Gotta say this looks terrible. The drum needs to spin faster to lift the rock much higher up the wall so that it free falls from a higher height. The spray bars need more water at the top of the drum or it needs mixer paddles to atleast make use of that space. You need to add a nugget ring and water retainer at the back end of the drum or you'll loose too much water. Also needs paddles or tumble bars mid way to bust up clay, lift heavy rock, and to better clean/mix the rock. Be sure to use greaseable drum rollers so the grit won't smoke your bearings. Sorry to be a negative nancy but I hate to see you lose potential gold
Thanks for your critique. This was the first test run after we built it. The drum can not be allowed to lift rocks higher, they hit the spray bar and jam the drum to a halt which is really bad for the hydraulic pump, motor, chain, tensioner, and one rock actually bent the spray bar. We also won't be adding any lifters for the same reasons. The bedrock here is very sharp and angular and had a tendency to snag objects in the drum so we went with a different approach to make the water tumble the material (which it does). We also declined to add a 'nugget ring' as there are no nuggets of that size to catch and would reduce throughout too much. The rocks are coming out spotless, even in heavy clay. Last but not least the urethane casters we chose are rated at over 1000lbs a piece and each has greasable bearings. I have heard all sorts of suggestions from all kinds of people. I can assure you every minute detail of this machine was purpose built for a reason. Also it's with noting the machine successfully ran all summer without a hitch and exceeded expectations in all aspects. "Terrible" indeed.
![GEEK TIMË [OFFICIAL AUDIO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ry-6RvkH880/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi Tyler, I'm a producer at RAW TV, we're the producers of Gold Rush and all of its spin off shows. Whats the best way of contacting you?
Gotta say this looks terrible. The drum needs to spin faster to lift the rock much higher up the wall so that it free falls from a higher height. The spray bars need more water at the top of the drum or it needs mixer paddles to atleast make use of that space. You need to add a nugget ring and water retainer at the back end of the drum or you'll loose too much water. Also needs paddles or tumble bars mid way to bust up clay, lift heavy rock, and to better clean/mix the rock. Be sure to use greaseable drum rollers so the grit won't smoke your bearings. Sorry to be a negative nancy but I hate to see you lose potential gold
Thanks for your critique. This was the first test run after we built it. The drum can not be allowed to lift rocks higher, they hit the spray bar and jam the drum to a halt which is really bad for the hydraulic pump, motor, chain, tensioner, and one rock actually bent the spray bar. We also won't be adding any lifters for the same reasons. The bedrock here is very sharp and angular and had a tendency to snag objects in the drum so we went with a different approach to make the water tumble the material (which it does).
We also declined to add a 'nugget ring' as there are no nuggets of that size to catch and would reduce throughout too much.
The rocks are coming out spotless, even in heavy clay.
Last but not least the urethane casters we chose are rated at over 1000lbs a piece and each has greasable bearings.
I have heard all sorts of suggestions from all kinds of people. I can assure you every minute detail of this machine was purpose built for a reason. Also it's with noting the machine successfully ran all summer without a hitch and exceeded expectations in all aspects.
"Terrible" indeed.