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Welcome to the GottaGetGold dredges page. When choosing a gold dredge you can be faced with a ton of different options to think about. We hope this article by one of our on staff helps you.
Picking out a gold dredge is a lot like buying a car. You can do a lot of shopping around and be only more confused by the end of the day. I can recall the first time I looked at the dredges side by side and read the pamphlet of features on each one. I didn’t even know the difference between a 4 inch or 6 inch and don’t anyone ask me about a venture as I stand looking like a deer staring at the headlights of a Hummer barreling down on me.
 Well being the nut job that I am as soon as I realized how much I needed to know I went right around and asked every prospector I could. Every single nugget hunter I knew on the web was messaging me and e-mailing me tons of information on dredges. I also contacted a couple of manufacturers for more information. So when I came back to the dealer a few weeks later I walked in like a trained samurai ready for his challenge.
The very first thing you should probably consider in getting a dredge is size. Now I’m not talking about the size of the dredge nozzle. I’m talking about the overall unit itself. Are you planning on dredging alone? Will you be hiking into places unknown that you have to haul your dredge in and out of on a daily basis? How good of shape are you in? These are all factors when picking out your dredge. You can find a good little 2 ½ inch dredge that weighs less than 100lbs and can be pretty easily carried overhead if you are in reasonable shape. On the other hand you can find a 4 inch dredge that weighs more than your family and must be disassembled or carried by 4 strongmen to get it down to the water. The simple truth is that the longer it takes you to get to the water and setup, the less time you will have to suction up material. So be sure not to take this factor too lightly.
Another factor to consider that will affect the weight issue is whether or not to get a hookah system that is attached to the dredge. You have a few different options in choosing a hookah. You can purchase a unit that attaches to your dredge (eliminating the smaller dredges in most cases) or a stand alone unit that comes with either a separate motor or a battery powered electric model. For more detailed information on the different types of regulators and the differences between them visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_regulator and you will see more details than you could ever hope to get anywhere else. You may also be a shallow dredger and therefore a simple snorkel would be your cheapest and most effective bet. If this is the case, be sure to pick your snorkel carefully. I personally prefer the units with the one way valve at the base that allow you to blow water out much quicker than a unit where you have to blow the water up the hose. Also look for goggles that have a large viewing area and silicone seals which are more comfortable than solid plastic units. GottaGetGold will have a growing number of recommended goggles that should match your requirements and budget ranges.
After you have thought about weight it’s time to think about the dredge size. Some of you will know the difference between a 2 inch and 8 inch dredge, but for those who don’t this can be very confusing and a stopping point in deciding the unit that is best for you. The size of a dredge is determined by the size of the nozzle at the end of the suction hose. The larger the nozzle the more material you can generally suck up at any one time. This may on the outside sound like bigger is better, but that is not necessarily the case. Though with the proper engine you can pull up more material, remember this general fact; the more material you suck up at any given time, the higher the likelihood of your gold not catching in the sluice and ending up in your tailing pile. Of course there are other factors in this as well such as engine speed, sluice width, and the pure percentage of material to the amount of water you are moving as well. I have on several occasions though gone through tailing piles and pulled a fair share of gold off of them while filling the holes they made with my little 2 ½ inch dredge.
 Speaking of the sluice, this is quite easily the most important part of your dredge. For those who don’t know anything about dredging the sluice is where the material that is sucked up through the hose is deposited before being classified to heavy material. When the material fist hits the sluice from the intake it goes through or over a classifying screen which can range from an eighth of an inch and up, the larger the holes the larger the material that can drop through. This may sound like a good thing but consider this, the bigger something is the more likely it can knock the material already down there loose. Below the classifying screen is usually ribbed rubber matting that is good at catching a lot of the gold in and of itself. After falling through or over the screen the material is carried by the water pressure over the riffles. The riffles help to stir the material and create eddies behind them that drops black sand, lead, and gold behind them as the water slows and swirls behind each riffle. The riffles are usually evenly spaced apart and are on top of ribbed carpet, ribbed matting, miners moss or a combination. Personally I like having the miners moss halfway down after the ribbed matting on top of the carpet. This allows me to pan the three separately and adjust my water speed if I have more gold in the carpet at the end of the sluice than I feel like I should. Most of the gold should be caught fairly close to the intake. If you have a good amount of gold towards the end of your sluice than you need to make adjustments and tell me where I can find your tailing pile.
Sluices also come in a wide variety of lengths, sizes, and styles. The wider your sluice the slower the overall material will move through it giving you better classification. You also have the options now on many of the larger dredges to go with a double or triple sluice which helps to further classify and separate the material to allow you to find smaller and smaller gold. However, a seasoned professional who is familiar with his or her own machine can also recover a fair amount of fine gold provided they exercise water control, material percentages, and proper setup. So this decision is entirely your own.
Next you will want to decide on the type of intake that you want. Before we get into the two we will have to talk about how the actual motor works. Dredges work by what is call a venturi vacuum. In essence, water Is pulled into an impeller on the back of the motor and is pushed into the sluice. This creates a vacuum which allows material to be sucked up through the suction hose without having to go through the motor itself. Your two options at this point are a power jet or a suction nozzle. In a power jet the water intake is connected directly to the metal mounting that shoots both the water and the material through it. The advantage of this is a much more flexible and easily maneuverable hose for sucking up material. The suction nozzle has a second hose that runs down to the intake nozzle at the end of the hose and shoots the water and material directly up the hose itself. The biggest advantage to this becomes less clogs and the ability to work with a much longer hose without losing suction.
Next, look at your engine, I recommend a four stroke engine minimum no matter what size dredge you get. You will be able to adjust your engine speed much easier and four strokes are more fuel efficient that two strokes could ever hope to be. Also, if you decided to get a hookah can that engine handle the additional power requirement or will you be left with no choice but a stand alone model? Even for my small dredge I have a four stroke Honda which rarely sputters and starts quickly on the first pull. Also, if you are going to put a hookah on your engine make sure your exhaust valve has an extension on it which diverts the polluted air pouring out of it from the hookah. Otherwise you will be sorry as soon as you get your first lungful of engine exhaust.
There are many other nuances and details to mull over when choosing the dredge that’s right for you personally but with a little extra work and some honest requirements you can find the gold dredger that will be with you for years to come.
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