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:idea: Now your machine is resting on the ground, and you can't adjust the angle of the screen.
Maybe tilt the whole machine for trials?
Not as easy with your giant machine however with our dwarf models once we managed ultimate operation angle I mounted a two way (caravan) spirit level and plumbed it. When we repositioned the machine onto a new area it was a simple matter (maybe not for you) to level the machine. Difficult to do by eye with undulating ground around you.
 
Nightjar said:
Goldtalk Leonora said:
Depends on the hair dryer...I run constant and catch that size gold easy peasy.

Fair enough Goldtalk, however have you ever tested to find how much you are throwing away?

Good point.....yes and no is the answer. With any gravity recovery I work on 50-60% recovery max....anything more is a dream. Therefore, by definition, I know I aint getting it all...no-one does. With the size gear we run it's a volume game as much as a recovery game.
 
Nightjar said:
:idea: Now your machine is resting on the ground, and you can't adjust the angle of the screen.
Maybe tilt the whole machine for trials?
Not as easy with your giant machine however with our dwarf models once we managed ultimate operation angle I mounted a two way (caravan) spirit level and plumbed it. When we repositioned the machine onto a new area it was a simple matter (maybe not for you) to level the machine. Difficult to do by eye with undulating ground around you.

Peter I can easily flatten a slope to change the lean on the machine but the 18 I took from a working machine although they used electrics and a 3 phase vibrator.

I took a look at the park brake on Tonka.

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Caterpillar used the brains on some of these things. The brake drum comes off and slips over the top of the drive shaft. The shaft and flange have to come off to change the brake shoes but I got enough access to add a bit of weld to the end of each brake shoe. The lining is very thin but still there so it'll work until I get new brake shoes. The park brake now holds securely in forward and reverse.
 
Jaros said:
I couldn't make out what was what from the pic. Doesn't matter as long as you make it as safe as you can.
Jaros :)

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Sorry Jaros, it all has a good coating of grime that has built up over the years. Any good mechanic would have started by cleaning it down but then it's me here :)

I just caught up with Gary the guy with the dryblower that I checked out to get the starting point to build from. I told him the trouble I had having to let the brake right off to drive and then as soon as I touched the brake again the drive stopped as well. He said "Just flick the switch, the one with the gear on it". :8

When I told him that I choked the classifier by dumping a half a bucket of dirt on there he said that his will do that too. I should just load it gently with whatever will pass through. Perhaps it's not quite as bad as it looked on the first trial ;)
 
I guess you will want a big tarp to cover your stockpile before rain sets in in the future.... so you can get going again really quickly after any wet weather :D
 
silver said:
I guess you will want a big tarp to cover your stockpile before rain sets in in the future.... so you can get going again really quickly after any wet weather :D

I don't know that a tarp would work. The moisture works its way up as well as down but this country does dry out very quickly. Right now I'm hanging on and waiting for the smaller pulley to arrive so that I have more speed options on the classifier vibration.
 
Goldtalk Leonora said:
I doubt there will be any dryblowing going on for some time gents....wet wet wet in the goldfields overnight.

Same up here, every depression is filled with water but right now the sun is shining. There are a lot of big clouds on the horizon so it could be on again tonight.
 
Goldtalk Leonora said:
With any gravity recovery I work on 50-60% recovery max....anything more is a dream. Therefore, by definition, I know I aint getting it all...no-one does. With the size gear we run it's a volume game as much as a recovery game.
Tony, Would think it would be more profitable to sacrifice some volume and increase return. Potentially you're throwing $400 away with every ounce you recover?
 
Nightjar said:
Goldtalk Leonora said:
With any gravity recovery I work on 50-60% recovery max....anything more is a dream. Therefore, by definition, I know I aint getting it all...no-one does. With the size gear we run it's a volume game as much as a recovery game.
Tony, Would think it would be more profitable to sacrifice some volume and increase return. Potentially you're throwing $400 away with every ounce you recover?

Hi Peter, Its actually something that I loose sleep over! Thing is, the figure of 50-60% recovery comes from people a lot smarter than me. It doesn't matter if it's dryblowing or a wet plant the figures are the same and if you think your getting better than 60% or so your dreaming. Now that is also dependent on the type/size of gold thats trying to be recovered as well.....anything over say 40micron is easy to catch wet and possible to catch dry. Recovery is always the number one priority in my opinion...but if you accept that you cannot catch it all then it simply becomes a numbers game. Also, the head grade of the dirt is relevant...if it was a rich pocket then I wouldn't care how long it took or how many times I had to present the dirt but most times...these day's..it will be marginal dirt at best we work and if it's going 0.2GPT GRG then thats about bloody normal. Working on that theory it becomes a volume game as much as anything. I would think (but dont know) that most dryblowers are actually going backwards financially because they dont do their sums. It's a bit different for us in that it is a business and we have to be very careful not to go broke. With our operation that costs in excess of 2k a day to run we need to make good judgement calls of when to pull out....yes...we can slow down to get a higher % return but go broke chasing it. I hasten to say that I'm no expert btw....like I said...these are just things that wake me up at 2am!
 
Nightjar said:
Goldtalk Leonora said:
With any gravity recovery I work on 50-60% recovery max....anything more is a dream. Therefore, by definition, I know I aint getting it all...no-one does. With the size gear we run it's a volume game as much as a recovery game.
Tony, Would think it would be more profitable to sacrifice some volume and increase return. Potentially you're throwing $400 away with every ounce you recover?

It's a bit like the fine dust we recovered from under the riffle trays after our little test. Compared to what we got above the trays and considering how much energy went into recovering it we may as well just put another bucket of dirt through. I'm going to drill some small holes under those chambers where the fine dust collects so that all that dust goes right back to mother earth. Then I won't have to worry about cleaning it out every time I lift the riffle trays. It'll leak a tiny bit of air but I'm sure there's more available from the bellows than we can use.
 
I couldn't read GL's post as it is a whole block of text, and I cant find my glasses!!

We were looking at 12% loss...

A few miners up here, Mike and Frank etc put in the knudsens etc to get down to an imaginary 7% loss...

I don't think there are many Alluvial miners looking at sulphides etc up here?
 
Now to the next phase of the cleanup around our home. It was a bit of a mess when we got here but all our junk aka stuff (or is it the other way around?) has just added to the problem of not enough space. I so wish we had a TARDIS. Ive never done much gardening although I have tried occasionally and realised I have a black thumb, or two. The cost of food here is exorbitant so we decided to grow our own, hopefully. Phil set off with his aquaponics project and I made use of the raised garden beds that were already here. More about that later.

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The result was a fair whack of tools, buckets and other stuff that had nowhere to go. I was sick of dodging boxes, pipes, bags of garden mulch etc and other tip rescue goodies whilst manoeuvring my way to the back door. And boxes of broken coloured glass, old bottles and myriad relics which, in hindsight, probably should have remained where they were found.

The man had an order to bring some things back from Perth I wanted to use. He had no idea what I was planning in my head and I had no idea whether it would work but thought Id surprise him anyway. So I got to work. It took days to move everything and clean up before I could actually do anything constructive. Then I commandeered Phil for a little while. He installed some steel shelves we'd brought up from Capel.... after I stripped them back and cleaned them. Working the forklift around the narrow verandah and turning it towards the raised decking was tricky but we got there in the end.

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Then he sprayed the foamy stuff in all the gaps where soil and water come through (what messy muck that is). All the garden soil bags were constantly wet and the cockroaches, spiders, ants and myriad other critters (including snakes and bungarras) were enjoying a never-ending picnic.

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A small weld mesh was turned into a hanging rack and I hung up the many hooks hed brought back. I thought I had too many but theyve been used all around the place to get stuff off the ground and now I need more, lol.

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I spent weeks sorting every piece of glass into colours (LOVE that blue and purple stuff) because I have craft ideas in my head (which will no doubt stay there forever), cleaning bottles and relics and stacking them on the shelves (still a long way from finished), sorting gardening supplies and rearranging - and rearranging the rearrangements. I even found some missing shopping bags and gloves, washed them and theyre ready for reuse. Relic hunting anyone?

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The whole process took about a month on and off but Im happy with it now.

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