Wals cat walk mesh

[Marked]

Trying not to sound too negative - I am certain what you have done works a treat -

It looks to me what you have done with the scalloping is duplicate the action of the sloped mesh that Wal specifies for his "non-gem" build of banker, and potentially reduce the effectiveness of the catwalk for those people chasing the gems.

In your little sluice at the start of topic, I would be a little worried at the seeming lack of length in the skid plate leading up to the mesh; I guess if your "flow reducer" is close to hard against the bottom, it will be negating any stratification of the heavier materials anyway.

Personally, I would ditch the mat, move your mesh (or use ready made sloped) in place of, and have a nice long skid plate for the heavies to drop to the bottom before reaching the mesh.

I have run a home-made walbanker for over three years and agree whole-heartedly with the mesh on bare bottom principle. Having checked carefully on many occasions now, have only ever seen a fly-speck or two make it past the mesh in a dialed-in banker.

Cheers for effort but.

 

[iamagoldenoldie2]

after reading all the posts on the type of mesh and the purpose of such is that it liquefies the material fed into the sluice so the heavies drop out and the lighter stuff gets washed away thus the taper in the design to influence velocity if it works then it works mudgee's highbanker is a shortie and he's of the opinion that ir works well, same as wal's design its a little longer the crucial element is the catwalk mesh think i found some but they want $25 a metre 600 mm wide so I could get 6 bits out of a metre length ,300 mm long and 300 mm wide

 

[mudgee hunter]

I will stipulate now, that I do not chase gems. And this modification has zero to do with such. Strictly gold catchment in the first 400mm.
And running this modificationsis using a teared high banker with 20mm high cat walk mesh. Not the 12mm stuff.
Wals design needs a 400m skid plate before hand as the material from the cable falls vertically from above. Thus adding an extra 400mm of unesseary length to the banker.
the slanted mesh is a totally different material, and is NOT comparative in any means.
I would run this banker alone at 400mm with just the one trapping method as described, but stability comes into play.
I would rather a longer hopper if anything!
You will see caking of mud and silt in wals videos if you take a proper look at him stripping his unit... this is NOT what you want.
As I said previously... shovel for shovel will prove the point. Some will never understand the physics of it and the simplicity....
to those I do not apologize to, yet feel sorry for their ignorance.
Run a 1200mm+ banker and stick to not understanding.

 

[mudgee hunter]

I have previously posted about the topic of the Wal flat banker Vs a teared hopper design, for those who where making the choice between the two designs. And with reading it, obviously I choose the variable teared design out right.
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=21885

* compact size ( speaks for itself! )

The banker shown that "Marker" has described as being "little" is actually 1400mm long, if the hopper length is actually factored in as it should be. And can sit on the rear seat with easy room for a decent esky!

* once you shovel your material into the hopper, 95% self cleaning with no need to put your shovel down and go stand next to it and rake it all out. Big down time lost to do this process.

*aprox 400mm of extra length is added and needed in the Wal banker, as the material from the hopper falls directly from the cable tray above. Thus it needs this skid plate. This is simply NOT needed with a teared hopper and the mesh fitted like explained.

*water flow dynamics are totally different between these two units.

At running the same amount of water volume into each of these of these two units...

The Wal banker gets its water speed mostly from the negative angle it has been set up at.

A teared hopper arrangement catches all the water above in the hopper, then it descends at a faster ratio than the base is "dialed in at" ,

And drops it in a smaller concentrated area at the rear of the base. So it has a faster approach to mesh, eliminating the skid (400m+).

If you are having trouble understanding this... imagine settting a Wal banker up DEAD FLAT!

Would it work running at the same water volume per minute as what it would at the correct "dialled in" angle?

NO! .... Why? The water is dispersed over a large area, falling vertically through the cable tray (like shower) onto the"skid plate" area with the bulk of the material. Once full, it would overflow at the same rate as the volume in. And at best taking light material like silt and sand with it. And caking or compaction would happen within the first shovel load.

With the higher pitch fall gained by the angle of the hopper, being directed as one concentrated wave starting at the rear with the material already in the water with velocity, has a much more efficient run up at the mesh.

Thus I can run this unit DEAD FLAT!

*if one was to swear by mesh, with only ever getting a fly poo speck after it... why have the moss and bread create?

Uneeded extra length then.

I would be getting the grinder out and cutting it down!

 

[Keitzy]

have you got a pic of the inside of your hopper ?

 

[mudgee hunter]

Yes Keitz, i will put them up asap, but having nett issues. For size comparison, these are 450mm spray bars. Personally I wished I made it 150mm longer, and I would of used the 600mm irrigation risers. Mostly to take a large bucket dumping for the odd occassion of doing such.
You will notice there is a bash plate affixed to the top face. Just for when I throw brick sized rocks at it etc.
The spray bar configuration is 2x25mmmx 450mm bars. Linked with 25mm continuous thread into a 32/25 reducer then into a 32mm tee,
40/32 reducer to 40mm male camlock.
1.6mm is fine when folded up into this shape adding strength.
Another unit I made had a peice of 12x8mm angle (custom cut size) pop riveted inveted at the top edge of the cable tray, this keyed into a peice of sail track that had half the "C" section cut out.
giving it good strength across the top, and it had more ease of seating.
leaving a 12mm lip either side of the cut out for the drop area is highly recommended for strength, with the direction deflector on either side.
leave 20mm lip on the lower part of the base as well, here sandwich it with 2 pieces of 20x20mm angle. This is mostly for water deflection at a high raised pitch.
the 8mm threaded rod aids a stiffner and back rest tor the cable tray.
the 2nd classifier is 8mm punched sheet, with a folded lip either side, this I beleive is worth it, as small unbroken clods etc get a good extra soaking here. Plus extra classification etc.
But this is not fitted Parral to the base or cable tray, yet higher at the top end tappering down lower, aiding against clogging.
Hinged via 2x SS 8mm cap screws with a hard nylon washer in between. With correct torque on the nyloc nuts you can get the hopper to behave nicely when adjusting pitch etc.
10x10x3mm angle fitted to the underside for the swing arm to lock into. A 10mm air gap between each one is recommended, and using 8mm SS bar for the swing arm.
Two simple holes drilled either side at the end of the sway bar position, left with a bit of slack lets you adjust the angle of the spray easil with a twist, or a quick few turns you can swap your spray bars over to a different slotted pair, handy for going between wet gravel to then hard dry dirt where I have finer cuts to increase the pressure without changing the volume of water.

 

[mudgee hunter]

 

[mudgee hunter]

 

[mudgee hunter]

 

[mudgee hunter]

 

[mudgee hunter]

 

[mudgee hunter]

 

[mudgee hunter]

 

[mudgee hunter]

 

[mudgee hunter]

I will add a few tips and tricks to building a banker on a new topic post, covering thing you dont realize untill you actually build one or two, THEN try and run it. Hopefully it will save some people some head aches and short cuts to a successful happy build.
I will never be a person who replicates a build, never improve on it, and say it's the "bees knees" !
There is always a better way... even if it is the best unit available.

 

[Bluecurrant]

How heavy is the unit now. I walk a few kms now with wals design banker and its pretty good on the back for that distance.

 

[mudgee hunter]

Not as light as my other two I sold. But I do have some SS lugs I might pop on like the others had.
I just had two 50mm straps that clipped on for back pack style. And its got one carry strap centered that also keeps the hopper flat for carryying.
I do admit I can generally get close on my spots as they are on private property.
I'll put it on the fish scales soon mate.