A lot of reads, but no posts yet. I'm curious as well. A local store sells these, but in my 47 years of prospecting, I've never met anyone who actually has a spiral machine.

Thanks Mike.  The wife is dead set on getting one of these soon so I guess we will soon find out if it works well.  It is highly portable.  Once we get it I will post some info on the outcome.  She holds the purse strings.  You all know how that is.  When we want we wait.  When they want it happens a lot sooner.

The only problem with gold wheels is that they can be a bit tricky to set up -- both angle and water flow -- depending on the type of material you're running. If you can set up and leave it, the better. If you can check them out in person rather than buying one over the internet, better still. GPAA Gold shows are good places to try them out. You will quickly notice those that are cheaply made and have cheap components and those that aren't. Get the best equipment you can afford. You won't be sorry (take it from a guy that has bought a lot of equipment, some cheap, and regretted not buying quality stuff).

Thanks for the replies.  It does work but I had to keep messing with the pump, turning the switch on and off to get the spray back full.  The nylon over the pump kept clogging up and got pulled into the holes in the pump housing.  Finally took it off.  The dirt I ran through it was classified at 150 mesh.  There was still small fibers of vegetation going through that small of mesh.  This dirt is from the Jicarilla area and one pan turns the water to chocolate.  All in all it will do the job but plan on leaving it at home and going with a dry washer in the future.  Gold recovery was good as I had very fine gold in the cup.  At least I got some gold on my first trip out and let me say it was an adventure.  Thanks again.

I don't have one that fancy, I have an older model.  But it works great.  I set mine up with a water recovery system and used some old black sand I had saved.  I thought I had panned all the gold out of the black sand but actually recovered some real fine gold that was still in the sand.  I recommend that you take some sand and some black sand and just play with it till you  understand how it works.  You can even add some sip slot fishing sinkers (real small) and add 6 of them in with your dirt and watch how they react.  May your pan always shine with color.

Thanks William.  Will do.  I know it does work as I got fine gold in the cup.  We still have our eye on one of the Thompson bellows drywashers this summer.

William,

How did you setup the fresh water recovery?  Is it different than with the tub with the pump in the tub?  Thanks

Don,



Well.............before you buy a "wheel" or a "bowl"........I'd offer the following...



Like previously mentioned, both are very tricky as to "SETUP"... I mean the level, the angles, the water flows, the feed rates, on and on...



I had a Keene Green Bowl for several years............before the Blue Bowls came out... Ugh. Hated it. Way too slow, too finicky, and I'd watch the fine gold flakes on the bottom slowly migrate up the cone and into the waste bucket.



For years now I have owned and run the Gold Cube. It's heaven on earth WRT simplicity, fine gold recovery and speed. It's a total no brainer. Honestly. Just set it up, level it once, turn it on and start feeding in your classified to 1/8th inch cons scoop after scoop. I have run a 125 lb tub of black sand cons in like 12 minutes...



Test after test I have run the top tray always has about 95% of the gold and the bottom maybe 5%. Less than 2 cups of super cons at a run to hand pan. NO fuss, fast as can be......right every time.



I also bought the "Topper" unit (now called the Gold Banker unit) that has larger 3/8th inch holes and I take it all to the stream and use it as a production tool now as much as a concentrator in my garage... Here's several short videos FYI:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATChUiUXDho



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0im-IweJK4I



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr2eH47fF7I



I have used my Cube out on the rivers & streams as a "high banker" and have paid for my Cube setup several times over...



FYI, a buddy came over recently with 2 tubs of "used" cons from his Desert Fox spiral wheel machine. He learned I had a Cube and wanted to see IF he was maybe losing anything past his Desert Fox. I setup my Cube in the garage and in minutes we were running his cons. In 4 minutes we were done. At cleanup you could see a bunch of little flakes & specks in the first inch of the Vortex matting. I panned out both trays and he was stunned how much gold he'd lost using his Desert Fox wheel! He said he'd been dumping his "old" cons for several years out back in his back driveway.....and his plan now was to go and dig up the top inch od so of his back driveway and try and recover his lost gold!



Time is money. Time is too precious to waste fiddling with a bowl or wheel. Just get a Cube, be done with all that frustration.....98% recovery the first time thru and fast.

Honestly, some things MAY appear expensive at first..............BUT are worth every penny.  My Cube setup has been a blessing, a money maker...with so much less effort, time, frustration.

  

HTH,



Randy Witham "C-17A" www.goldadventures.biz

I bought a desert fox last year, i love it. took just a bit to figure it out, runs better off eletric than a battery, It pics out the finest of gold flakes and flour. I ran tests by putting gold flakes in dirt just to see if i was going to recover what i put in,, Works great didn't miss a single piece of gold.Plus it picks up other stuff, small gems or other metels silver or what have you.

I am not impressed with what I bought and definitely going to be getting a Gold Cube and probably a Thompson puffer dry washer.  Gold Cube first.

I found the "Magic Gold Wheel" at a flea market for $75 so I got it. it recovers VERY VERY fine gold. I'm no expert but it seems to work. Yes the cup is a pain in the ass but it works for me. A friend bought a Gold miners wheel and it is a excellent piece of equipment. the weird part is that both recover the same size gold. I guess its all in what you prefer.

JEFF your right they are tricky to set up but once you dial them in they all recover the same ( that's my opinion, like I said I'm no expert )

Let me ask the people that did buy a wheel brand new, did you have to scrub it up like you would a pan or was the surface already prepped?

I didn't scrub the wheel but probably should have.  I had to keep messing with the pump in the tub and the spray tube kept clogging up on me.  The material I was running had lots of little pieces of dead vegetation in it and the nylon cover on the pump kept getting clogged so I had to remove it.  It did the job but am keeping all the material to run through the gold cube when I can get it.  This material came out of the Jicarilla's in NM.  And am going back next week for 3 or days.  And I am a real newbie here.

Just brain storming, but would hooking up a Motorcycle Air Filter to your water intake help keep materials out from clogging it up? I was just thinking that a larger filter with much larger surface area would keep out not only vegetation but also some sands, then when it gets clogged just place a hose and blow it back out? I know there are some high flow filters out there this day and age that surely they will allow water to pass freely?

Just an idea, I don't have one but understand the problem. Instead of just a nylon piece over the end of your hose you want a large can sized cage wrapped in the same material so it won't clog up as quick and then also be able to wash it off or replace it quickly. Like a stocking over a can filled with holes attached to the intake?

Just an idea?

Yep, that could work. Thanks for the tip.

Just looking at the set up the hose is the same tubing we use for ventilators in the medical field and it is 1" hose. That is also the same size to many automotive products like STP, or fuel additives that come in a metal can, it should be a snug fit. I would take one of those cans, clean it out really well, and then drill holes in the can all around, rub it down with sand paper so there are no burs and put a nylon disposable stocking over it. When it gets clogged up you can either replace the stocking or just wash it out, no need to disconnect. And if you want to keep it out of the sands just elevate it off the bottom using anything to tie it a bit up.

I got an idea for guys pumping water out of the river as well, but it a little more complex but does the same thing, and the filter stays in place at the bottom.