I thought I would take some time to reflect on my first gold dredge and how it came to be mine. After years of looking around and going to every manufacturer out there, it soon became apparent it was going to be a costly matter. Living in Southwestern PA, the dredge season is short and options on where to find gold are limited to at least a 2 hour drive one way; so spending a few thousand dollars on a Gold Dredge was out of the question.

Why I needed the dredge was the first issue. We all start out with the number 8 backhoe (thats a shovel) a bucket to carry the material in and a gold pan. This all quickly escalates into more and more equipment. We are always looking for better quicker ways to do things. Like adding more classifiers and other toys.

The main reason was... I wanted one.

So the dredge quest began. I ended up choosing eBay as my hunting ground. It became really clear that 90 percent of the people out there selling the equipment did not really care about gold and wanted to just get rid of it. They could not answerer even simple questions about the gold dredge and could not be bothered with shipping it. Driving to CA to pick it up was not on my to do list.

So after tracking 25 auctions and talking to the sellers, I hit pay dirt! I found the most fantastic person in the world residing in Oregon. The gentleman answered all my questions, made special arrangements for shipping and unknown to me added some bonuses to the shipment. He was getting out of the gold business for health reasons and wanted the dredge to go to someone who would appreciate it.

The auction ended and I probably paid more for it because I wanted the dredge and wanted to help out a person I had only met through email. Payment sent and email exchanged and I was like a kid at Christmas waiting for the mailman.

I happened to be out when the delivery came, I know this because I had to move the mountain of boxes to get in the door. The only thing I was thinking at this point was, I will never get this thing back together again! I was wrong. The reason for all the boxes was that every separate piece had its own custom made box with a wood frame and custom padding. I have never received any thing packed this good from any manufacturer out there, and this was from a private seller!

So the unpacking began; there was a gold dredge, a fine gold separator, wet suits, gold pans and anything else you could think of. The seller later told me he wanted everything to go to someone who could use it not sell it at his estate sale.

Then the biggest surprise of all was a laminated booklet showing step by step instructions -- complete with pictures -- of how to put the dredge together and how to operate it. I have never dealt with some one willing to go the extra 100 miles like he did!

So that was my gold dredge buying experience, hope it entertained you and helps restore your faith that there are fantastic people out there in the world. I still look at the manual he sent just to remind me! And as a surprise to him, he received a vial of the first PA glacial gold recovered with his former dredge sent to him the next season as a thank you for being a great person!