Dredging old pond. Suggestions anyone? :shrug:

[swanie1]

Back in the 80's my treasure hunting friend and I, each, bought 3 " gold dredges that were mounted on two inner tubes. Through much research on old swimming beaches, here in the midwest, that had been closed to swimming over the years, and many phone calls, letters, and personal contacts, we sucked up a lot of good stuff from the lake bottoms of many old beaches. Some of the beaches that we dredged had a nice sand bottom and others were silted in with black muck mud that we had to suck through to get to the good bed that the coins and jewelry were buried in. Some had a lot of rock on the bottom which made dredging more difficult. In the early 90's, we, each, ordered Keene 3" Coin/Jewelry dredges and continued sucking many lake bottoms.
I was in the water for only 30 minutes in an old lake and had sucked myself into a 4' deep hole and sucked up a beautiful 1.10ct diamond in a masonic ring. Two years ago, I was in another lake and sucked up a man's 13.5 gram, 14kt, wide engraved band and a .50ct solitaire engagement ring. A lot of the rings and coins sink pretty deeply in the lake bottom. When we suck holes in the beach/lake bottom, we move our dredge sluice over so that it is directly over the hole so as to refill the holes. Our dredges can move up to 3 cu. yards/hr. I have accumulated quite a collection of gold and silver rings and many coins by using my dredge. It is, however, becoming increasingly difficult to gain permission from community officials due to insurance liabilities, etc. I have attached a picture of the two of us in a lake with our Keene dredges.

 

[khouse]

Thanks for all the info! I didn't know they made coin and jewelry dredges. Thanks again.

 

[rmptr]

Hi Swanie,

Were you screening your tailings after the sluice, or relying upon the riffles to catch valuables?

Where did coins and rings drop out in the sluice, usually?

Did you need air?

(Amazing how many things there are that WON'T pass through a 3" nozzle, isn't it? LoL)

HH
rmptr

 

[swanie1]

We, pretty much, rely upon catching the items in the riffles. The dredge came with a large coin basket that goes on the end of the sluice but it can be a pain in the ### since it fills up with rock and weights down the end of the dredge. You have to constantly clean out the basket. I'm sure that we lose some stuff out the end of the sluice and, sometimes, we go back over our piles to check. One day, I looked in the sluice box and saw the glitter of gold. I pulled it out and it was a solid dental gold partial plate with three teeth embedded in it. I'm not sure what kt the gold is. We, each, bought wet suits to wear when the water is cooler as we stand, some-days, in the water for 8 hrs. Dredging is a lot of work as we have to load up two dredges, engines, hoses, nozzles, etc into my van to haul to the lakes.
Then, you have to unload all of the equipment and assemble it on the beach. We are exhausted after being in the water, all day, and then have to disassemble everything and load it back into the van to go home. My Keene dredge came with a T-80 air compressor, and 160 gpm pump, hose, etc. and I bought diving mask, regulator, etc. However, I had never had underwater training so removed the diving equipment from my dredge and sold it as I was scared working underwater with weight belt, etc. I just fasten a 6' length of steel conduit to the end of the 3" hose and wade out as far as possible to suck. One place, I was in the water for 30 min., shoulder deep,. when I looked in the sluice and saw the glitter of gold and sparkle and pulled out a 14kt Masonic ring with a 1.10ct diamond in it. I hope that I have answered some of your questions.