Keene 151

[29prospector]

I purchased a Keene 151 with the B&S engine and it all runs great. But having only used puffers all my life I have a couple of questions.

1. Should the motor run at a slow speed or medium?

2. At the beginning the material seems to be flowing at the right speed and angle but as it get down toward the end and the material thins out, gravel seems to coil up on the sides and not work downward.

Thanks, Bob

[dutch john]

Bob... the Keene 151 is a lot of machine. It will keep about 4 or more workers

busy. They are great machines. However, I hate the "rrrrrr" of the blower and

just love the "flap, flap" of an old puffer. But time marches on and since about

1975 the virbros have become more popular. To briefly give you all I know about

the setup of a 151:

Question #1... Airspeed?... gotta move the air. Air speed needs to be fast.

Speed up to an estimated air speed of about 170 MPH. The velocity needs to

be enough so the blower and motor tends to want to move (vibrate) about,

and may need to be braced to stay still (put).

Also the dirt needs to be dry to develop a static charge. This is true with a hot

air vibrostatic machine.

Question #2.... Vibration?... the vibration needs to be fast with a small motion (wiggle).

If riffle box seems to shake rather vibrate change the counterweight of the fan. Or try

more airspeed (or both). Carefully(!) hold the riffle box with one the thumb and finger

of one hand to check the vibration.

[29prospector]

dutch john,

first off, that 151 could keep a 5 man crew working their poor asses off. I tryed some adjustments that grubstake recommened and it work very good. It was out of adjustment. I'm sure by now you have seen the hole we have. Well we have 3 piles of material that are about 6 foot in dia. and at least 6 feet tall. Well I started on one today and after an hour I gave up. Went back to my puffer.

bob

[nuggethunting]

Hello 29Prospector,

Would almost have to see the drywasher working to see the problem. I never had a problem with my Keene 151 years ago. A good friend and I used to use it a bunch on some old river benches working the bedrock. The both of us could shovel as fast as we could and we couldn't overload the Keene 151 Drywasher. This unit is definitely a production type unit for when you find a good producer.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[29prospector]

Rob,

I don't sholvel all that fast anymore, but still the thing will wear you out. It took some adjustments but its running smooth now. I'm just not sure who is going to feed it. Almost all the material that has been pulled out and piled up for us looks good. I think first that Doc and I are going to clean up the bottom first and get a good look at where we are. I got one wall with gravel and calcahi 36 inches tthick and the floor is the same. So we will see

Bob

[dutch john]

29-prospector and nuggethunter... About 10 years ago (the late) Sam Radding and

I used Sam's 151 at Randsburg. It is a workhorse and very effient in a larger operation.

If you have a copy of "desert gold Drywashing" by Sam (copyright 1996) Sam covers

the vibrostatic drywasher (chapter 3, pp. 15-20) and "chapter 6, p. 27-28. Then spinkled

throughout Sams booklet are many tips and tricks.

Sam was a great friend. He was a gifted small boat builder in the San Diego area.

29... you mention caliche in your last post. Try to break it up and make sure it is dry.

It can still be too wet for "static" recovery and look dry.

Rob... thank you for your last PM

[29prospector]

dutch john,

the caliche that we are in at this point is dry. Its bond up with gravel, little rocks and a few big rocks. We will be going out tomorrow and I plan on sweeping my half of the whole just so I can get some idea where I at. Friday I ran the tailing pile and got almost a .8dwt. By the end of the day, I had 1.4dwt. Not quite where I would like to be but gold is gold.

Bob

[whats4supper]

the riffle tray should slope about 6-10 inches off level, from front to back.

Run the blower enough allow the dirt to trickle off the end, filling a gold pan in about 1 minute.

It shouldn't be run so fast that 3 stokers can't keep it filled, or you'll lose out on gold.

You may want to change your grizzly screen to 3/4" flat or raised if there is sizeable gold where you are working.

Set up a lawn chair or stool so that you can load the rig and then sit for a moment while it works.

keep the water, gatorade, and beer handy, or have a grunt that will fetch it for you.

Plan on running for 20-40 minutes, then cleanup, get some more dirt piled up, take a rest, and then get in another tour of duty.

get a gas vacuum cleaner and 6+ 5-gal buckets to fill with the vacuumings, then run those in the drywasher as well..

One last: before you start up the rig for your next run, load the hopper with virgin dirt, and load the riffle tray with already run fines. This will even out the startups and allow more efficiency in the traps of the riffle tray.

[29prospector]

the riffle tray should slope about 6-10 inches off level, from front to back.

Run the blower enough allow the dirt to trickle off the end, filling a gold pan in about 1 minute.

It shouldn't be run so fast that 3 stokers can't keep it filled, or you'll lose out on gold.

You may want to change your grizzly screen to 3/4" flat or raised if there is sizeable gold where you are working.

Set up a lawn chair or stool so that you can load the rig and then sit for a moment while it works.

keep the water, gatorade, and beer handy, or have a grunt that will fetch it for you.

Plan on running for 20-40 minutes, then cleanup, get some more dirt piled up, take a rest, and then get in another tour of duty.

get a gas vacuum cleaner and 6+ 5-gal buckets to fill with the vacuumings, then run those in the drywasher as well..

One last: before you start up the rig for your next run, load the hopper with virgin dirt, and load the riffle tray with already run fines. This will even out the startups and allow more efficiency in the traps of the riffle tray.

Thanks. I no more than get it figured out and the motor don't want to run right. ran out of gas, filled it ran about 30 seconds and quits. figured it needed a tune-up anyway so I put her in the shop while I'm in the city taking care of some business.

Bob

[whats4supper]

I built a hovercraft once- a Herb Bartlett jobber- using a lawn mower engine. after a few modifications I took it out to the lake.

what I learned that day:

Never go offshore with less than a full tank of gas.

Never go so far offshore that you can't swim back to shore when your ride sinks.

Make sure your tow rope is long enough.

I did manage to get it back to the shore after a bit of 'effort' (Cussing things out seldom produces positive results) and some help of friends. BUT, I never did go into the water again with the contraption. I damned near drowned that day. Another 50 feet to shore and I would have.

I don't know what this has to do with the subject, but in every endeavor, there is always something lurking around waiting to blind side a guy with an obstacle to fight. perhaps a sidebar of the murphy's law rule of nature...

[29prospector]

Whats4supper,

When one stands at the edge of a trench thats 5-6 feet deep with no shoring, whatever amount of gold is down there is not worth your life. Your story fits just fine.

29P