Advice, building my first dredge Options

[jimmyrig]

Hello all,

Need a little input. I'm building my first dredge. I have a 10hp 3" trash pump, A52 sluice, 2 inflatable pontoons from a large one man fishing pontoon, I'm building a frame, I have a suction nozzle and hoses. help I need: What do I use or where do I get the flare, dampener flap, and do I need a jet nozzle on the flare since I have a suction nozzle already? What else am I missing...

[johnnybravo300]

A floating trommel sounds totally awesome but a crash box would still be a good addition.
I would think that choking a three inch pump down into a smaller hose would just increase the pressure but the pump may not have to work as hard to feed the water that's needed, and that's a good thing IMO.
Also any modifications to the nozzle or anything else that can help things run smoothly are always good. If you have perfectly smooth round rocks traveling through the hose that's one thing, but suck up some banana or pizza pie shaped rocks and you'll be having issues in no time. I'm not sure where you dredge but something to think about. A clog with sharp edged rocks can take alot of time out of the day and adds alot of frustration.

[jimmyrig]

A floating trommel sounds totally awesome but a crash box would still be a good addition.
I would think that choking a three inch pump down into a smaller hose would just increase the pressure but the pump may not have to work as hard to feed the water that's needed, and that's a good thing IMO.
Also any modifications to the nozzle or anything else that can help things run smoothly are always good. If you have perfectly smooth round rocks traveling through the hose that's one thing, but suck up some banana or pizza pie shaped rocks and you'll be having issues in no time. I'm not sure where you dredge but something to think about. A clog with sharp edged rocks can take alot of time out of the day and adds alot of frustration.

I plan on using a classifier nozzle guard so hopefully the clogs will be non existent or at a minimum. I rounded up all my materials today for the frame and everything but the pump. I had some old ladders out back that I don't trust to stand on anymore but they will make great frame fodder. Going to cut them and weld them and also had some extra window well ladders with some great ribbon steel. Had a couple traffic cones out back so grabbed the nicest one. Picking up the new pump tomorrow morning then will be building the dredge this week. I'm also adding on a jet holder that can be steered so I can drive myself up river when needed. My idea is that I can take the exit hose off the nozzle or jet and hook it here and use it for propulsion like a jet ski.

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