Gasoline Dredge

The Gasoline Dredge
Today, the typical recreational gold mining surface dredge uses a gasoline engine to power a water pump that forces a high pressure jet of water through a venture and into a short section of pipe that generates a negative pressure capable of pulling water through the pipe and thereby lifting the gold bearing sands and gravels from the stream or river bottom and delivering it to a sluice at the water's surface for recovery of the gold. This system, although very effective, requires the operator's frequent attention and maintenance of a gasoline engine, and pump. Frequently, for more remote operations, there can be almost as much time spent on maintaining the equipment and transporting gasoline as there is in the actual operation of the dredge. There may be additional considerations, such as environmental or risk of fire, that severely limit the practicality of the gasoline powered dredge. For some of these dredging sites, it is both possible and practical to eliminate the gasoline engine entirely.