KAGY

Hi, what. is the reduced price ? $1100 shipped? Thanks

Good advice Chuck. Nugget hunting is much harder than beach hunting with many fewer real finds. If you go a few times and like nugget hunting you can look for a used Minelab SD or 3000 for about $1000-1500 OR think about swapping your excalibur for an infinium which is good for nuggets as well as underwater. Not many people are happy for long nugget hunting with a vlf. I have tried the Lobo and GB2 but they didn't come close to the SD2100 performance wise. I don't know if you go into the water... if not all the PI detectors are great in salty sand but waterproof. Good luck, Ken

Wow Jennifer, I'm starting to feel pretty smart after seeing some of these people! The other video showing the guy trying to sell the coin reminded me of an antique auction where I bought 2 quart ziploc baggies FULL of buffalo nickels and mercury dimes for $3.00 each! I ended up with face value of almost $75.00. Laughed all the way home. Ken

Wow... I sure miss all that snow.... I thought the water here in south Florida was pretty cold today .... now it doesn't seem that bad ! Grab your detector and head down here Grubstake. Ken Gardner

Hi Turkey. Are you testing at home? If so you may have so much electrical interference that your machine can't be dialed in so you won't be able to ground balance. My SD2100 (unmodded) will easily balance out the ground by: turn on machine and hold coil straight out about waist height and slowly turn in a circle until you hear the most noise. Put the coil down to the ground at that direction and put balance switch to #1. Make sure there is NOT a target there. Raise and lower the coil about 6 inches and turn knob #1 all the way left and then right until the noise stays the same without wavering ( count your turns... maybe 5 or more full turns from left stop.) Put balance switch to #2 and repeat above step until sound is stable. Put the balance switch to the center position and adjust the threshold level until you can just hear the steady sound. You should be ready to hunt. I would recommend you learn your machine before you spend money on it as they are very good at their job as is and you may find plenty of treasures with it "stock". Sure, the mods will give you more depth but you still have to get your coil over a nugget which is where I have trouble. I am very, very good at finding junk targets so can't help you find the yellow metal !! Good luck, Ken

That's a shame you got screwed on the 3500 Doc. There is always someone that takes advantage of a good person and ruins the trust for the rest of your customers. I never got in to see you when in Las Vegas a few weeks ago but sure appreciated your phone advice. Above and beyond the normal customer service !! Cmon Travis.... man up and pay your debt. You're screwing a good guy. Ken Gardner

Thanks for the video Rob. Nice looking spot!! Ken

Wow Dutchman. I would say you are onto something with your dig, then detect plan. Can you explain your method of deciding where to dig? I must not be reading the ground very good!! Thanks for the pics. Some people are always gonna whine whether there is a reason to or not. I only got to spend a few months in Arizona last winter and didn't have the opportunity to visit the 24K claims but heard nothing but good about Ellie and the 24K club. To any whiners.... be glad you can be there even if only to visit the skunk. I have to drive 12 hours to the closest gold area. Ken

MedicDan, my 2100 did the same thing when I bumped a rock. It turned out I had a little bit too much slack at the lower end of the coil cable and it was somehow vibrating on impact. I tightened up the velcro there and the problem was gone. I took FredM's advice on the 5 1/2 --6 1/2 adjustment and never lost balance over most of the state of Arizona. He was right on the money. Good luck, Ken

We always mix our own ear solution 50% vinegar/ 50% isopropyl alcohol. 5 years in Georgia and North Carolina,1 season in Maine and 3 in Colorado and(knock on wood) no ear problems. My brother-in - law said phooey and didn't use it. 3rd days end his ears started hurting and couldn't get back in the water the rest of our trip. Doc gave him some medicine but too late. He uses the mix every time now. I tried hydrogen peroxide a few times but it burned my ears with the bubbling. I haven't figured out how to keep from swallowing some water and did get sick a few times in Colorado but doc took care of me and I was never too sick to get back in the water the next day. You may want to speak with your doc in advance and get some antibiotics so you can take some immediately upon starting to crap yourself. Scared out of going yet ?? I guess I would trade places with you if so. Good luck. Ken Gardner

What an opportunity !!!! Nothing like it ! You can't go wrong because you will gain more experience than you could in 5 seasons on your own and you'll have a seasoned prospector watching out for you. If you come home with one ounce you will still come out ahead. You will soon find that you have to be young and healthy to dredge with an 8 inch especially in fast water. I only got to work on one for a few days and now that the years have flown by I still feel like my 3 and 4 inch dredges are barely moving any material. If you have never been diving, take your wetsuit, mask, and snorkel to some creek and get used to going underwater. Enjoy your summer. Ken Gardner

Hi Wilderness. I spent quite a few years in Colorado and at that time owned a gold king 2 inch dredge with a 3.5 hp Briggs motor. The problem I found was the depth of over burden in the Colorado streams I tried was really deep and the smaller dredges do not have air. A couple of guys just downstream were doing well but I couldn't get to bedrock without air so I was just getting fines. My suggestion is to look for a used 3 inch with air and stick to a single sluice... it will get all the fines and save you a trip carrying the side sluices. Another thing to consider is how much water is in the streams you intend to work. The plastic pontoons are MUCH more stable in fast water and if you are thinking of working your dredge during runoff you will need stability. Above posts are right about moving more material with a bigger dredge. Check out the Keene and Pro-line websites. A 4 inch will almost double the yardage of a 3 which almost doubles the yardage of a 2. It is a tough decision. A backpac dredge can fit in very small creeks where you might have to dig a hole to float a bigger dredge but the backpac will be useless in a big creek or river. For the past 6 years I have used an old Keene 3 inch with air and pontoons. It isn't pretty but has proven to fit most situations for me. Good luck, Ken Gardner

Wow, you don't find many places like that. I talked to a fella near Dahlonega, Georgia once who came real close to sinking his dredge by filling the sluice with a lot of black and garnet sand. Came up just in time. She was starting to lean badly. Where I was going required being completely underwater. I stay pretty warm until the head has to go under. Then the hood doesn't help. I looked at getting a wetsuit heater but never got around to it. Keep the pics coming. I think everyone enjoys them. Ken

Hey Vini, you really got some super concentrated material there or did you already clean it up some? What size dredge you using? My 15 year old dredge leaves a LOT more "rock" than that. Last year I dredged in 40 degree water in Maine and 45 degree water in Georgia and have never warmed up since !! My Florida blood is too thin for that so I'll just follow your adventures until the water warms up. Ken

You might want to go to "you tube" and do a search for gold panning or prospecting. It's been a while but they had several decent "how to "videos on panning and sluiceing. When you get your bag of dirt remember the way it looks and then go to any creek and dig a shovel full of gravel and compare. You will soon decide to get or build a classifier as the different sizes of rocks make panning much harder..... good time for the snake shot to be mixed in. Or throw some of the gold from the bag in and find it over and over. Practise is everything in panning. Enjoy, Ken