- Joined
- Sep 9, 2017
- Messages
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- Reaction score
- 98
After years of going out panning I finally set out to get of my ass and build a trommel. This led me to doing the old YT searches and found a series teaching you how to make a trommel from a combination of buckets, wiper moter and a few other bits and pieces.
Here is a video showing the build mid build https://youtu.be/BIu0P--pXiI
After finishing the bucket trommel and getting it out into the field i decided to walk away from it all together as I found it couldnt take the thrashing i had intended to pass upon it with some rich ground I'm working.
This led me to do the search around in search of a Australian made trommel for the hobby porspecting.
Low and behold I find the "Aussie Gold Dog trommel" and thought how good is this, just what im after.
Storey cut short, I part with my bullets (place my order) Then the fun begins we never ending stories and disappearing acts... each time coming within a whisper of thinking I've been had (his disappeared with the loot) he would then come back with a new excuse and new time frame.
Fast forward a few more months I end up having this thing delivered with the last excuse being " I told my mate to ship it but doesnt look like he did"
Anyway enough pissing and moaning about that.
So now months in the making we have the Gold dog trommel, So i set out with the work Van, trailer and IBC with 1000L we plucked out of a dam and headed to some ground in Whroo which know to be rich.
After setting it up on a makeshift jig straight away i notice the following issues.
- Hopper is to small, when water strikes your material is likely to get shot out the back (unless you load with a teaspoon)
- Spray bars are shooting water down the outside of the unit (WTF) im not talking little overspray im talking missing the drum entirely.
You then have another external spray bar shooting from the top of the unit down instead of inside the unit.
- No internal collar in the unit so when material goes into the trommel it can discharge backwards onto the cog driving the unit and piss out the wrong side of the trommel resulting in un washed material hitting my banker.
Here is a video showing the issues https://youtu.be/xehfzJpUDLE
After digging around i found reviews to the same effect online & spoke to Omni fox trommels (Omni make top units but i prefer to buy Australian made) - and turns out this unit is a failed replica of the first series of Omni fox trommels out of USA with lots of missing key items that made it a good unit.
Anyhow moving forward so now im about $700 in the hole on something destined to gather dust in the shed I contacted a few metal fabricators and in my search come across a bloke that goes by the name of "Fly Customs". His based in North of Victoria and makes custom fabricated gold prospecting gear.
I showed him the videos of this unit in action and went over the things that need to be fixed and sure enough, dropped it to him and away we go....
This unit now kicks ass - his increased the size of the hopper, installed a internal collar to prevent backwashing out the trommel, reinstalled the spray barso the material gets a good wash, installed a flow guard on the hopper so i cant overload it and modded my highbanker to make sure i have a good jig.
Now this machine is a weapon.... if the golds there im taking it home.
Here is a video of me and a mate with the new build working some ground... happy days now....new hopper, spray bars, internal collar and few other items made a massive difference.
Heres a vid of the new build after Fly customs has given it a once over.
https://youtu.be/NF53VsYSUA0
erfect: ickshovel: :money: :Y: :beer:
Had i had my time again I would have gone straight to fly customs and got him to jig up the whole lot for me.
Since then Mitch from fly customs is now finishing my Shaker table, rock crusher and he doesn't know it yet but centrifuge
I hope this post saves someone the trouble of time/money wasted with gold dog trommels as comparing these two gold tool fabricators is like apples and oranges.
Heres a link to Mitchs FB page... makes some awesome gear.
https://www.facebook.com/FlyCustoms8/
*** Please note i was inspired to write this post today after being threatened with legal action if I leave a review online from Aussie Gold Dog after receiving a random message from them this week asking "if im still interested?" as if i was still mid purchase (chat attached belowower: )***
Here is a video showing the build mid build https://youtu.be/BIu0P--pXiI
After finishing the bucket trommel and getting it out into the field i decided to walk away from it all together as I found it couldnt take the thrashing i had intended to pass upon it with some rich ground I'm working.
This led me to do the search around in search of a Australian made trommel for the hobby porspecting.
Low and behold I find the "Aussie Gold Dog trommel" and thought how good is this, just what im after.
Storey cut short, I part with my bullets (place my order) Then the fun begins we never ending stories and disappearing acts... each time coming within a whisper of thinking I've been had (his disappeared with the loot) he would then come back with a new excuse and new time frame.
Fast forward a few more months I end up having this thing delivered with the last excuse being " I told my mate to ship it but doesnt look like he did"
Anyway enough pissing and moaning about that.
So now months in the making we have the Gold dog trommel, So i set out with the work Van, trailer and IBC with 1000L we plucked out of a dam and headed to some ground in Whroo which know to be rich.
After setting it up on a makeshift jig straight away i notice the following issues.
- Hopper is to small, when water strikes your material is likely to get shot out the back (unless you load with a teaspoon)
- Spray bars are shooting water down the outside of the unit (WTF) im not talking little overspray im talking missing the drum entirely.
You then have another external spray bar shooting from the top of the unit down instead of inside the unit.
- No internal collar in the unit so when material goes into the trommel it can discharge backwards onto the cog driving the unit and piss out the wrong side of the trommel resulting in un washed material hitting my banker.
Here is a video showing the issues https://youtu.be/xehfzJpUDLE
After digging around i found reviews to the same effect online & spoke to Omni fox trommels (Omni make top units but i prefer to buy Australian made) - and turns out this unit is a failed replica of the first series of Omni fox trommels out of USA with lots of missing key items that made it a good unit.
Anyhow moving forward so now im about $700 in the hole on something destined to gather dust in the shed I contacted a few metal fabricators and in my search come across a bloke that goes by the name of "Fly Customs". His based in North of Victoria and makes custom fabricated gold prospecting gear.
I showed him the videos of this unit in action and went over the things that need to be fixed and sure enough, dropped it to him and away we go....
This unit now kicks ass - his increased the size of the hopper, installed a internal collar to prevent backwashing out the trommel, reinstalled the spray barso the material gets a good wash, installed a flow guard on the hopper so i cant overload it and modded my highbanker to make sure i have a good jig.
Now this machine is a weapon.... if the golds there im taking it home.
Here is a video of me and a mate with the new build working some ground... happy days now....new hopper, spray bars, internal collar and few other items made a massive difference.
Heres a vid of the new build after Fly customs has given it a once over.
https://youtu.be/NF53VsYSUA0
erfect: ickshovel: :money: :Y: :beer: Had i had my time again I would have gone straight to fly customs and got him to jig up the whole lot for me.
Since then Mitch from fly customs is now finishing my Shaker table, rock crusher and he doesn't know it yet but centrifuge
I hope this post saves someone the trouble of time/money wasted with gold dog trommels as comparing these two gold tool fabricators is like apples and oranges.
Heres a link to Mitchs FB page... makes some awesome gear.
https://www.facebook.com/FlyCustoms8/
*** Please note i was inspired to write this post today after being threatened with legal action if I leave a review online from Aussie Gold Dog after receiving a random message from them this week asking "if im still interested?" as if i was still mid purchase (chat attached below
ower: )***
