metal Riffle's as i believe they are better for fine gold recovery.
I picked up a 5HP 15a monza water pump local, probably a lil bigger than what i was thinking about getting but i was very limited in choice and again was in a hurry.
Managed to find some 1.5" layflat hose and camlocks tho more need to be purchesed as i only had enoudh for 1 length of hose, the highbanker and pump.

Late friday arvo My mate finally showed up so we threw the stuff in the car and headed to oallen. Unfortunatly we had been beaten there by 4 other lots of campers and the spot we had been looking at was taken but we ended up finding a a semi flat spot near the creek, only problem no sand all pebbles

After an uncomfotable night sleep we set the highbanker up and started getting the pump ready. Because i had put all the connections togeather myself i had visions of hoses flying off and huge leaks, but was plesently supprised when we turned the pump on and everything worked.
Ended up having a great day digging, the highbanker was cleaned out 3 times even tho it didnt look full, we wanted to make sure we were catching the gold and to our suprise each time it had.
This is where iam glad i had my snuffer bottle on me as i snuffed up all the decent sized gold i could see and put the concentrates aside in a bucket. As we were packing up to leave my mate said " I thaught you were saving the consentrate?" i said i was and went to point to the bucket i had been putting them in, to my horror the bucket was not there. In my mates haste to pack up while i had been panning the final cleanup he had emtied the bucket of concentrate into the river to get water to put out the fire So while we ended up throwing a good bit og gold away at least i had the bulk snuffered up.
Have a few pics i will try to figure out how to post them a bit later.

Shivan

[shivan]

Didnt get the camera out much but here is what i got.


Need to get some more flexi hose to get rid of kink i think.



Also need to get some nomad carpet... another thing bunning nowra dosnt have





Dang rocks.



The muscle side of the operation

and here are a few pics of the end result, sorry if they a bit dogey.

[jeffu]

Hi Ian.

Good to see you out and at it.
How much of the nomad matting do you want?
I still have some in the shed, should be enough for your highbanker.
If you are out there next weekend I will bring it with me.
Don't worry too much about the kinks in the hose, they don't effect the water flow much.

Jeff

[shivan]

G'day Jeff, need a bit about 715mm long 250mm wide, if you had a bit spare i would be more than happy to buy a bit off you ;D
We will definatly be trying to make it out again this weekend and would be great to catch up again.

Cheers

Ian

[AG MAN]

Good stuff Shivan!
Shame about the concentrates being chucked out, but you got some nice gold none the less.
A sucessfull first run of your new toy hey!

[Ric]

Great pics and story Shivan.

How cold was the water at Oallen?



Cheers Ric

[jeffu]

Ian
I have a couple of meters, you can have as much as you need.
helps me clean out a bit of the shed.
What size layflat hose are you using? I might have some of the size you need that you can have.

Ric. The water out there is quite pleasant, not too cold, just right.

Jeff

[shivan]

Ric, like Jeff said while the sun was out the water was fine, just a lil nippy first thing in the morning, A mist had come over about 10:00 at night and didnt clear till 9:00 in the morning, so alltho we were up at 6 we didnt set up till about 9.

Jeff iam using 1.5 inch layflat i have 1x15m, 1x10m and 1x5m length of hose but the place that sells the camlocks only had enough for me to get the camlocks for 1 lenght of hose, hopefully they will have more in stock this week.