actual skilled prospectors opinions on angus mckirk or Le Trap style sluices

[vaquero44]

hello there looking for actual users of these product's and would like to capture rates are they any good compared to fluid bed units any insight would be great and how much water flow you gotto have to make them work?

 

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[wingmaster]

I own a couple AM sluices and they still work good with slow water flow you just have to feed a lot slower and they catch the fine flour glacial gold really good. Never tried any other drop riffle sluice but they should be about the same and function better when you have slower flow water, of course they clear better and can feed them faster with the proper flow but they are more forgiving.

 

[Hoser John]

Le Trap are righteous,used for over 25 years and thieves love them. ANY sluice with any riffle is a fluid bed by hydrology standards-John

 

[KevinInColorado]

I've used both and both catch fine gold just great. The LeTrap is too flimsy for my taste unless you put it in a frame so I'd buy the AM if you want a drop riffle. The smaller AM models need such small amounts of water to run, it's amazing. This makes them great for sampling in small creeks or for a little kid to have their own sluice in the shallows.

However both designs have the same drawbacks as other riffle based sluices: water surges will blow your gold out of the sluice AND you really have to classify your material and then feed it slowly into the sluice. Get or make a fluid bed sluice like the Bazooka Goldtraps and avoid those problems...you'll get 2-3x the gold for your effort!

PS of course HoserJohn is right: ideally there is a fluid bed behind each riffle (although that's often not the case due to larger rocks in the riffles or poor sluice setup). When we say a fluid bed sluice we really mean a water injection, riffle-less fluid bed trap. What a mouthful!

 

[Prospector70]

Do you mean Angus and le trap vs Bazooka Gold Trap fluid bed sluice?
if so go with the Bazooka
Best wishes for lots of gold!
P70

 

[Eastforklocal]

Bazooka all day ! I've used everything from keene to mad mining and everything I between ... Bazooka is the way to go !

 

[vaquero44]

Well here's the deal I'd never considered a drop riffle design before but I'm looking for something that you could do on slow water flow and easier to see whats going on also plus my 9 year old ruined my 30" sniper I had (poured 10/30w motor oil through it) so was going to buy a 36" sniper but was curious on the drop riffle design stuff too was thinking might be a little easier but we'll see if I get another bazooka I might try a 1/4" punch plate over the grizzlys to see if that would help the rock clearing problem............right now I'm getting ready to build a cracvac and using all the parts that are used on the viper vac except the side pvc stuff just trying to locate the rubber seal that goes on the unit to the lid to make the seal and thank you for the users getting back to this thread

 

[Prospector70]

Well here's the deal I'd never considered a drop riffle design before but I'm looking for something that you could do on slow water flow and easier to see whats going on also plus my 9 year old ruined my 30" sniper I had (poured 10/30w motor oil through it) so was going to buy a 36" sniper but was curious on the drop riffle design stuff too was thinking might be a little easier but we'll see if I get another bazooka I might try a 1/4" punch plate over the grizzlys to see if that would help the rock clearing problem............right now I'm getting ready to build a cracvac and using all the parts that are used on the viper vac except the side pvc stuff just trying to locate the rubber seal that goes on the unit to the lid to make the seal and thank you for the users getting back to this thread

you can soak it in gasoline. it won't hurt the bazooka and will definitely get the oil out, you may have to bottle brush the tubes in the gas to dislodge the oil in there

Hope this helps!
P70

 

[vaquero44]

Hey prospector its too late now I had thought of that too but I was afraid it was going to turn to jelly so I didn't dare and threw it out and well my son lost his bike for the summer oh I tell you when I found it like it was boy was I furious he also spent half the day sweeping my 150' paved driveway by hand too another reason I didn't dare I was thinking it might kept a aerodescence coming out from the sluice too and didn't want to hurt any fish or other aquatic life so i'll just get a little bigger one this time and store it in a locked vault some where LOL!

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

Different tools for different jobs. When I don't have enough flow for one of my Bazookas I breakout the AM explorer.

 

[vaquero44]

very good to know and thanks!

 

[DiveDeep808]

I own the AM recon II I consider myself and intermediate prospector but I mine with some really experienced guys. We ran a test with the AM followed by an A52 we ran a bunch of buckets and found very little gold in the A52 so the AM has a pretty high recovery %. With that being said just like any other sluice you need to make sure its set up correctly flow, angle, level. You also have to feed it properly to ensure maximum recovery. It takes time and a few screw ups to learn the ins and outs of setting up any sluice to achieve its full potential. Happy Hunting.

 

[boogeyman]

Well here's the deal I'd never considered a drop riffle design before but I'm looking for something that you could do on slow water flow and easier to see whats going on also plus my 9 year old ruined my 30" sniper I had (poured 10/30w motor oil through it) so was going to buy a 36" sniper but was curious on the drop riffle design stuff too was thinking might be a little easier but we'll see if I get another bazooka I might try a 1/4" punch plate over the grizzlys to see if that would help the rock clearing problem............right now I'm getting ready to build a cracvac and using all the parts that are used on the viper vac except the side pvc stuff just trying to locate the rubber seal that goes on the unit to the lid to make the seal and thank you for the users getting back to this thread

Give some commercial grill cleaner a try. Out here I buy it at Smart & Final. It cleans very good, even engine grease & grime. Won't eat paint unless you leave it soaking for days. Best of all it's food grade so you don't have to worry about kids & pooches getting in it. Any restaurant supply should have it or similar. Hope that saves you some effort & headaches!

 

[Duckwalk]

i bought the smallest of the AM sluices available to run in a very shallow and low flow creek. honestly, im thinking about selling it as i can pan faster than i can feed it. its an extremely slow feed rate.

I also own a 50" no name drop riffle that REALLY hold onto the fine stuff and the big stuff as well. it was given to me by goldwasher who im sure pulled plenty of gold out of the rivers with it also.

 

[vaquero44]

well I'm looking at the AM explorer or a grub steak for low water conditions so we'll see?

 

[GoldpannerDave]

I have a Bazooka and a Le Trap (in addition to a Wolf Trap, A52, and other various sluices, but not any AMs). The Le Trap is very light, my Bazooka (a big one) is very heavy. The Wolf Trap needs lots of water, so does the Bazooka. So I use the Le Trap for conditions that are not suitable for the other two. The A52 is pretty much retired to a recirculating sluice to process cons before they hit my Miller table. I like the Le Trap a lot and it does work in slow water, but slowly.

If I can use the Bazooka, I do.

 

[rodoconnor]

Dave , I have an old Wolf Trap also . It's a well thought out sluice. And you're right it likes a high volume of water

 

[Seden]

I'm with Hoser. I love my LeTrap and it drops right into this nice frame I bought for it. Those Canadians know how to catch all the gold eh.

 

[MrWareWolf]

Really like the looks of the "ultimate river sluice" with the punch-plate grate .. would love to put that in a river nearby for a few hours.. Takes LOADS of material with ease.

In fact, you need to be sure the tailings don't pile up, that's a problem I wanna deal with.. 8)

No, I'm by no means 'experienced' but that is one sexxy sluice, I say.

Here is a vid of it:

This one looks neat too..

 

[KevinInColorado]

Always a new product to separate the miner from his hard earned $$$!