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Keene 151 Drywasher
Holding the title of the Big Boy in the dry washing world the Keene 151 drywasher delivers. We used one for many years and while it can be used by one man. Three to four men is the ideal number having two guys shovel the overburden directly into the grizzly and two working a vacuum on bedrock. Keene claims it can run 2 tons per hour and that is true, sometimes more depending on the mix and how fast you can feed the material into the machine. Below is a picture of my brother in law Frank running our 151 in 1994 in central Arizona in the middle of a summer night.
The 151 is a big unit and its really not made for backpacking purposes but a few guys with some determination can get it just about anywhere. The engine is a heavy Briggs 4.5 HP and it eats about 1 gallon of gas every 2.5 hours. In fact this machine will move so much material it could be used for a small scale commercial operation just starting up. The amazing thing about this unit for as big as it is is the fact that it will recover micro fine gold in addition to nuggets. You need to practice running it and getting the angles on the box right and when you do you can recover over 99 percent of all gold that goes through it. Don't forget to use your metal detector to check for nuggets or specimens to large to go through the grizzly screen. As far as the electrostatic part of the unit does it work? I don't know I'm not a scientist and I just never cared enough to investigate. The air pre heater is a pretty cool thing but kind of useless if you are working already dry areas plus it only heats the air to 50 degrees Keene says. Take some damp material out on a 50 degree day toss it on your driveway and check back in a few hours it will still be damp. No it will not dry damp material out.
So if you are looking for a big unit that can take the abuse and process more dirt than you can throw at it, the 151 is the right tool for the job. Again once you understand the reality of the machine and its manufacturer's claims you will know what it will and will not do. My 2 cents is the 151 is a great machine.