Highbanker help....

[Tathradj]

You want quality,
You pay for it.
Simple.
I am not going to wade in on this argument nor am I going to tell some one
on how to run their business.
Just be a bit careful on what you are stating. :Y:

 

[G0lddigg@]

The sluicy bankers are a decent frame to build on and getting all tge materials together for a walbanker and making one from scratch isnt to everyones ability or taste.

Sorry i have to beg to differ. The sluicy frames are not a good foundation at all. And its not about pointing the finger at a competitor its about making sure the information in this forum is true. They are very poorly bent and are cheap aluminum and held together with pop rivets. The legs are too short and every shortcut has been taken. I am not exaggerating when i tell you i have 3 to 5 sluicy customers call me every week gutted because they're losing so much gold or the hoper fell apart or the metal was so thin it bent when they dropped it. If you need a sluice channel bent up go to a fabricator and dont tell them its a gold sluice just draw what you want and ask them to bend it up. Keep it simple and ut will be less expensive. Complex bends and round edges deburring welding etc all cost time and money keep it simple.

If you dont have a pattern a walbanker is a great forward classifying option.

mate theyre sluices not space shuttles.

Everything you use every day has gone through a process of engineering, suitability and sustainability for the life time of the product why should a bit of prospecting kit be any different? theres no reason for them to fall apart and have bits not fitting and wrong size holes drilled is there. Bit of engineering goes along way in making a product that lasts.

I stand by my point bad advice is bad advice you're better off getting something made than buying cheap crap that will fall apart. Im pretty sure you were complaining about your sluicy not too long ago

Youre welcome to stand by your point until your legs get sore. Doesnt make it right.

Ive spent a while looking at your sluices to see what i could learn from them and so far the main thing seems to be how overengineered they are for the simple task theyre performing..

I use the same place to get my aluminium folded as you use to fabricate your sluices and either theyre seriously overcharging you or youve got a pretty hefty markup on your sluices. either way my advice stands, if you're handy dont spend $1000 on a sluice that does nothing better than a $200 sluice with a few bits from bunnings.

that's true my point is my point and yours is yours i accept that and i love a good debate and value my time. that doesn't make it fact but as I have more experience dealing with complaints from people who feel they wasted their money my advice stands and the people i offer my time freely to help fix other manufactures mistakes would attest to that.

You say over engineered yet you have bought a cheap product and complained about the quality of it and spent who knows how many hours fixing it shopping around and now you're telling me what it costs to produce a good product? i get that you are retired and have plenty of time but maybe you need to consider that things don't cost what they used to and not everyone has hours to spend running around testing and trying to get things to work. some people actually appreciate buying something that works and does what it says on the box.

My highbankers which none are even close to $1000 which i'm pretty sure your talking about because we sell the sluices at cost to support the dream mat, each component is engineered from extensive field use to provide the best outcome for "actual use" that is I've developed the product while using them myself and with feedback from other prospectors over years so id never say over engineered, id say well thought out and allowing for different users person uses.

here's a picture of one of our highbankers- retail $625 minus all the 316 stainless bolts and nuts for assembly. Take the dream mat product and the high cost of producing urethane out and you have a $515 unit which i think is pretty bloody good and will stand up to scrutiny next to any other similar product in Australia proudly.

Every component functions extremely well for its purpose, every function is broken down to be optimal right down to the angle on the water gate existing the hopper to hitting the back of the sluice removing energy transferred from the water to again provide the best outcome, you may not appreciate this but us guys who've been in this hobby for years we live and breath it always chasing the better clean-up with less fuss if you can't appreciate someone in your hobby working on providing solutions to support you what do you value?

As for actual costs to take a single product to market, in that respect you obviously don't put much value on a blokes time, yes we employ fabricators in Victoria, and QLD, CNC operators, welders, couriers, printers, box manufacturers, solidworks engineers, steel suppliers, we provide phone support, web support, we develop products and support miners, both small scale and large scale in Australia and overseas.
I'm pretty bloody proud of what I've achieved with an Australian internationally recognised brand over the last 5 years and whilst I know i can reduce the costs of some of my components i wont take any part overseas and i wont support not buying and fabricating here in Australia.

We have real operating costs which are supported by making a margin/profit on our products or we cease to exists, on top of that we pay GST something you probably avoid by paying cash for your fabrication. I highly doubt you've ever had a quote from a fabricator to cnc cut multipart profiles and incorporate any complex bends.

If you want to have a conversation telling me i charge too much or that my fabricators don't deserve to be paid for their quality or work call me any time and I'll set you straight.

 

[Spain81]

I don't normally care about what is written on any source of social media BUT I have a goldrat highbanker and had a s/:;(y one in the past the inferior product was a good introduction to our hobby with lots of mods and time and effort not to mention more $ to make it work well, (reminds me must contact the guy who bought it see how he's goin) but as far as spending $700 on the biggest goldrat highbanker the finish is amazing haven't had to do anything to it yet, I reckon every trip beforehand I was always coming home thinking this needs to be better that needs to better now days you just setup and go and if the material hasn't got the goods you will definitely know. So yeah the inferior product worked for me with some mods but for the money you can't beat a goldrat and the amount of cons to go through after a full day running is great, I made a miller table that connected to a clean up sluice (just to make sure) but now with the dream Matt they just collect dust in the shed, so if like me 3 boys under 10 (time in the shed is normally fixing broken bikes) the goldrat highbankers are a must easy clean upno need to mess around setup and find the colour. I have NO affiliation with goldrat just a proud owner of a quality made Australian product that makes this hobby so easy and affordable. Alright that's my social web done for 12months good luck with the gold everybody

 

[aussiefarmer]

Sluicys are light , compact and cheap to get started .....As a proud owner of a sluicy, i say buy the goldrat :Y: :Y: the pictures and revues show quallity and intelligent design.

I have modified my sluicy from day 1 but i enjoy that side of it nearly as much as sluicing so i am happy , mine would be 3yrs old and it needed some tuning the day i got it , since then theres not much on it i havent changed altered or redesigned and from the 2 new ones i have seen recently the builds are getting rougher.

I do love my sluicy and it was a cheap way to get into it, but if you arent into or dont have time for modifying and testing or simply dont enjoy engineering or problem solving buy the gold rat :Y: to this day they are the neatest best value for money wash boxes i have seen during my research.

I am willing to share my fixes and mods with sluicy owners if they are struggling with theirs and i will soon be finished my latest and probably final reconstruction of my sluicy and will be happy to share the design and results once i test it out.

Good luck

 

[aussiefarmer]

I should add if your high banking a long way from your vehicle the gs 14 or 16 would probably be the way to go as they are light fold down not much bigger than a brief case and could be back pack mounted but keep in mind you still have to lug your pump and shovel etc .

 

[Gem in I]

Going in my to get this year list
cheers guys :Y:

 

[G0lddigg@]

Nice review spain81 great to hear feedback like that mate.

Aussiefarmer definitely true a big highbanker is not always the way to go. If you have to carry gear in a long way you dont want anything too big in saying that my smallest banker is less than 9kgs but i tend to use a sluice with powerhead most of the time for jungle trecking.
Bilge pump and battery fit in a bucket, sluice and shovel over shoulder and i can cart that in anywhere.

 

[aussiefarmer]

Yeah i thought of a river sluice after i hit the submit button , carting pumps and gear long distance is painful .more so on the way back.

 

[G0lddigg@]

Ahhg the trip home after you pushed yourself that extra haalf hour haha im getting weak theze days. Two hour session is plenty for me

 

[Spain81]

Yeah i thought of a river sluice after i hit the submit button , carting pumps and gear long distance is painful .more so on the way back.

Oh the trip home when you can't stand up straight any longer. I'm not 18 now, wish I got into this hobby earlier ha but we all want to come home with that elusive nugget

 

[limpalot]

Specially the hand and toes cramping as you drive home. Have to make sure I have more fluids - sss , but then I will have to camp. :lol:

 

[IsThisGold?]

Specially the hand and toes cramping as you drive home. Have to make sure I have more fluids - sss , but then I will have to camp. :lol:

Cramping could be a sign of not enough salt or potassium in your body. try an electrolyte sports drink and a banana (its probably just all the digging though)

 

[cecc]

i for one when buying something I like it to last with good workmanship and design. Not having seen a Gold Rat sluice or banker face to face, only in video's and seeing people reviews, I can only come to the conclusion they are very well made, love the welding. They seem to just perform and do what they were designed to do, can't ask for much more than that.

 

[as5672]

Hi all
Also no one has mentioned that you can get the Gold Rat on AfterPay. What that is, is that you can buy now and pay it in 4 fortnightly payments. Just double check with them. I am thinking about getting the 12in soon I hope?.
Anthony