Georgia Trail Riders Forum
MEMBERS DISCUSSION AREA => General Discussion => Topic started by: mrmike1964 on October 03, 2012, 07:36:51 AM
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You need to look in to WVO. Wast veggie oil I run a 97 school bus on it. I took this bus and my 2 boys to Alaska. We made WVO tanks that would hold 600gal (5000lbs) and made it 4300miles to farbanks Alaska using 5 tanks of diesel (70gal tank)When we got there we found 500gal of WVO and made it back 4300miles on 4 tanks of diesel! Did you know Rudolph Diesel invented the diesel in 1909 to run on vegetable oil? At that time diesel was cheep and more readily available so it was made to run with diesel. However if you heat the oil to 170 or above it works great! Anything colder then that and you start to build carbon in the cylinders.
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You need to look in to WVO. Wast veggie oil I run a 97 school bus on it. I took this bus and my 2 boys to Alaska. We made WVO tanks that would hold 600gal (5000lbs) and made it 4300miles to farbanks Alaska using 5 tanks of diesel (70gal tank)When we got there we found 500gal of WVO and made it back 4300miles on 4 tanks of diesel! Did you know Rudolph Diesel invented the diesel in 1909 to run on vegetable oil? At that time diesel was cheep and more readily available so it was made to run with diesel. However if you heat the oil to 170 or above it works great! Anything colder then that and you start to build carbon in the cylinders.
Damn that's cool
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^^^ that is awesome!!
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That is cool!
Start a thread and tell us the whole story.
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Well it all started out as a dream I had. I have allwas wanted to go to Alaska but fuel costs are so high it would take most of the money to just get there and back around $8000.00 just for fuel. I had heard about diesels running on veggie oil and started researching it. What I found out was that back in 1909 Rudolph Diesel invented the diesel to run on veggie oil. How ever veggie oil was not as abundant as diesel. So Rudolph changed the motor to run on diesel. (took the veggie heater off) today's diesel can run on veggie oil if you heat the oil to 170 or above. That's it! So if you start your diesel on diesel and get it warmed up to running temp about 195 degrees you can heat your oil this way. What I did was take the line that runs the hot water from the motor to the cab heater and cut into it. I then made a tank that has a bunch of pipes going back and forth through the tank. I hooked the tank in line with the hot water line. I fill the tank with old nasty veggie oil I get from restaurants and any one who will let me have it. When I get it I run it though a 40micron filter into that tank.Then I start the diesel and bring the motor up to temp and check the wvo tank to see if its over 170 degrees. When I know its above that I shutoff the diesel from the diesel tank and open the vales to the wvo tank. Now I'm running on wvo. When I get where I'm going before I turn off the motor I have to switch it back to diesel and run the lines clean so when I start back up it starts on diesel. It would start on wvo but the oil is so cold that it will make carbon in the cylinder walls because the wvo is to thick. when it is injected it comes out like rain drops that burn and become Carbon. If the oil is heated it is much thinner and runs like water so the injector now sprays a mist or fog so to say. When it burns it doesn't make the heavy corbin and plows it out the exhaust! No build up in the cylinders.This is what scares most people away from running wvo. They don't want to hurt there motor. How ever if you understand how wvo works and what has to happen for it to run right and for a long time. I have put 18000 miles on this diesel and had to change the fuel pump once. Then I put a booster pump from the wvo tank and it has been just fine. I needed to help push the wvo though the fillers and the diesel pump would not have to work so hard. I use 2 fillers before the wvo gets to the motor. One is 10 micron and the last one is 5 micron. I spend about $0.15 a gal to filter the oil.I'm sure theres better ways but this works for me. All I wanted to get was a trip to Alaska out of the motor and now it's still running and we use it for camping. I plan on going back to Alaska with it someday.. I'll tell you how the trip went if you like? How we went to find gold and what gold we got. We spent Jun and July up there in 2011!
Day 1
Ok so we left Murrayville GA on June first 2011 for Alaska loaded we everything I thought I would need to get us there and back.We had 600gal of waste veggie oil filtered down to 10 micron. That's 5000lbs of just wvo.Then we had a trailer with a trommel a Jeep Sahara 4 door that was full to the roof.It was like 8000lbs of jeep and stuff in the jeep!We had a 60gal water tank in the front and a 6800watt gennie next to it. There were two 4" dredges on the roof 2 metal detectors,20 cases of MRE's, 20 cases of water for drinking, spares tires for the trailer and bus, wet suites, and dive gear. We were around 39,000lbs when we left. It took everthing this 444 International (7.3) pusher could do to get going.We didn't even get to Dawsonville before it started to run hot 225 230. So we stopped at Autozone and got some Wet Water great stuff got the temp down to 205 210.So we stopped at Walmart and said our goodbys and got the last couple things we thought we needed and off we went down 53west. 65feet long and almost 40,000lbs. It was very slow going at first we could not get it over 25mph.I just kept telling myself it was going to get lighter as we go.We had started running on Wvo when we stopped at Autozone.I was so nervous but I didn't want my boys to be discouraged. The bus was going so slow and when we would hit a hill we would slow all the way down to first gear and only be able to go 15mph till we got to the top.I pulled over a couple times to let the train of cars go by and then start a gain.Cheryl didn't go with us but she followed us almost to Jasper.Now after about 3 or 4 hr of driving we started to settle in. we made it to 75 north and was moving right along at 55 60.Yes I had my foot on the floor all the time I was running on waste veggie oil and wanted to get lighter. Well there's this mountain on 75 that we hit at night.we went up in the truck lane with the trucks and they passed us going up. as we where coming down the other side, I saw smoke coming out the back when a car's lights would shine back there. i tried to get off the road but guess what, there's a guard rail all the way down to the bottom. There was no where i could stop till I got to the end of the guard rail. I stopped and went back to see what was smoking. If it was the motor or what! well it was a tire on the trailer! the keeper for the left spring was gone and the main spring turned and cut the side wall of one of the new tires. No big deal. My son Matt and I worked on it for a couples hours. All the keepers were gone on the spring so I took bailing wire and wrapped them to keep them in place. It worked great and didn't have a prob after that with them. John and Jerry, a friend that came with us, were sound asleep in thier bunks and never knew we had stopped to fix it. I drove on for the night. I planned on letting the boys do some driving while I got some sleep, but I was to excited and nervous to stop driving and sleep so I drove for the first 12hr. John was the first to take over driving around 10:00am Jun 2.
Day 2
He was 18 at that time and had never drove the bus or anything this big.I could tell he was nervous but I sat with him and talked to him, how he was doing a good job and it wasn't as hard as he thought it was going to be. After about 2hrs of him behind the wheel, I felt he had it under control so I went and laid down. I think i sleep for 4hrs and it felt like 5 minutes. I took back over driving and drove on for another 13hrs. By this time I had to sleep so we found a truck stop and pulled in so I could get some rest. Jerry said he was going to check the trailer lights and the boys were helping him so I slept.I got up about 6hr later to find that Jerry had been working on the trailer lights all this time with Matt and John. The wire had got pinched where the trailer hooks to the bus.Ok just so you under stand a school bus is not set up to tow anything so the lighting doesn't wire up right without a diode. I could not get Jerry to understand this. He had run another set of lights and wired them for stop lights so I had 4 sets of lights on the trailer. Don't ask me where I was at this time, I couldn't tell you.
Day 3
We started up the road and everything was running good. By this time, we were going through Illinois. Long rolling hills and flats. We were running out at top speed of 66mph. That's as fast as the governor on the motor will run 2500 to 2600RPM's. Everything was going good for about 350 miles when we needed to stop and just work some. Well every time we stopped the Wvo tank would get cool.So we would have to start on diesel. (Remember I wanted to have as much WVO with me as to not need to use my diesel. In Ga you are allowed to have up to 600gal of fuel on any truck. I was a little over but not for long) I would have to go about 100 miles to get it hot again. My mistake was making the heater tank so big. (100gal) A diesel dosn't make a lot of heat when its 45 degrees out and your going 66mph.I didn't put any insulation around it so it was just bare steel with the wind it could only get to 155 or 165 degrees.So when it got hot enough I didn't want to stop any more till i just had to.I know I had along way to go yet. Well wouldn't you know it about 300miles down the road and the wvo filter is plugged up and I have to stop to change it.That meant shutting down the Wvo to the motor and running the diesel to help keep the wvo tank hot. It had been running a good 180 190 degrees most of the time I was running 66mph. It just cooled off so fast when I would stop. John helped get the filter changed and we were on the road in 10 minutes.We ran about 30 miles and stop to switch it over to wvo. Well it was still a little cold and it didn't want to get over 50mhp. After about 20 more miles it started get hot and run back up to 66. So this time we drove for 19hr straight! We found a truck stop in South Dakota and pulled in for a rest.
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awesome, I want to find an old mercedes to do this with.
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I am picturing 30 of us driving busses towing jeeps to MOAB. Lol
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You are one bad-ass man! That is so freaking cool. Where is the 'bowing down' emoticon???
//SLAMIN//
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Here's a update. I'm going to take the bus back to Alaska this year in June till the end of July! It all started on 4-8-2014 I went in to work as I always do. When I got in I was called to a meeting. Long story short the Co was sold and I got the boot. I new the C0 was on the market but didn't know it had sold. They gave me a good pay out so I'm going to take the time and go back to Alaska. I have a friend there that has a gold claim in Chicken. I'm going to buy a 6" gold dredge and take it there. I have a lot of things to get together before I go. I will try and keep Y'all in the loop as to how things are going and how I plan on making this happen. I don't know if my sons will go with me this time but I'll go by my self if I have to. I know I have a much better start at it this time by already having been there once. I could use any Veggie oil anyone has! I'm not going to use motor oil just the veggie oil. I have been hunting gold for around 13years now and know you don't get rich doing it but it does pay. It's like the lottery sometimes you win and some times you don't but you can't win if you don't play the game. I'll be looking for a dry suit to dive in if anyone has one they want to sell. //SLAMIN//
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I got 15 gallons maybe more of oil if you want them. I running out space and want them gone.
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Thanks but I'm needing veggie oil. I don't want to have to mix the oil with gas. Plus Veggie oil is safer then the oil gas mix.
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Sorry about the job loss, but what an opportunity!
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Sorry about the job loss but what a way to bounce back! Would love to hook up with you for a part of the trip but not sure it's logistically possible if I take off and fly in somewhere. You going solo?
Sent off camber
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I don't have anyone going with me at this time. That could always change.
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We stopped on the way home from the ride Saturday and placed the order for the new 6" gold dredge. I had run one a couple years back and they do a very good job moving the overburden and getting down to bed rock. The last time I went to Alaska I took two 4" dredges and just couldn't move enough overburden to stay on the bedrock. A 4" dredge moves about 4yards of overburden a hour a 6" will move as much as 15yards a hour. Plus in the area I will be working in most every rock would fit though a 6" dredge where about 40% would fit a 4" dredge and you move the rest by hand. That's moving a lot of rock by hand. See in Alaska the rocks freeze and crack and freeze and crack so they don't get much bigger the 4 or 5 inches. -50* will do that.
A dredge is like a shop vacuum that floats. You dive under the water with a air supply from the motor on the dredge and you use the 6" hose to vacuum up all the rocks till you get down to bedrock where the gold lies. Gold is 19.3 times heavier then water and sinks down though the overburden and even down into the cracks in the bed rock. Sounds easy right. Well it's a lot of hard work and you get to spend hours under icy water! Did I mention that the water is ice cold! Then you vacuum a hole into permafrost under a river that is being fed from a glacier. I use the heat from the exhaust to heat some of the water from the pump and pump it into my wet suit last time. This year I will have a dry suit and will be nice and dry and warm.
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Where do you purchase or order something like that in GA. I had no idea you could get stuff like that still in GA
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Georgia has some of the riches deposits of gold then anywhere. You just can't get to it. Plus the gold here is around 19carrot where in Alaska it is only around 10carrot. Land owners wont give permission. I ordered it at Crisson's gold mind in Dahlonega.
Matt and I are picking gold up off the rocks and then we got run off by a brown bear that must of had a den or cub around she was there every time we tried to go back!
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If you don't have a bear tag in Alaska you had better not shoot one! They will fine the hell out of you and take everything you have there. We would see them now and then you always have to be on the look out for bear and moose.
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I have 5 gallons of oil from thanksgiving turkey. I know it's not much but I was looking for somewhere to dispose of it anyway.
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I'll take it! Where do I have to go to get it?
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I thought I would put up a list of things I have been getting together for this trip and what I still need to get together.
The dredge is a Keen 6" triple sluice with twin 6.5 Hondas. $7012.40 ordered
Dive mask is a Ocean Reef Neptune space G full face mask. $429.00 ordered
Still looking for a Dry suite. around $1000.00 to $1500.00
500 gallons of WVO $500.00 to $1000.00 if I buy it on line $0.00 if I can fine it for free.
Centrifuge for cleaning the WVO $1250.00 no more filters.
Neoprene dive gloves 3 pair not sure on price yet.
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Mike, I wonder if you could create a whirlpool effect with a powerful pump in order to clear the crap out of the oil. When I brew beer I create a whirlpool to keep the hops from being transferred into the carboys. The whirlpool causes the hops to collect in a cone in the middle of a boil kettle.
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Yes I could do something like that. I was going to build one but never got around to it. I spent 5 days filtering wvo in Alaska the last time so this Time I think I will just bit the bullet and buy one with the heater. I can clean the wvo down to 1micron and remove the water at the same time with a centrifuge. This one will run 1-60 gal a hour the slower you feed it the cleaner it will come out.
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If you don't have a bear tag in Alaska you had better not shoot one! They will fine the hell out of you and take everything you have there. We would see them now and then you always have to be on the look out for bear and moose.
Tag or no tag, if something is trying to kill me I will put it down.
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If you don't have a bear tag in Alaska you had better not shoot one! They will fine the hell out of you and take everything you have there. We would see them now and then you always have to be on the look out for bear and moose.
Tag or no tag, if something is trying to kill me I will put it down.
I will to if it comes down to it! That's the grey area when to shoot and when not to. How close do you let it get? How good is a 12ga slug. How many slugs will it take to stop 800lbs or more! I really don't want to fine out myself. I know of a guy in Alaska that was dredging by him self and when he came up from diving there was bears around him. He said he just got up and walked out of the river didn't stop to shutoff the dredge just grabbed his 44 mag that he keeps on the dredge. The bears left him alone. He went back later and pulled his dredge. I think I would have freaked!
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THis is extremely cool!
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I would have to clean out my wet suit.
Guado
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Today we made process on finding some WVO. We found 500gal for $1.50 a gallon. I'm still going to have to clean it but at least we don't have to hunt that much down. I have to get a couple 250gal totes and go pick it up.
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The five gallons I have is located in woodstock/holly springs. I can try to meet you somewhere near alpharetta if you need me to.
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Wow, I just read the whole thread hats off to you. The engineering and fab work alone are a major feat then putting it all on the road to AK, that takes a set of stones. Nice work.
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Thanks Marc. Are you going on the TRAIL RIDING & COOKOUT: May 03, 2014? maybe we can meet up there?
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Thanks Marc. Are you going on the TRAIL RIDING & COOKOUT: May 03, 2014? maybe we can meet up there?
Not sure yet. I'm supposed to be working that day but I'm going to try to get off. Either way I will give it to someone who is coming.
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Well it's been a long day but I'm finally home. We went to Dublin GA to pick up 555 gallons of WVO. All said and done we spent $1080.00 Fuel in the tow pig $65.00, Two 275gal totes $170.00, and 555gal of WVO $845.00. I hope with what I already have and this will fill the bus. I will order the centrifuge next week so I can start cleaning it. I should be able to clean it down to 1micron. //SLAMIN//
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You are my hero. I'm green with jealousy.
I wish I could take the family and go.
Guado
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Can you believe my son's don't want to go with me! Matt wants to get a job this summer at Home Depot while he is out of school. John Doesn't want to lose his job as a temporary at Kubota! //LMAO// //LMAO// Ain't that some $h#t!! I'm still going. 4300miles by my self if I have to.. //SLAMIN//
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This is awesome Mike......I'm going to live vicariously through your adventure! //popcorn//
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Mr mike, next time you give me more notice and I'll go.
Guado
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I hope Yall enjoy my posts? I know it doesn't have anything to do with 4 wheeling. For what I'm going to have spent to do this I could have a hell of a jeep Jk. It also gives me a record to look back at. //SLAMIN//
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Love the posts. Have you contacted a network about documenting your trip? It would be an awesome show. The trip and the gold mining!
What is your departure date and route?
Sent off camber
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Can you believe my son's don't want to go with me! Matt wants to get a job this summer at Home Depot while he is out of school. John Doesn't want to lose his job as a temporary at Kubota! //LMAO// //LMAO// Ain't that some $h#t!! I'm still going. 4300miles by my self if I have to.. //SLAMIN//
No, that is responsible. You have taught them well.
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Yeah they are saying
Been there, done that lol
Sent off camber
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Guado if it works out the way I hope. I plane on going back every June and July! It's just taking me a couple years to get things in order to make it again. If from what I'm told by my friend in Alaska is true and he's pulling 15oz to 20oz a season with a 6" dredge from this claim and I can do the same. I will make it a yearly trip. If it doesn't I will look for a better claim while I'm there. //SLAMIN//
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I will leave here on June 1st and go though Tennessee Kentucky and so on to North Dakota. I will get out a map and look it up soon. It's on my to do list.
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June of 2015. Okay Siri made me an appointment. Almost a side note but all that bus needs is an aquaponics setup made from one of those ibc units.
Guado
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Oh the reason Cheryl is not going is she has a new job starting next Tuesday at IBM! //SLAMIN// //SLAMIN//
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Oh the reason Cheryl is not going is she has a new job starting next Tuesday at IBM! //SLAMIN// //SLAMIN//
Great news in the new job for Cheryl!
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Please continue to document your plans and trip! This is one of my favorite topics now! I'd snag a gopro or two for the trip. Film as much as you could as to not slow you down any and turn it into a documentary. Possibly see if discovery or a&e would like to make a episode on your trip! It's DEFFINATELY got all our attention!
Funny thing. I grew up in Murrayville and have seen that bus parked in your side driveway for quite sometime! I see it every day on my commute to work down 60. Never knew it would be used for this!
Sent from my neighbors wifi!
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Well today went good Matt came home from school for the weekend to spend some time with us. He said he would go with me to Alaska! //SLAMIN// He helped me put some insulation in the bus on the roof to help keep some of the heat in this time. It gets down in the 40's in June. We used a lot of Lp gas last time trying to heat me up in the morning. I also ordered the centrifuge. I dug up some more supplies. We have 5 cases of MRE's left we can take with us. Two can's of plasti dip for wet suit repair and gloves.
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I saw you backing the trailer loaded with WVO down your driveway this morning on my way to work. Man that's a lot of oil!!!
Sent from my neighbors wifi!
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600Gallons of WVO (4500Lbs) is enough to get from here in Georgia to Fairbank Alaska 4300miles if I can average around 7.5 miles to a gallon. So my fuel cost is around say $1500.00 when I get there my friend is already getting me up another 600 gallons to refill with for the ride home. If I was to use just diesel I would get better mileage then WVO gets but at a much higher cost. I get around 10 MPG on diesel $4.00 a gallon. I get around 7MPG with WVO paid $1.50 a gallon. I will use a couple tanks of diesel getting there as well to heat the WVO with. I plan to be around 34000Lbs when I leave and burn off 7.5lbs for every gallon. If I start out going 55MPH I can get around 6MPG. As I get lighter I will be able to go faster and get better mileage.
On another note I did go to the Discovery Channel web site and fill out there be the next star form and told them what I was doing and how we use WVO in the bus. Now it's up to them to call.
I'm starting to feel a little nervous this morning about going now that I have gotten in this deep with getting things together. Knowing I am going to have a long ride and the unknown things that happen along the way. I will have every tool I could need to fix anything on the road from air tools to a welder and grinder. I can run the air tools off the air brakes provided the motor is running. It's still going to be a hell of a adventure! //SLAMIN//
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Mike, are you going to preheat the WVO for the engine prior to startup or start on diesel and then cut over to WVO one everything is warm?
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I will start up on Diesel and bring the 100gallon tank up to 150* and then switch over to WVO. I have a small tube heater in the heater line coming from the motor to the heated WVO tank that heats the WVO fuel going to the motor. The running temp of the motor is 195* to 210*
The hot water coming out of the motor runs though the middle pipe and go's on to the WVO tank I heat. The small ports are where the heated WVO go's in and comes out to the motor. So it gets heated to the running temp of the motor. I put the tube heater in line where the hose comes out the motor and go's to the cab heater
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Oh when I shutdown I will run the motor on diesel and purge the WVO out of the fuel line so when I start again it starts on diesel.
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& so it doesn't gel up the lines.
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Well we had both our son's here today helping get the bus ready. So after talking with John he changed his mind and is going to go with me. So both Matt and John are going on the trip. //SLAMIN// John started pressure washing the out side of the bus while Matt and I put some insulation inside. Looks like I'm going need to replace a couple tires. I need 4 new 295/75R/22.5 if anyone knows a good place to shop for truck tires? I can't wait for the centrifuge to get here so I can start cleaning the WVO and get it loaded on the bus. I think I have enough to fill it. I just want to make sure it's full.
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Maybe one of those bus junk yards would have used tires in decent condition. I've seen them before, but I couldn't tell you what highways they were on.
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Check with a truck tire company they might have some decent take offs for cheap
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
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Thanks guys. There is a bus graveyard off 129 now that I think of it. I'll give them a try tomorrow. //SLAMIN//
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Well they don't sell used tires at the bus graveyard on 129.
I did get the centrifuge in today and started cleaning the WVO. It works good it's slow only 10gallons a hour but very clean and no water.
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Sucks on the tires.
What is the micron level at 10G/hr?
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They claim it's 1micron if heated. The paper work that came with it said 4PPM. I'll still be running it though two 5 micron filters before it go's in the motor. I'll still use less filters this time.
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Well today I was able to run 75gallons though the centrifuge. I'm running about 7 gallons a hour. I cleaned out the bowl and was surprised how much sticks to the walls it was about 1/2" thick. I also have a 3 gallon tote that has the big chunks and water that runs out. Plus when you turn it off all the goop that's stuck to the wall comes out when it stops. I didn't take a pic of the tote. I will tomorrow.
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Does the centrifuge run without supervision? If so, does it have a float switch to turn it off automatically?
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You don't have to watch it all the time but you do have to check on it though out the day to make sure the chunky pieces don't plug up the valve and restrict the flow into the heater. I stayed with it for the first 40 gallons or so to see how it dose and then I just keep checking it every hour or so. You just don't want the heater to run dry it will burn out. I'll try and get some pic's tomorrow.
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Well after spending the last 3 days running the WVO though the centrifuge. (150gallon)I Use a 5micron filter on the pump I use to pump the clean WVO into the bus with. Well the fuel tank I was using to move the clean WVO from the centrifuge to the bus was dirty and contaminated the clean oil. It plugged up the 5micron filter in less then 5 gallons pumping though it. I was pissed I spent all that time running though the centrifuge to have to rerun it. So today I used a clean tank. I ran 50 gallons though the centrifuge and then pumped it though a 10micron filter to a 5micron filter and was very happy it pumped right though with out any plugging.
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Well today I ran 50 gallons of WVO though the centrifuge at 6.5 gallons a hour. I'm very happy with it.
I picked up the dredge today! It's so shinny and new. I can't wait to start working it. I also got a dry suit today and a couple pairs of diving gloves.
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Awesome set up. I cant wait to see the jar of gold u end up with
Sent from a 4g signal.
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I'd like to fine just one nugget like this!
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Well all the WVO tanks or full and oozing. (over flowing when the sun heats up the tanks) I ran 400 gallons though the 10 micon and 5 micron filter and it still flows though them good. So I know the centrifuge cleaned it better then if I had just used filters. I had a leak in the power steering fittings at the gear box. I had to replace one of the high pressure lines and I was able to weld the other fitting for the return line. This bus came from Pennsylvania and was decommissioned because of the rot. (Rust) I new it was rotted but at the time I just wanted it to make one ride to Alaska. We picked up some tires for it today 4 drive tires I shopped around for the best price. ($1400.00) I found a set of Bridge stone's. I went with a bigger tire. I had 10R22.5 and went up to 11R22.5 there 2" bigger then the old ones. I should be able to get up to 70mph with the bigger tires. I hope it's more like 75mph but I will just have to wait and see when I get it on the road. Matt helped me work on getting the old lug nuts off. Man they didn't want to come off. We broke a couple breaker bars and bent the hell out of a lug wrench. I had to get a Nut Buddy to brake them loose. We got one side off today and mounted one tire to the rime and got it back on the bus. I changed the oil and filter and toped off every thing else. I also picked up some new tires for the trailer. They wanted $112.00 for 6ply tires and I needed 2. Then I found the same tire at Tracker Supply with the rim for $119.00 so I got 4 of them and will have a couple spears to take with me.
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Nut buddy? I'll have to research that one.
Thanks for the update. Love following the progress and the details.
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I just read this entire thread. This is very cool Mike. I wish you luck on your trek and will look forward to updates.
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Ok so today we got all 4 tires mounted and on the bus. I needed 12 new lug nuts for one side. The lug nuts where on there so tight that the Nut Buddy actually pushed the stud out the back of the brake drum. It didn't brake the first lung nut loose enough it just turned it with the second lug nut. I have a rim with 6 lug nuts stuck in it. We took the 2 spare tires off the rims and will just take the tires with us and mount then on the road if we have to. That will take some of the weight off for ride. Starter fluid just isn't the same as the old days. It just doesn't have the poof anymore. They are definitely bigger! The Bus looks a little lifted in the rear now. Of course it's not loaded right now. //LMAO// I also flushed the water tank and water lines in the bus as well as the hot water tank. I had to replace a couple lines that where going to burst. I pressure washed the radiator and motor and got all the dust and dirt off. I hope the rain hold off for me tomorrow Matt and Jon are going to help with the trailer. We need to pack the bearing's with new grease check the brake pads put the new tires on and make sure the spring keepers are there so the spring leaf can't turn and cut a tire. We also need to hook up the lights and get the bus wired to the trailer the right way.
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What did you use to flush the water lines? Chlorine, lemon juice, etc
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Well we use bottled water for drinking and just use the bus water to wash dishes and shower and flush the commode. So a good 1/2 cup of bleach with about 20 gallons of water.
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Are you going to insulate the wvo tanks?
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Are you going to insulate the wvo tanks?
No I don't have to I have a tube heater that will heat it up as fast as the WVO flows through it.
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We replaced the tires on the trailer yesterday and repacked the bearings. We put some bearing buddies on to help keep the bearings packed on the ride. Jon did some welding on the tow hitch of the bus for me. There was a couple bolts in the frame that had broke off. He also fixed the step going into the bus where it was rusting out and getting soft when you stepped on it. Matt helped Cheryl clean the inside of the bus and started loading some of the things we will be taking with us. He also helped me work on the trommel. We needed to replace the 5 horse motor with a 8 horse. We tested and ran the new motors for the dredge. We changed the oil in the spare motor for the dredge and ran it to. We changed the oil in the generator and ran it as well. I tried to fix the old back up camera but it's no good anymore. water got into the camera and rusted the circuit board. I have to see about getting a new one. It's good to have it so I can see what's happening back there on the trailer while we are driving. Today we worked on putting some more things on the bus. We put the dive gear and wet suits and dry suit. We put installed the TV and speakers.
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So cool to watch all this come together. Lots of work!
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Today Matt and I got the dredge up on the bus roof. We had to take it all apart to fit it. Matt carried the motors up the ladder to me and I put them in the roof rack. It took both the racks to fit everything for that 6" dredge! I have enough room to fit a tote with dive gear and six 5 gallon gas cans. We also put some more supplies in the bus like rain gear and heaters. Todays temp was 38* for a low last night and 69* for a high to day. That was in Fairbanks Alaska.Tomorrow I hope to get the trailer hooked up to the bus and see how much room I will have on the trailer with the Jeep. I still need to put 4 spare tires on the trailer as well as a 8' by 4' trailer with axle. I can pull the tires off the axle then flip the small trailer over and slide it under the Jeep. We mounted the generator on the front bumper with the 60 gallon water tank.
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//SLAMIN// //BEER//
This is awesome. Two things I love, being self sufficient And going prepared. Wish I could go on an adventure like this!
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I agree!
Sent from my neighbors wifi!
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Well we have the trailer hooked to the bus and we had to take the dredge trailer (4'x8') apart to fit it under the Jeep. We got a set of fenders for the Jeep trailer and used the frame we made to hold the fenders on to hold up the dredge trailer under the Jeep. It gave us enough room to fit the spare tiers under the dredge trailer. Now I have enough room for the trommel to ride in front of the jeep.
We have a total of 680 gallons of WVO 5100LBS
70 gallons of Diesel
Total length is 62feet.
GVW is around 31,000LBS
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Awesome! What day do you head out? Have any networks/programs contacted you?
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No wonder it only gets 4 MPG.
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Awesome info and prep. Trip of a lifetime x2.
Taking extra trailer parts? Hub and bearing set? Complete axle?
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
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The plan is to leave on the 1st of Jun. I haven't heard back from Discovery channel yet. Jon has one more week of work. Then he needs a couple days to get ready. Matt will not be going with us. He decided it would be better if he stayed home this summer and worked. I don't blame him there's no guarantee we will find gold just that we will try.
I don't have any spare parts for the trailer this time. I will pump grease in the barring buddy's every time we stop. If I have to repair anything on the road and don't have the parts I will unload the jeep and go find it. I'm trying to cut as much weight down as I can. We were over 41,000LBS the last time we went. I'll only get around 4MPG at first when we leave but will lose 7.5LBS every 4miles as we go further and then the MPG will get up to around 10 or 11 MPG so I will average around 7MPG over the 4300miles. I have a extra 80gallons of WVO with me this time. I put WVO in the two 40 gallon tanks on the back of the bus I use to hold gas when we get there for the dredge and generator. I will make supply runs every 2 week for food and gas. We also down sized the frig. We don't really need it when we get there. We can dig a hole in the permafrost for a icebox.
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A properly packed trailer bearing is good for 10,000 miles plus.
Don't squeeze grease in at every stop unless you have a bad seal and are leaking grease.
Bearing buddy's only grease the outer bearing, and
The grease will push past the seal and get on the brakes. I've purchased 2 trailers that had the brake drums full of grease.
Track your trip on a smart phone and post up. MyTracks or EveryTrail
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OK so things have slowed down some for me this week. We have everything packed on the bus that we are going to take with us. If I don't have it I will just have to get it when we get there. We had a hard time finding insurance for the bus this time. It seems the Insurance Company's don't want to insurance converted school bus's anymore. So I had to jump though their hoops and have the bus inspected. Explain everything about how the WVO runs the motor and how the WVO tanks where made and installed in the bus. Good thing I had a lot of pictures. How the fuel lines are run and safe from fire. The inspector said I did a very good job and that he was impressed with my engineering! //SLAMIN// He asked where I went to school to learn how to do this and I told him it was Google. //LMAO// He laughed and said no really? I told him everything I needed to know about running WVO came from researching the web. The fab work of making the tanks and hanging them just came from being a fabricator all these years. So it's insured and registered. Now it's just a mater of waiting for Jon to get what he needs to do before he can leave. Today is his last day of work and with the long weekend it looks like we will still be leaving on the 1st. //SLAMIN//
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Hats off Mike! This is an incredible undertaking worthy of its own reality show.... keep us posted //SLAMIN// //popcorn//
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Let me just say I was scared! I had been working on getting insurance for the last 3 weeks. I didn't think I was going to find any. Then when they said it would have to be inspected I thought for sure I wouldn't get it and I just spent all this time and money for a yard dart! I was very happy when the inspector said I did a good job and he would pass it for me! I didn't have to go though this the fist time I went to Alaska in 2011. So today Jon and I will paint the drivers side of the bus where we striped the paint off with the pressure washer trying to get the old WVO off that oozed all over it.
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Ok that's done. We painted what needed to be. Just don't look to close //LMAO// We used Christmas paper to tape off the widows. We had a roll left over.
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I like it. Looks "custom".
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Great stuff
I look forward to your posts
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This waiting is killing me!!! Jon is going to get what he needs done tomorrow and we will leave around 6pm. I would rather drive at night anyway. //SLAMIN//
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So get Jon signed up on here too and please give us a daily update.
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This waiting is killing me!!! Jon is going to get what he needs done tomorrow and we will leave around 6pm. I would rather drive at night anyway. //SLAMIN//
Awesome! A head start on the adventure. God speed and best wishes.
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Anybody heard if they got to leave at 6:00?
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Safe travels to them if they are on the road, hope the claim turns out good for them. Either way the trip would be adventure enough for me.
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I went by there house today around 5:45 an they were still there but they were all outside. I honked... Hope you guys have a blast!!!
Sent from my neighbors wifi!
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Hey guys sorry I haven't posted sooner. We've been having a little problem with the motor running hot. We change the coolant filter and it still running a little hot. Put some radiator flush in running it on that to try and get it cleaned out. I'm not sure if its the radiator or if its the fan. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of air coming through the radiator. I clean the outside of the radiator before I left with purple power and pressure washer. Does anyone know if they make a fan without a clutch for this motor. Its in international 444
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Hey guys sorry I haven't posted sooner. We've been having a little problem with the motor running hot. We change the coolant filter and it still running a little hot. Put some radiator flush in running it on that to try and get it cleaned out. I'm not sure if its the radiator or if its the fan. It doesn't seem like there's a lot of air coming through the radiator. I clean the outside of the radiator before I left with purple power and pressure washer. Does anyone know if they make a fan without a clutch for this motor. Its in international 444
here is a link that may help. Not sure if there is fan without a clutch but this thread does discuss the overheating
http://www.schoolbusfleet.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17930 (http://www.schoolbusfleet.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17930)
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Make your own. Weld a tab on the hub over to one of the bolts that hold the fan.
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here is a link that may help. Not sure if there is fan without a clutch but this thread does discuss the overheating
http://www.schoolbusfleet.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17930 (http://www.schoolbusfleet.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17930)
Thanks Tony for that info I will relay to Mike. He doesn't have much time to get on here right now so he asked me to post an update for him. They are in Minnesota about 200 miles from the border. They've had to stop once today to fix the battery door. The batteries kept pushing against it making it pop open. Just little stuff though, nothing major. Hopefully they will make it across the border tonite. I'll try to post again later or tomorrow.
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well they made it across the border around 10:30. He called but was breaking up real bad and then I lost him and couldn't reconnect. So it maybe be 3 or 4 days until I here from them again. By then they will have made it to Alaska. Gave him the info about that fan and some international dealers up there so he can pick one up.. I'll be back with an update as soon as I get word from him. //;D//
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Thanks for posting the updates...very cool stuff!
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I talked to Mike around 2 pm today. They have made it somewhere past Edmonton. He was happy with the progress they have made so far today. At least they hadn't had to fix anything today. Yesterday afternoon the air dryer, which is part of the Air Ride and brakes started acting up. He had problems with it before but thought he had fixed it. So he had to stop and get a new air dryer and bus is moving along much better now..the temps are cooler up there so he's not having too much of an issue with the heat. He also has been putting superglue on the fan which works for a little while. He's looking into picking up that Horton Fan kit that was mentioned in that link. I don't think I will be hearing from him again until he gets to Alaska.
Just heard from him again..they are in Dawson Creek, right at the beginning of the Alaska Hwy. They went about 700 hundred miles, which is real good. They are going to rest for the night which I'm glad. I'll just be happy when they get there!
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Great to know he is getting some miles under his belt
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Today has been a little slower..only went about 370 miles..they are in the Rockies climbing the mountains. Temps up there are a lot warmer than he expected for this time of year. 80 degrees so he is having to stop to let the motor cool occasionally. They have about 1100 miles to go. I was surprised to hear from him but he was on top of a mountain so was able to grab a signal.
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Glad to hear he's making progress. We all appreciate the updates.
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That's awesome!!! Thanks for the updates! A lot of us love this thread!
Sent from my neighbors wifi!
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Well I didn't hear from them today, yet :(
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Heard from the guys last night. They made it to White Horse in the Yukon so should be getting to Alaska by this evening.
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Heard from the guys last night. They made it to White Horse in the Yukon so should be getting to Alaska by this evening.
Great news!!
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Got a call at 3pm and they were in Tok, Alaska. about another 200 miles to Fairbanks if they decide to go that far. They've seen some bears, brown and black and one Grizzly bear. Said he was huge. No pic unfortunately , Jonathan's phone was in the back of the bus and Mike tried to back up to where they saw him but he had wandered back into the woods. They are tired but in good spirits.
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Forget the phone. Where is the gun!!!!
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lol.. you got to have a bear tag to shoot them..and they are expensive for non residents. They did make to John's house in Fairbanks so they are getting settled in and will go check out the land that John has to see what the prospects are like.
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Hi Everyone Well as you know we made it to Fairbanks! //SLAMIN// We are at our friends house at the North Pole. They had some bad storms just before we got here. We drove though some of it. We drove though hail and rain and snow coming though the mountains of the Yukon. It was a long ride when we got to Glacier pass. It took us 14hr to go 120miles though the mountains. We stopped at a weight station to see how heavy we are and it was 33,000 and still had 300 gallons of WVO left. we went 3500 miles on just WVO till something happened to the last 150 gallons of WVO and it got dirty from something in the tanks. we sucked the 200 and the 300 gallon tanks almost dry and picked up all the old dried up WVO that was stuck to the walls of the tanks. With all the shaking while driving must have loosened it up. So we used 3 tanks of diesel to get here and still have 3/4 of a tank left. We didn't need to change one filter till this happened. Then we went though 15 filters in 300miles. 5 of them where for the diesel for the fuel we got in the Yukon! I'm glad we had 20 with us to start. So John my friend had a shed to hold some of his tools in the blew away from the storms so jon and I helped him put up a Quonset hut up. We are going with him today to look over some of the claims he has. He has a 200ac claim in chicken Ak that has a river but it's like the Chattahoochee. It's very deep 20 foot at the shallow end and very fast water. There's lots of gold in it just rely hard to get to. We may give it a try after I see how bad it really is. I'll try and post some more while i'm still at the north pole and hve Wi-Fi.
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The scenery is amazing especially since I am looking at the concrete jungle of Atlanta.
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just wanted to give you guys an update..Mike is heading out to a claim and it will be about 2 weeks before I hear from him. Praying he finds the mother load! though I know its not likely //;D//
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just wanted to give you guys an update..Mike is heading out to a claim and it will be about 2 weeks before I hear from him. Praying he finds the mother load! though I know its not likely //;D//
Good luck Mike and boys!!!!!!!
1. Stay safe
2. No bears
3. Lots of gold!!!!!!
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Have fun! Finding good is really easy, just follow the rainbow.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
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Have fun! Finding good is really easy, just follow the rainbow.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
Be careful which rainbows you follow...some have things other than gold at the end.
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Well we are back in Fairbanks today. We checked out a claim that was 80miles north out of Fairbanks this last week. It had some gold but not enough to keep me there. Then we moved 128miles out to a unknown claim that was giving us a 1/4 oz a day but couldn't stay out there for long. We had to sleep in the jeep it was the safest place . We had to bring all the supplies with us in the Jeep and ATV. There where a lot of bear and moos all around us. I don't mind the bear to much but they stated to come closer and closer to us as we where working in the river each day. You go though a lot of supplies when you are working as hard as we have been running this dredge. This thing doesn't mess around it will suck your hand in if you get closer then a foot from it! Casper keeps surprising me on what it can go though. I had to cross and swamp where the beaver build a dam in the river. We made it in but on the way out one day to get supplies from the bus we broke though the tundra. We didn't get suck but Casper was sinking and ripping though the roots of the tundra. So when we went back up to the claim we went over the beaver dam in the river. that was fun with a trailer. It had a steep clime up and a very muddy down side into the lake the beavers made. I'm happy we made Casper so tall. it can get though 4 feet of water before it gets to the top of the starter. oh get this we where running around town yesterday and the battery went bad. Good thing we where in town or we would have had a long ride out with the ATV to get one from the bus. When you look at the pics of the munitions just drive past the first one and then around the next one and you will be close to where we where. Oh did I tell you you have to make your own road to get there. The trees here will lay right over when you have to drive over them. I mowed over some that where 12 to 15 feet high and about 4 to 6 inches thick. There like rubber! We have to use first gear in 4 wheel low to go slow enough over the rock in the river or it beets you to hell. We are not getting rich with gold but the things we have seen and the time here with my son is price less. Jon has been a hell of a worker for me. I drive Casper and he rides the ATV. he loved riding it tell saterday when he went out on his own and got it stuck! he couldn't get it out on his own so he had to walk back to camp and get me. we couldn't get Casper back to it he went under the Ak pipe line and Casper wouldn't fit under it so we had to walk the rest of the way back. We had to flip the ATV on its side and fill the ruts in with trees. it's like driving on a sponge. If you rip though it there's nothing but water under it! There was one day it rained and the river gut high. I didn't know you can float on water with a Jeep! As I was crossing the one spot where the river gets narrow and the water was ripping. I went floating sideways for about 20 feet till the tires grabbed something to push off. Today we have to go to the fish and game and get a permit for the dredge. I didn't know you have to have one here. We didn't get in any trouble just found out you have to have it.
So John the guy I know here asked me if I would start up his claim in Chicken. He wants me to get his wash plant set up and running. he had a drill coming out next week and test the claim and find where the best gold is on it. he has 200ac of untouched land in Chicken! the claim next to his claim took out over 90,000 oz of gold!!! He wants me to set it up and run it for him! //SLAMIN// I told him I would look at it with him and let him know. I didn't really come here for a job but what he is offering is very tempting. I'll let Uall know how that go's.
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Very cool. Can't wait to hear more about this new claim area. Good luck.
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Here's a video of one the trails we went on.
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Here's a video of one the trails we went on.
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Awesome. Thanks for sharing the videos.
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Hi everyone! WOW what a trip! We are back in Ga. I have so much to tell yall. It started slow at first we had to find a place we could go to prospect for gold once we got there. I found a gold claim off the Steese hwy about 75miles north of Fairbanks. We went to DNR and filed for the claim before we went out to see if there was any gold on it. We stocked up on supplies before we left Fairbanks for the wilderness. We were so far from anyone or anything. We had to make sure we had everything we needed. When we got out to the old claim there was a old log cabin and some old equipment. We had to bring everything up the Chatnika river. The river started out around 60 feet wide and about 6 to 8 inches deep. About 2 miles up the river was a beaver dam. the first time we went up to the claim I went around the beaver dam though the tundra that was interesting driving over the moss. It was like driving on a sponge the water would squirt out from under the trees. I found out if you spin a tire on the tundra it will rip though the roots and you will have nothing under it but water. The tundra is like a insulating blanket that keeps the ground frozen but there's a lake of water under it that the tundra floats on. We had to use the wench to pull Casper back up on the tundra we had to tie the wench to about 6 trees to pull from or we would just pull the trees out on the tundra. There's about 12 to 16 inches of unfrozen ground on top and then a layer of water and then ice (permafrost) the trees don't have a very big root ball on them. They don't grow roots in to the ice so they spread out. I still have a lot to learn about permafrost! So after setting up a camp on the claim we went to work. We went to the very end of the claim on the river and set up the dredge. We got 5 claims that was 40 acres each. We run the dredge for the day there and didn't find any color there but did see a moose. So we moved the dredge down river and punched in another hold. We sent the day there and still didn't see any color. We kept moving down the river for the next 2 weeks punching holes trying to find some color but there wasn't enough gold there for the work. So he packed up camp and abandoned the claim. We found a bumper sticker on one of the old trucks that was left on the claim from 1997. It said if you can't mine it grow it! and there was about 400 flower pots around the claim. So we headed back the Fairbanks to try and fine a new claim.
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Great update Mike, good to know you are home safe !
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Welcome home.
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We want to know how much GOLD was found
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I'm awake again. I have been sleeping for the last couple days. We drove home from Fairbanks in 85hrs. We left on Monday afternoon and didn't stop for anything but gas and food. I slept in the back seat while Jon drove and then he slept while I drove. The bus is still in Alaska! We will get back to the bus later. So the first claim didn't work out for us. We met a guy that told us about this place called Cripple Creek that had good gold so we went 20 miles down river with him and he showed us where it was. He told us just let him know how we do and how much gold we find. We set up the dredge and started punching in a hole in the bedrock. Well we only ran two tanks of gas though the dredge and called it a day. We lifted the rubber mat in the sluice and WOW! there was 5 nice pickers about a gram each and lots of fine gold. We packed the dredge up and took it back to camp so we could move everything down river to this new place. We run the cons though a gold wheel that night and we had found almost a 1/2oz of gold in just under 4hrs! this was great! we packed up camp so we could move closer to the creek. We had to get more supplies so the next day we made the ride to town some 80miles. It took us all day to get our clothes cleaned and restock our food supplies and more gas. When we got back to the bus we moved it to a new camp site down river. By now it was too late to start dredging so we had dinner and went to sleep for the night. Well Jon and I got up the next morning and there was a ranger hanging around camp. I went out to see what he was hanging around for and he told me that it was ok to camp there but this was BLM land and there was no motorized prospecting or dredging allowed there!!! )0: I was bummed and so was Jon. We thought we found a good place for us to prospect. It was hard to leave there knowing there was good gold there. So we packed up camp and went back to Fairbanks so we could go to the DNR and find a place legal for us to work. I wanted to buy a claim around there but I was too late this year to find one. They come open in March from people that didn't pay there tax or just let the claim go. So my friend in Fairbanks told me about a claim in Fox that was open and he knew the owner. So we went out there with him with a couple A52 sluice boxes. We ran about 5 buckets of dirt though my sluice and John ran about 6 though his. all I can say is WOW I have never seen so much gold in a A52 sluice before then. there was about 1/4oz in mine alone! Great right? nope I just had to go to DNR the next day to place a claim on the land when I found out it was not legal to claim or even open to claim. It was what they call Mental Health Trust. So it's not open for mining. So now I'm really bummed out We have been in Alaska for 3 weeks and still didn't have a place to work or any gold to speak of. Now the guy I know in Fairbanks John has a couple claims but there out in Chicken around 300miles from Fairbanks. I didn't want to go out there because supplies out there are so expensive. Gas is $6.00 a gallon and food is way to much. Milk is $10.00 a gallon bread is $7. a loaf. But John told me him and his partner was going to bring out a backhoe and make a couple ponds for pumps. Their claim is a placer claim and there is no river or creek on the land just the run off from the melting permafrost under the moss. So John gave us a freezer and we filled it in Fairbanks and got as much gas as we could haul. We went out there and set up camp at the 70mile marker. We waited for a week for Bill. Johns partner to come out with the backhoe. While we waited for him we drove all over the 200 acre claim looking at how the land was. It's on the side of a mountain running from the top and coming just short of the river at the bottom. There was nothing we could do with it till we had some way to remove the moss and trees. When Bill got there on Friday the 4th with the backhoe we where very happy to see him. Well it was late and I ran it for about 2hrs and then we went to camp to eat. After we ate a couple of the guys there with us wanted to go to town. Well the town of Chicken is very small they have a place to get gas and a couple camp grounds and a saloon. We went to the Saloon and had a couple beers and watched them fire off the panty canon. Yes they ask the girls for there panties and load them in this cannon and fire it off. Oh um most of the girls there are from Canada and come out there on the weekends to make the miners happy and take there money. (love u long time) So anyway the next day I got back on this backhoe and found out what permafrost really is. I pulled up the moss and pushed over some trees and I couldn't dig down more then a foot or 18inches nothing but ice but with plant matter frozen in it. I did what I could with this backhoe but didn't get much more then a couple ponds made about 80feet long and 30 foot wide. there was nothing we could do with the permafrost. We were out there for 3weeks now and still couldn't work the land. There's no phone out there that works. Well I had found a D8 dozer for $3500.00 a week and $1400.00 delivered. I told Bill I would pay the rent on it if they would put my name on the claim with them. Now I haven't found any gold on this claim but I know it's there. Well Bill didn't want me to go in there a rip it all up with out a reclamation plan. So we went back to Fairbanks so we could talk to John and Bill together and come up with a better plan. We all met at Bill place and sat down and talked about what their plan was for this claim. Bill has a couple core drills but there's no way of moving them around the claim. It needs some roads cut in. I told Bill and John I wanted in on the claim and I would match any $ they wanted to put in. So they agreed to bring me in on the claim. The first thing we had to do is get a dozer out there a clear some of the land so we can start melting the permafrost. more to come
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Sounds nonproductive, bummer.
I can't believe you drove your CJ 85 hours straight. WOW.
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I haven't gotten to that part yet! While I said we left the bus in Alaska I didn't tell you we got a 1 ton ford to drive around there and come home in. I wanted to leave the bus on a claim so I can go back next year. I found a 1997 Ford 350 with the 7.3 Diesel with 240,000 on it and a new tranny for $5200.00 It was a Alaska DOT truck. It runs great and we didn't have to do anything to it. I had the oil changed and it looked clean. We used the truck to haul the jeep and a 4 wheeler in the bed. Jon drove the bus with a 4wheeler on the small trailer. We made it 3500 miles on the veggie oil and used 3 tanks of diesel getting to Fairbanks. I held back a 100 gallons of WVO in the bus in case we needed it. So now I have a work truck I can use around here.
Bill and John agreed to bring me in on the 200 acre claim in Chicken Alaska! Now I have a lot to learn about permafrost. It's harder then just ice it's more like pycrete. You can scrape about a inch a day off once you get the trees and moss off. But you really need to have running water to help melt it. We have permits to clear 7 acres and make two 100000 gallon ponds. What we didn't have was enough time this year to rent a dozer and clear it or even cut in roads. We are working on a long term business plain and a reclamation plain for the permits we will need next year. I'm going to be working on a wash plant that will run on WVO and a dozer. We can get all the WVO we want in Fairbanks. Till they find out what we use it for and then it will be like around here and harder to find. Diesel is $4.79 a gallon in Chicken. More to come.
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Sweet truck. I'd love to have a 4 door diesel.
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Awesome story and a very cool long bed F-series! Welcome South, Brother (WSB).
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Oh and the new tires on the trailer lasted for about 8000 miles. We had 2 spears with us and picked one up from Bill before we headed home. We had to put all 3 spears on in Tennessee. We had one of the spears blow out after about 300 miles so we put one of the bald ones back on.
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I have read ALL of Mikes last two posts and all I can remember is the Panty Cannon
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panty cannon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItHZNsMSm3s#ws)
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Here's a couple vids of the claim in chicken
Chicken Alaska Gold Claim (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv4epYhTzq0#)
Chicken claim (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1OEAETCz2M#)
claim in chicken (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moEckaWsYLo#)
Chicken Alaska (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FHg3o4g-bs#)
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Your trip sounds awesome! I was able to sit down and read through all your posts and look at all the pictures. Nice find with that ford by the way.
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Well I didn't find much gold this time but that's how it goes. You have to try. If you don't you will never know. I will do my best over the next few months to learn everything I can about permafrost and how they work around it. It's going to be hard for me not living in Alaska. I am also looking for a river claim in Alaska for myself. I'd like to have a claim to fall back on if the Richfield claim doesn't pan out for me next year. We need to cut some roads in and do a lot of drilling before we can even think about a wash plant. I wish there was someone in Ga that had some land that I could do some dredging on but it's been impossible to find.
Oh here's a couple pis of the drift mine we found in Chicken Alaska at the 70 mile marker on the Taylaor hwy.
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I've got the mulberry River in my back yard. The exact spot was the Dixie mafia's favorite
Place to dump bodies.
Bet you could find some cool stuff.
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Dump bodies? Seriously?
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Dump bodies? Seriously?
Yeah.
These small towns have some crazy history. Turns out the guy who runs the motor grader for the county is related to Billy Sunday Birt. Made for an interesting conversation.
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http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/birt-billy-sunday.htm
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Hmm not sure I would want to find any bodies! I'm sure if I found anything I wouldn't want to keep it. I'd have to turn it in to the police.
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Well today I'm going to sell some of the gold I did get. I realized I haven't showed Uall the gold I got. This is the gold I found at Cripple creek. Before we found out we couldn't run a dredge there.
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$$$ sweet!!!
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Ok here's what I have. I got $2200.00 for the two ounces of the gold I ended up with from Cripple creek and still need to clean the rest of it. I though I had got a 1/2 oz from there but when I got the rest of the cons from that bucket cleaned I got 2.11 oz. I still need to run the cons from the 40mile river and from smith creek. I have 4 buckets of cons to run. I'll take some pic of how I rum my cons and clean the mercury off.
Here is a pic of the nugget the guy on the claim next to the Rickfield keeps in his pocket. It's 2.67oz's
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Hi everyone I have been very busy this last year. I spent most of my summer in Alaska and did very well this time. I have been reading your posts and wanted to reply but the internet I have in Alaska sucks. I found just over 96oz this year. I hope to make a ride with uall sometime soon.
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Did that make a profit, or was it more just a fun way to spend the summer?
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Hi everyone I have been very busy this last year. I spent most of my summer in Alaska and did very well this time. I have been reading your posts and wanted to reply but the internet I have in Alaska sucks. I found just over 96oz this year. I hope to make a ride with uall sometime soon.
DANG! That is awesome. Am I going to see you on Gold Rush soon?
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$100k? Shweet.
Hope to see you on the trail.
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Good to have you back Mike!
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It would be a profit if I found it the fist year I went but after 4 years I think I have finally broke even. I can say it has paid for the tools and equipment and what I put in to building the jeep and bus. Next year would be my profit. Then again I can only dredge for about 3 months up there.
Not really interested in working with the gold rush guys. I like getting in the water and dredging. //SLAMIN//
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It would be a profit if I found it the fist year I went but after 4 years I think I have finally broke even. I can say it has paid for the tools and equipment and what I put in to building the jeep and bus. Next year would be my profit. Then again I can only dredge for about 3 months up there.
Not really interested in working with the gold rush guys. I like getting in the water and dredging. //SLAMIN//
One of those guys is running a huge dredge now, looks like a damn river boat.
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This is awesome! Congrats on your accomplishments this summer!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Hi everyone I have been very busy this last year. I spent most of my summer in Alaska and did very well this time. I have been reading your posts and wanted to reply but the internet I have in Alaska sucks. I found just over 96oz this year. I hope to make a ride with uall sometime soon.
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This is awesome!! Congrats. Glad you broke even, even if it took a while. Now it's just all profit from here, right?