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What Size of Highbanker Should I Buy (Width)?

By: Dan Hodgins

When considering which size of highbanker is best for you there are a number of factors to consider.

If you want a lightweight, portable and compact mini highbanker then you should buy a 6 inch highbanker such as the Crux Prospecting Gold Trek. It will enable you to shovel 1 yard per hour of gravel at production speeds, and that will result in you getting more gold every time you go out prospecting.

Here are some of the criteria that can help you determine whether to buy a small or large highbanker.

Access (Parking, Walking Or Hiking Requirements)

The first factor is access. Is the digging area close to where you park or is it far away? If it’s not close, how far do you have to walk? How difficult is the hike? Is there a good trail or is it a sketchy deer trail with roots sticking out everywhere where you’re going to be side-hilling on a scary slope?

Many of us have hiked down into canyons where there is barely a trail, and you certainly don’t want extra heavy gear in a situation like this. The distance that you’ll have to walk will be a major determinant of which size highbanker you get to get because hiking with gear that’s too heavy is absolute hell.

Now let’s discuss the most common highbanker sizes (widths) for recreational placer gold miners.

6 inch Highbankers - Lightweight, Fast to Set Up, and Perfect For Sampling and Light Production

Ultralight backpackable 6 inch highbankers are best if you have a long walk into a dig area. If you’re going to be working in a remote area with steep access do you want the lightest equipment possible and a 6 inch highbanker is ideal. The goal in this scenario is to conserve energy and save it for digging and running material through your highbanker.

A properly set up 6 inch highbanker will enable you to run a bulk sampling program or do light production with a probable limit of 2-3 yards a day. In areas where the digging is difficult because the gravel and cobbles are cemented together your digging speed is limited so there’s no benefit to having a bigger sized highbanker.

With a 6 inch highbanker you will likely be pouring material from a bucket into the hopper or carefully placing your shovel loads of material into the hopper. They are less well suited for prospectors who want to hurl large shovel loads of material a long ways into an extra large hopper.

If you’re working ground where it’s easy digging, fast shovelling and perfect parking you may want to consider a bigger unit such as an 8 inch or 12 inch highbanker.

8 Inch Highbankers - A Bit Heavier & Moderate Production

Highbankers that are 8 inches wide allow a slightly higher production rate than 6 inch highbankers. If you have a drive up claim with easy access and a high-quality trail where you can carry the highbanker by hand or put it on a cart then an 8 inch highbanker can be an excellent choice.

A Highbanker of this size can enable you to hurl shovelfuls of material at the hopper without worrying about missing and having material fall out the side.

With a properly set up 8 inch machine and a high-quality water pump you can run a moderate to high quantity of dirt through an 8 inch highbanker. It would take a lot to drive an 8 inch highbanker to the limits of its production capabilities.

12 inch Highbankers - Bigger Pumps, Heavy With Huge Production Capabilities

For those seeking even more production capability 12 inch highbanker might fit the bill. This is getting to towards the bigger side of highbankers for recreational minors. A 12 inch highbanker will be extremely large and heavy and you would likely need some sort of a cart to transport it.

Units this size are likely not going to be a backpack unit, and if they are you talking a minimum of 50 to 60 pounds on your back if not more. You want to use a 12 inch highbanker when you’ve done a test panning or sampling program to identify the bounds of a high-quality deposit.

A 12 inch highbanker can handle as much dirt as 2+ people can throw at it. A conservative estimate would be 40 buckets or 1 yard per hour of gravel.

With a highbanker this big you’ll typically have a very large hopper where you can hurl material into the top part of the hopper and let the water from the spray bars eat away at the bottom part of the material to maintain an even feed rate into the power sluice below.

What I Prefer: 6 Inch Ultralight Backpack Highbanker

My personal preference is an ultralight 6 inch highbanker that I can take anywhere and push to his limits.

I can easily put a unit like this in my backpack along with a lightweight 1 inch gas water pump such as a Honda WX 10. I can easily hike a mile or two with a set up like this, and then highbank all day long. There are very few scenarios where a 6 inch highbanker will be insufficient in terms of capability for running material – at least for the types of places that I go to.

I hope this gives you some insights into the factors you can use to choose the ideal size of highbanker that’s perfect for you.

Make sure to check out our other articles on highbankers as they are jam-packed with battle tested information.