It Was Old, Like Me

[Jim_Alaska]

Yes, it was old, just like me. It even took on some of my old age idiosyncrasies; it was heavy when full, started hard in the morning, ran intermittently depending on mood, took a lot of tinkering to get it to perform properly, created a lot of dust and its exhaust smelled bad. But it was a trusty old friend that was always there in a pinch. It’s ability to draw material and gold upward out of a crack was second to no other method.

You may have guessed by now that I am talking about my trusty gas powered vacuum. It is the old original Vac Pack.
Unfortunately someone thought they needed my Vac Pack more than I did and rudely helped themselves to it.

Yes, I should have known better than to leave it where I was working, but circumstances dictated that I do just that. I was working in my “secret spot” that has lots of exposed ancient bedrock and my trusty vac was producing enough gold to keep a smile on my face.

But part of getting old is that you just can’t do the things you once did and old age infirmities make hauling equipment and full buckets of material over rough ground an almost impossible task. In recent years I have developed peripheral neuropathy, the result of which is no feeling in my feet and legs. I have to use a cane at all times for stability. This translates to not being able to walk very far and extreme instability. So what I carry and how much must be limited as much as possible.

So, I chose to carry buckets of material back to the truck and leave my vac concealed behind the bedrock. This is in a place that no one drives into and even if they did they could not see the equipment without walking all the way to it. I have been working this place all summer and had no problems leaving the equipment and have not seen one other person.

In the past I have left mining equipment in numerous places and never had a problem, but all it takes is one time and just the right person.

If you see or know of anyone trying to sell a gas powered vac I would like to know about it and possibly get a look at it. As I said this is the old, original Vac Pack brand. It says Vac Pack on the bucket. The bucket is 5 gallon black with the letters in faded gold. The engine is the old Gray colored Echo brand leaf blower motor. The bucket has a traditional wire carrying handle, but I replaced the old thin grip with one of the new snap on orange handles. This should make it easy to identify.

So I guess its back to using the old methods, screwdrivers, crack tools and a brush. I already miss my trusty friend.

[Stumpdust]

If you have some time, do a little search around the area, sometimes people move things around and come back later to haul out, its a terrible feeling when things grow legs-Truly sorry this has happened!

[russau]

Yep Jim I also felt that same pain last fall when someone broke into my shed that I keep my lawn equipment. $600. loss to me BUT Im ready for them next time! I installed a CCTV Next time Ill know EXACTLY when they steal from me again. Now its like living back in the city..........chain it up and conceal it all ! Atleast itll slow them down so I can get close enough to bonk them on the head IF they don't run away first! Not to rub it in BUT all my equipment that I have in my trailer is covered by my home owners insurance . SORRY for your loss!

[Jim_Alaska]

If you have some time, do a little search around the area, sometimes people move things around and come back later to haul out, its a terrible feeling when things grow legs-Truly sorry this has happened!

Good idea. I looked around a bit, but not very far from where I was working. I'll look better.

[Jim_Alaska]

Yep Jim I also felt that same pain last fall when someone broke into my shed that I keep my lawn equipment. $600. loss to me BUT Im ready for them next time! I installed a CCTV Next time Ill know EXACTLY when they steal from me again. Now its like living back in the city..........chain it up and conceal it all ! At least it'll slow them down so I can get close enough to bonk them on the head IF they don't run away first! Not to rub it in BUT all my equipment that I have in my trailer is covered by my homeowners insurance . SORRY for your loss!

Unfortunately when you are working in a remote place you don't have the options like at home. I used to use cable to secure my dredge when I left it, that worked well.

I don't know if homeowners insurance would cover something that I left unattended in a location away from home???

[Plumas]

While this won't keep a Gold-Vac from wandering away there is something you can do to keep dredge motors pumps and compressors where they belong.

Mix up your fasteners. A combination of hex, Allen and Torx can be a real stumper to a thief who didn't bring all the proper tools..

Drill at least one engine mount bolt and put a small padlock thru it or better yet, drive in a short hardened steel roll pin to keep the nut from backing off. The roll pins work great with those smaller compressor fasteners. Yeah sure... it's all a pain but much is to be said about making it as difficult as possible for the thief with only a Crescent wrench in his pocket.

Plumas

[Jim_Alaska]

While this won't keep a Gold-Vac from wandering away there is something you can do to keep dredge motors pumps and compressors where they belong.

Mix up your fasteners. A combination of hex, Allen and Torx can be a real stumper to a thief who didn't bring all the proper tools..

Drill at least one engine mount bolt and put a small padlock thru it or better yet, drive in a short hardened steel roll pin to keep the nut from backing off. The roll pins work great with those smaller compressor fasteners. Yeah sure... it's all a pain but much is to be said about making it as difficult as possible for the thief with only a Crescent wrench in his pocket.

Plumas

Good ideas, but it would make it hard to work on for the owner huh?

[russau]

I like Plumas' idea of a lock through a mounting hole!

[Plumas]

Yeah, it's extra work for the owner and probably not necessary if you're just out for the weekend and staying with your equipment. Where it shines is if you leave your stuff unattended on the claims (as many of us do) for the summer.

A pain for the owner yeah, but not nearly as painful as counting out your coins to replace a stolen 6.5 Honda, Proline HP400 pump, T-80 compressor and an engine mounting plate.

[russau]

Another point is to mark your equipment in a NOT NOTICED spot and take pictures of it and record your serial numbers !