IDdesertman Posted July 13, 2018 Author Share Posted July 13, 2018 Heres a few more, these are still from dredges on the Yuba. I think I'm getting toward the end, I've got one more box to go through with maybe a dozen slides. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Reallly appreciate these Its amazing the amount of material they moved. Would have loved to see the sluice box prior to clean up Tom H. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampstomper Al Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 On 5/15/2018 at 8:57 PM, IDdesertman said: Here's one more pic of the above contraption... found a note on the this slide that reads " Dredge near Sonoita, Arizona. June 1961". Seeing this rig in its 'given location' makes me suspect there are some folks who have for years been doing quite decently for themselves quietly dry washing locations and outside perimeters S of Greaterville, E of Madera Valley, N of Pategonia and W of Sonoita.. Swamp PS: To those on here who can most likely confirm / refute, I, for one, expect to hear nothing.. And do you mind if I crash at your place for a couple months..? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L Prock Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Not a dredge but built by the Yuba Dredge company. This one is up for auction. https://gobidtoday.hibid.com/lot/45656906/yuba-ball-tread-tractor-model-10-20 In 1914, the Ball Tread Company was purchased by the Yuba Construction Company, a large California firm that specialized in dredging for gold in the Yuba River, and in building gold dredging machinery. Yuba continued to sell the 12-25 and a larger 18-35 Ball Tread, building the tractors in their Marysville and Benecia plants. https://www.farmcollector.com/tractors/the-crawler-that-rolled 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saul R W Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 On 11/22/2018 at 8:44 AM, L Prock said: Not a dredge but built by the Yuba Dredge company. This one is up for auction. https://gobidtoday.hibid.com/lot/45656906/yuba-ball-tread-tractor-model-10-20 In 1914, the Ball Tread Company was purchased by the Yuba Construction Company, a large California firm that specialized in dredging for gold in the Yuba River, and in building gold dredging machinery. Yuba continued to sell the 12-25 and a larger 18-35 Ball Tread, building the tractors in their Marysville and Benecia plants. https://www.farmcollector.com/tractors/the-crawler-that-rolled What a great old piece of machinery. I love the steering system, including the front wheel direction indicator. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muley Posted December 25, 2019 Share Posted December 25, 2019 Does anyone have any pictures of the Randsburg dredge that operated in the Randsburg California area? The only picture that I have seen is the one on page 74? of a drywashing book by the late Jim Straight's book Advanced Prospecting & Detecting for Hardrock Gold which shows a floating washplant not an actual "Dredge". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Ron Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 I got to watch the last operating bucket dredge in Northern CA on Indian Creek in Scott Valley, an operation run by the Harms Brothers. It was awesome to watch...They got beaucoup gold but, like most aggressive placer operations, they did not recover enough to make expenses....Cheers, Unc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LipCa Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Indian creek or Rattlesnake creek? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDdesertman Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 Adding to an old thread to add a dredge pic I just ran across, from "Gold and Silver in Oregon." Ran through a "colorizer just for fun. "Murphy-Murray dredge on Foots Creek, Jackson County, i n January 1941 . Capacity 4000 cubic yards daily, electric powered, 67 buckets, of 3.5 cubic-foot capacity; dug 20 feet below water line. Steel hull 81 by 37 by 6 feet, gantries, and superstructure." 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAU? Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 Great photos, thanks everyone! One question- they obviously spent a lot of time and materials putting in all that siding and those windows on them. I understand the need for shelter from cold for both workers and keeping the plumbing from freezing in the northern climates, but even the desert dredges were enclosed to look more like ships or buildings. Why would they have done that, I would think it was not just for aesthetics. It did look like one photo showed the dredge being dismantled and you could see how complex the framing was inside, they were pretty bare looking without the siding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Au Seeker Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 In a desert blowing sand would not be good for all the mechanicals inside a dredge. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAU? Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 1 minute ago, Au Seeker said: In a desert blowing sand would not be good for all the mechanicals inside a dredge. That makes sense! Bearings and such. They certainly were painstakingly dressed up! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Slim Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 31 minutes ago, Au Seeker said: In a desert blowing sand would not be good for all the mechanicals inside a dredge. I know that blowing sand killed a front end loader in the Quartzsite area a few years ago. The desert winds have been brutal for the last few weeks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eekom Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostMiner Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 A tough life for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAU? Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 On 2/6/2022 at 10:34 AM, Dakota Slim said: I know that blowing sand killed a front end loader in the Quartzsite area a few years ago. The desert winds have been brutal for the last few weeks. They should have been using one of those vortex separators for the air filter. Aussies know how to do things like that right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAU? Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 On 4/30/2018 at 5:37 AM, chrisski said: Imagine the fun and adventure of setting that rig up in that remote area. Thanks for the pics. Imagine the fun and pleasure of cleaning out the heavies from their pickings! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Slim Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 9 minutes ago, GotAU? said: They should have been using one of those vortex separators for the air filter. Aussies know how to do things like that right. Good point. The owner/operator was a farm boy from Iowa. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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