Bucket Trommel

[GotAU?]

There are several versions of plans for these online, I made this one and it works very well. Its handy if you want to sort out the big stuff before throwing it on the drywasher, and also  in the garden for composting and getting rocks out of your soil.

 

Here are the plans I used (credits: Mike Laine):

http://mlaine.net/Trom/

Edit - the link above is closed - Wayback has it:  https://web.archive.org/web/20120305053333/http://mlaine.homeip.net/Trom/Trom

PM me if you need help building it.

[malo]

Yeah man!  I posted this project on the net about ten years ago.  I still have the original trommel and have used it every summer as I travel through gold country.  I replaced the barrel buckets last year (year 10) and put new screens on every other year.  I live in the Imperial Valley of California and set up my units at the fair.  Great fun talking to all the gold hounds.  It is handy for rivers and out in the desert.  I never use hand classifiers any more.  With a shoulder strap I can hike in, away from the beaten path where the yeller stuff is still hiding.  Have fun with the design.  Lots of folks have added spray bars with pumps and batteries but I find a small bucket works fine and has multiple purposes.  I don't have to carry batteries, hoses, and pumps.  The best thing about the bucket trommel is that if your start with 1/2" screen for strength, you can easily wrap a 1/4" or 1/8" screen around the outside to classify down.  Perfect for worms, gold, archeology, pebbles, compost, and classifying just about anything that needs it.  It goes everywhere I go ... it's in the RV right now.

Cheers,

Mike

[GotAU?]

47 minutes ago, malo said:

Yeah man!  I posted this project on the net about ten years ago.  I still have the original trommel and have used it every summer as I travel through gold country.  I replaced the barrel buckets last year (year 10) and put new screens on every other year.  I live in the Imperial Valley of California and set up my units at the fair.  Great fun talking to all the gold hounds.  It is handy for rivers and out in the desert.  I never use hand classifiers any more.  With a shoulder strap I can hike in, away from the beaten path where the yeller stuff is still hiding.  Have fun with the design.  Lots of folks have added spray bars with pumps and batteries but I find a small bucket works fine and has multiple purposes.  I don't have to carry batteries, hoses, and pumps.  The best thing about the bucket trommel is that if your start with 1/2" screen for strength, you can easily wrap a 1/4" or 1/8" screen around the outside to classify down.  Perfect for worms, gold, archeology, pebbles, compost, and classifying just about anything that needs it.  It goes everywhere I go ... it's in the RV right now.

Cheers,

Mike

Thanks, Mike! I love this thing! Great idea wrapping with smaller screen as needed. I really appreciate this, it made drywashing in cobble much better with my lighter duty Thompson- otherwise I think I will bend the grizzly on it sooner or later, and it helps get more smalls in faster when you aren’t clearing larger rocks off of it.

Another bonus you mentioned in the plans is that it helps break up dirt clods and loosens material stuck to the larger rocks, which is very true.

Thanks again for putting this out there for us!

Cheers,

Anthony

Edited June 19, 2020 by GotAU?

[malo]

On 6/18/2020 at 4:28 PM, malo said:

 

Check out the new link:  http://mlaine.epizy.com/Trom/

Yeah man!  I posted this project on the net about ten years ago.  I still have the original trommel and have used it every summer as I travel through gold country.  I replaced the barrel buckets last year (year 10) and put new screens on every other year.  I live in the Imperial Valley of California and set up my units at the fair.  Great fun talking to all the gold hounds.  It is handy for rivers and out in the desert.  I never use hand classifiers any more.  With a shoulder strap I can hike in, away from the beaten path where the yeller stuff is still hiding.  Have fun with the design.  Lots of folks have added spray bars with pumps and batteries but I find a small bucket works fine and has multiple purposes.  I don't have to carry batteries, hoses, and pumps.  The best thing about the bucket trommel is that if your start with 1/2" screen for strength, you can easily wrap a 1/4" or 1/8" screen around the outside to classify down.  Perfect for worms, gold, archeology, pebbles, compost, and classifying just about anything that needs it.  It goes everywhere I go ... it's in the RV right now.

Cheers,

Mike