Q: What kind of pump do I need for my Gold Trek Highbanker?
A: For pump recommendations please see our Pump Information and Selection Page
Q: What's the difference between the material and color options between your systems?
A: When it comes to polymers, it is usually a trade-off between strength(rigidity) and toughness(how much impact it can handle) Each material has different properties that have certain advantages over the others but these 2 categories are the primary things considered when choosing the right material for a product.
Our Carbon Fiber Composite material is unique in that it is extremely rigid while also being very strong versus impact and abrasion. This gives the Carbon Fiber systems a huge advantage over our other materials but this comes at a high financial cost because it is considered a very "Exotic" material that is suitable for extremely niche and specialty applications.
The other Gold Trek Pro systems are made with our standard Composite Nylon material which is somewhat less rigid and less impact resistant than the Carbon Fiber but retains the abrasion and wear resistance that you need in a product made to process gravel and sand.
The Gold Trek Lite systems are made with an Impact Co-Polymer which is very light and flexible in comparison to our other materials but, as the name suggests, it is very resistant to cracking and breaking when impacted. The softness of this material also means that it is less abrasion resistant and will wear faster when compared to the Gold Trek Pro systems.
Q: Plastic? Really?
A: Absolutely! We acknowledge that Highbankers have traditionally been made with sheet metals like steel and aluminum (and still are by most companies) the advances in material technology plus the ability to obtain and use recycled content in our systems means that we have huge advantages over similarly sized metal systems. Not only are our systems lighter, they will not dent or kink if dropped or impacted accidentally. Plus, the fact that our systems are injection molded mean that we were able to add a multitude of features and details to the system's functionality that no metal system could reasonably compete with. It allows us to keep our entire "wish list" of features to maintain maximum efficiency while still being affordable without having to sacrifice anything due to costs of materials or labor.
Q: What's the production capacity of a Gold Trek Highbanker?
A: We can very confidently say, these systems will easily process over a cubic yard of material per hour.
Q: My 10 inch/12 inch/[other brand highbanker] can do that too, so what?
A: I have no doubt that it can! The bottle neck that most people run into isn't the production capacity of their highbankers but actually the speed and amount of gold-bearing material they can physically shovel. The fact is, a bigger highbanker doesn't help you dig faster. The vast majority of people do not need a highbanker more than 6 inches, even if you have multiple people processing. Hauling in a larger system not only takes more space, energy, time and fuel than a small, backpack version, it wastes precious time and energy that you could be using to actually process more material! The more material you can move, the more gold you get!
Q: What if I break something or wear it out?
A: For now, we have kept a very loose no-questions-asked policy when it comes to the rare cases of damaged, lost or worn out components. We do take things on a case-by-case basis so, if you have a Gold Trek and run into any problems, please reach out and we'll do what we can to assist you. At the end of the day, our primary goal is to help our customers get out, enjoy their hobby, and find gold!
Q: Will you ever make a bigger/smaller version of the Gold Trek?
A: We currently don't have any plans for a different sized version of our Gold Trek Highbankers. We've put an immeasurable amount of effort into making sure the Gold Trek systems are the best and most efficient systems they can possibly be while still being small enough that anyone can carry them. We aren't aware of anybody who's actually used one coming back and wishing it were bigger.
Q: I saw another product on Facebook or Youtube that you're working on. Will it ever be available?
A: Yes! We are constantly in development of new products and accessories for our systems. Sometimes the prototypes of these products make it onto our Youtube or Facebook posts while we're testing and tweaking them. If there's a product or accessory you're specifically interested in, I highly recommend following our Facebook and Youtube profiles and signing up for email updates from the website.
Q: I have a product idea, are you interested in buying it?
A: Unfortunately, purchase and sharing of product ideas can get very messy very fast so, in general, it's something we tend to avoid. At the time of writing, we have designed over a dozen products, prototyped 6 or 7 of them for active testing and are working on a prioritized release schedule that (hopefully) doesn't bankrupt us. There's a very good chance that we've already considered your idea and decided if it's something worth pursuing. There's a lot more to come so, if you're eager for a new tool or product, you're welcome to reach out and see if we've already got it on the schedule.