Does anybody make Gold Rocker Boxes?

[tvanwho]

Am trying to find a liteweight and not too expensive gold rocker box thing for use where they don't allow anything more than panning/sucker sticks,etc?
Allen Trees has one over at GoldDredgeBuilders.com but wants $600 for it ,altho it comes with a manual operated water pump of some sort.And there is the Gold Cradle but they want $500.
Angus MacKirk had a cheap little plastic one for $59 but it is no longer on their website after I made an inquiry yesterday?
I need something thats under 200 bucks and fits in a backpack and not very heavy, will be used near a creek with water in it.
Any suggestions?

-Tom

 

[James02]

Roaring Camp at Pine Grove, CA has a good one for about $300. http://www.roaringcampgold.com/ give them a call.

 

[tvanwho]

I went to their website and looked under Products but NO Rocker Boxes? Oh well, will keep looking or try to make my own, trouble is wood tends to get heavy especially when waterlogged.I doubt I can make it from aluminum since I don't have a metal bender at home. I do have a rivet gun , vise, workbench, drill and a couple saws.
I called the Gold Cradle guy today and asked for the price? He asked if I was sitting down? I said YES. He says, well you better lie down.!! He quotes me $500 + shipping from Oregon for something that looks like it should be half that. But he claims the performance of his unit is such, that its worth it? I think my wallet says to keep looking !!
Has anybody used the Pyramid Pro pan? It is my alternative plan B for high non- motorized gold production since I do have one, just need to get out and play with it.Any tips are appreciated?

-Tom

 

[James02]

Call them or email. They have them. The're $275 plus shipping. I had one, I know they wark.

 

[steve herschbach]

For under $200 that is probably your best option. I just received my new Gold Grabbin' Rocker from Gold Dredge Builders warehouse. $599 plus over $100 to mail to Alaska. Well, built, quality piece of equipment for the money though. You want more of a prospecting unit and this is a work rig.

 

[tvanwho]

Can you make us a video of your unit in action Steve? Tell us about that water pump they supplied you with? Roaring Camp just told me they do have a unit for $275 and I requested more details. Am thinking I can almost build something with a short sluice box shell, rivet gun, scrap ribbed carpet I have, aluminum angle, and the hardware store. I found, and set for my pc background picture, a photo of an older aluminum rocker, to get the ol brain to thinking....how to make one...

-Tom

 

[steve herschbach]

The pump is a Whale Gusher Titan Hand Diaphragm Pump - 1 1/2in. Ports, 1680 GPH, Model# ND4418 runs about $120.00

Got no time to make videos right now myself. No need - here is one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?client=mv-google&hl=en&gl=US&v=3kEK3ae5fTY&nomobile=1

 

[tvanwho]

Roaring Camp never got back to me with the rockerbox details, sooooo......I went to Online Metals.com and ordered 80 bucks worth of aluminum to hopefully build my own small rockerbox based on an obsolete aluminum design I found under yahoo Photos of Rocker boxes.I have the photo on my desktop set as background for inspiration and a rough guide for when my metal parts come. I had Online Metals cut the parts to size, near as I could. They do have a cutting charge of 3 bucks but this can be avoided by never ordering more than 2 of the exact same custom cut size. Not having a metal bender or metal cutter at home is a problem sometimes. Hopefully, I can bend things with my vise/ hammer , then rivet the parts together using angled aluminum joints.
Am working on a micro size highbanker this week, set to use a 4 amp bilge pump , as a sampling unit.
Where can I get a 12 volt gel cell to run this off of for a few hours? A garden tractor battery weighs too much and I 'd rather have a sealed battery to avoid battery acid leaks in my knapsack.How big and expensive a solar panel would be required to run a 4 amp ,12 volt bilge pump?

-Tom