Murachu’s Banjo/highbanker

Just thought I would bring you up to speed on the new type of Banjo/highbanker we have been using over the last season. The Banjo is the one Murachu designed with the split bottom, this system is working very well I kinda like it over the flat bottom units. The reason been it seems to work the wash in a much better fashion and it gives you a removable drop box in front of the riffle area. Any gold that gets out of the tray is trapped at this point it is only on very odd occasions I will find gold past the first riffle. No gold is found in the bottom section of the Banker. I have done a short video to show how I work my riffle area but I am not very good with the camera but I think you will be able to see it ok.

http://s1354.beta.photobucket.com/user/james_1017/media/everythingsetandrunningright_zps291f8931.mp4.html


Link to Murachu’s Banjo/highbanker


https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t3854-updated-banjo-highbanker-plans#43449

Nice short vid James

P.s. Nevu did like magicians, practice practice practice! Oh I give in, Come on, tell us, How'd yu do it??

Mate your riffles are clearing out beautifully, Please tell me that was just fine sand and silt you shovelled in ?

Nar you'd nevu have guessed I was haven a hard time with my cantankerous, should work better now, new bute mods, self inflicted nightmare HB :

Where there's a problem, there's a solution "Where there's a problem there's a solution" I know there's a bloody problem, where's the solution?
Oh look a beer!

Thanks mate glade that video worked not real good at that kind of thing. {Please tell me that was just fine sand and silt you shovelled in} Mate in my top hopper it classifiers down to just under ½ an inch with 2 mm jetting running down both sides of the unit. The wash you see going through the unit is just above pipe clay with a pipe clay mixed. If you watch the video you can see how the water cavitates {bubbles} in one line over the drop area before the riffle section. This is the best gold trap even better than the gold tray. Total clean up ¾ of a super sluice pan around 20 minutes to gold been put in me sucker bottle.

Cheers mate James 101

Chris mate post some photo's of your top hopper Top, side & bottom. cheers

Welcome to my nightmare Well part of it!

Top of hopper showing the 6mm woven mesh! New spray bars with 2 row 2mm jetting! not enough flow, Close but not quite, reckon 2.5 will be the go!
I gave my 3 row 3mm jetting bars a quick go with the new mods WAY too much water

Bottom view??


Cheers
Chris

Someday just drill,every second or third hole to 2.5!

Chris This is what I can see that may cause you troubles.

1. The mesh looks like it will clog up which will stop a lot of wash entering the bottom hopper.

2. You need to place a small angle stop at the rear of the top hopper as shown in the photo of my unit. This will stop water and was spilling out the rear end of your unit.

3. The slick plate under the hopper dose not look right. To me I am thinking it needs more angle.

4. Your jetting pipe looks to be 32 mm I have found that 20 mm down to 15 mm works best for me. As Ark has stated just drill every second or third hole to 2.5 mm.

Hope that can help mate cheers







©

G'day James
The pipes are 20mm but only 450 long, I'm guessing your's are a tad longer looking at your pic, if thats the case, then larger jetting should counter the diff in length??
It does have a 12mm high stop at the end where you see the holes!

As for the angle of the skid plate, I'd say your onto it, it's only a 2" drop from front to back!

As for the classifier there needs to be an emoticon pic to show "Rickenrackensazelfrazelrickenrar"

Cheers mate, the bins looken good

Cheers
Chris.

Chris I think the slick plate & mesh may be the biggest part of your problem. My jetting runs up to 500 mm I stopped them there, because the back of the top hopper is at an angle which permits self cleaning at that point I did not need to jet all the way to the end. I find the slots are the best shape for the punch plate area in the hopper which runs the full length of the hopper. The slick plate which is placed under the hopper starts at ½ inch down to 2 ½ inch drop where the wash enters the main sluice. The slick plate under the hopper plays a very important roll in as much as to let the gold settle into the wash before it enters into the main sluice.

Cheers mate. James 101

Thanks James

Reckon why me hopper looks all wrong from the underside is because I built the strike plate into the hopper

I'm limited on depth where the hopper attach's cause of the capped of false bottom?? ?? Arrr yu get that!

I'l give the slotted classifier a go, if I can find some wide enough??

In the mean time, I'm in need of a gold fix, so a panning I will go

Cheers
Chris

someday wrote:Thanks James

Reckon why me hopper looks all wrong from the underside is because I built the strike plate into the hopper

I'm limited on depth where the hopper attach's cause of the capped of false bottom?? ?? Arrr yu get that!

I'l give the slotted classifier a go, if I can find some wide enough??

In the mean time, I'm in need of a gold fix, so a panning I will go

Cheers
Chris

That’s an easy fix mate just fit a lift kit to the rear end of the sluice. cheers

James me add ons are getting heavy enough as it is, Yep contemplated that one, or just rebuild the back end

Gave me spray bars the 2.5 treatment, works so much better, remember this is a foot wide, big mistake??!!

Here's a pic of the back end



The hole's haven't been de-bur'd properly yet, so there's a bit of fan spray happening!!

Mate that looks good I like the spray pattern. I would lift the back to give her just that little bit more angle not too much but jus a bit. I would also lay the hopper a bit flatter not much but a bit. Looks good like to hear how she goes. I winter you soon learn how to work with the wind in regards to the fan spray and getting wet. Grin Cheers
©

Front end, me riffly front section not finished till I can see it working properly, the first riffle up-stream I made movable, at 110mm centres it works so much better!

I'm a stickler for reverse angle riffles, to me there's no comparison, this is through hands on with the riffle in me hands, moving distance and angle shows so much variation

Well it does to me



Cheers
Chris

P.s. I'm all ears for criticism!

Looks good to me but as you you say You have to try it. Angles is about the only area now i would look at. cheers mate The

Whiskers wrote:In winter you soon learn how to work with the wind in regards to the fan spray and getting wet. Grin Cheers

Last winter -2 deg I'm standing in the middle of a river thinken if someone offered me a grand a day to do this I'd tell em where to go?
yet I'l do it for a couple grams on my own accord Yep where a crazy bunch

Have that top row of jets hitting about 12mm from the sides, this will give you a good cross over in the centre of the hopper. Then cut the sluice section in half, you don't need it and won't lose gold.

Welcome snowygold I like my bottom sluice to be around 1 meter long also. Everyone has a different outlook on this point. But if extra length is required for our units then we have a addon that can be attached. But the attachment must conform to certain requirements.
Welcome to the group cheers James 101

Good call on the spray pat'n, the bars in me pic weren't even tight, just a quick pic! that clearly shows what your sayen!!

Nar not about to shorten it just yet, me an micro fine gold still got some issues to sort out

Cheers for the input.

Chris.

On a 300mm wide box you can drop your length down to about 800mm, just leave at least 200mm of slick between your catch tray and the first riffle. Don't go less than a 10mm classifier though. 12mm works great on a wide box.
The 10-12mm concentrates held up behind(note behind) your riffles will be enough to hold back the finest of flour gold.

as for classifiers, like I said on a different post, my 11mm square hole classifier was the best to date, catch tray's worked so much better, though it took a lot of water to get them performing!
The idea behind the latest mods is to lose the firefighter for a pump with far less weight??

I'm all for James's elongated classifier, just haven't found anything with the dimensions to do the job!

snowygold wrote:On a 300mm wide box you can drop your length down to about 800mm, just leave at least 200mm of slick between your catch tray and the first riffle. Don't go less than a 10mm classifier though. 12mm works great on a wide box.
The 10-12mm concentrates held up behind(note behind) your riffles will be enough to hold back the finest of flour gold.

Good advice snowygold. ..... Chris keep an eye out for some electrical cable tray but if you use that you must put some supports under it or your hopper will belly out. cheers all James 101