Bazooka Gold Trap style ?

[Joel1316]

I use the Mini in slow creeks. But I do have to pour buckets of water into the sluice every so often to make sure the gold is able to settle to the bottom of the trap.

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Anybody have a headerbox for Bazooka sluices so I can use it in slow water with my Honda WX 15 pump?

-Tom V.

A couple guys have made their own (see YouTube under bazooka high banker) but no commercial version I don't think.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I use the Mini in slow creeks. But I do have to pour buckets of water into the sluice every so often to make sure the gold is able to settle to the bottom of the trap.

Not sure pouring buckets in the top would achieve the fluidization you need. Have you asked the manufacturer about this approach?

 

[KevinInColorado]

With the new (fri evening) change in dredge definition. It is all we have in Kalif for now.

There is a mechanical device definition that is being resurrected by the usfs . It considers a hand sluice a mechanical process and therefore a mechanical device. Soon sluicing and panning will be under attack.

Get the gold and HURRY.

Can you provide a reference where a sluice is considered a mechanical device? That doesn't fit what I thought I knew.

 

[calisdad]

Can you provide a reference where a sluice is considered a mechanical device? That doesn't fit what I thought I knew.

Kevin- 'non-motorized' seems to be the key word. They're may be, but I didn't find a sluice or gravity dredge restriction:
Suction Dredge Permitting Program - California Department of Fish and Wildlife

 

[Joel1316]

Not sure pouring buckets in the top would achieve the fluidization you need. Have you asked the manufacturer about this approach?

Maybe I could have understood incorrectly, which is very likely : )
But I got the opportunity to pick up my Mini and Miner from Todd. He mentioned that if the water wasn't flowing as fast, that pouring water onto the sluice would help digest material. Its been a while, maybe it was me who made he assumption that pouring water onto the sluice aids in the fluidization. Maybe pouring extra water was just to help process material...

 

[CharlesP]

I ran my bazooka through 2 7 gallon buckets of material without the jets turned on. I was running bazooka as a recirculating sluice. I panned the tailing after I got done and I didn't find any gold in them. I'm not sure how much it's the fluid bed or the fact that there's a significant drop at the end of the sluice.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Maybe I could have understood incorrectly, which is very likely : )
But I got the opportunity to pick up my Mini and Miner from Todd. He mentioned that if the water wasn't flowing as fast, that pouring water onto the sluice would help digest material. Its been a while, maybe it was me who made he assumption that pouring water onto the sluice aids in the fluidization. Maybe pouring extra water was just to help process material...

Very cool that you got to talk with Todd directly, I'm jealous!
I think it's safe to say he was referring to getting the material you shovel onto the skid plate to move along properly.

BTW, I almost lost my BGT Prospector on Sunday. I was working in a very fast moving river which is higher than normal due to a combo of snowmelt and heavy rains here in CO. The river came up while I was digging and picked my sluice right up and away it went!. Happily my prospecting buddy spotted it in the churned up water and saved the day! (Thanks David!!!) It had settled on the bottom about 20 yards downstream and amazingly my cons were still in the trap so I didn't lose any gold! Good thing too as I was in really good gold Sunday! My tip for today is to put a strong stake thru the handle into the riverbed any time you are in big water!

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

Very cool that you got to talk with Todd directly, I'm jealous!
I think it's safe to say he was referring to getting the material you shovel onto the skid plate to move along properly.

BTW, I almost lost my BGT Prospector on Sunday. I was working in a very fast moving river which is higher than normal due to a combo of snowmelt and heavy rains here in CO. The river came up while I was digging and picked my sluice right up and away it went!. Happily my prospecting buddy spotted it in the churned up water and saved the day! (Thanks David!!!) It had settled on the bottom about 20 yards downstream and amazingly my cons were still in the trap so I didn't lose any gold! Good thing too as I was in really good gold Sunday! My tip for today is to put a strong stake thru the handle into the riverbed any time you are in big water!

My only problem with the Bazooka is it likes to float away on me. I have tried tent stakes but they were not big enough. I was thinking of trying one of those stakes like cement workers use on their forms.

 

[Joel1316]

Very cool that you got to talk with Todd directly, I'm jealous!

Todd is located in Coloma, near Sutters Mill. His dad was there too and gave us a tour of the property... Gave my son a quick history lesson about where the Chinese workers camped, (now overgrown with trees), how much they were paid, where the tailing piles are and made a point to show all the claim signs posted, haha.

Glad you were able to retrieve your Prospector, that would really suck! The BGT's can handle fast water, just need to figure out a way to secure it to the river bottom.

Did an experiment one time, ran the Mini submerged in fast water. The Mini was able to process a 5 gallon bucket faster than I could shovel it in! I may have lost some flour gold (I'm after the chunky stuff), but the clean out at the end of the day was very good.

 

[KevinInColorado]

My only problem with the Bazooka is it likes to float away on me. I have tried tent stakes but they were not big enough. I was thinking of trying one of those stakes like cement workers use on their forms.

Smart idea. I now have 4 foot long 2x2 wood stake in my prospecting gear so this won't happen again!!! ( however, it is quite rare for me to be in big water. Most of my favorite spots are on little creeks where I use ALL the water I can get!)

 

[KevinInColorado]

Todd is located in Coloma, near Sutters Mill. His dad was there too and gave us a tour of the property... Gave my son a quick history lesson about where the Chinese workers camped, (now overgrown with trees), how much they were paid, where the tailing piles are and made a point to show all the claim signs posted, haha.

Glad you were able to retrieve your Prospector, that would really suck! The BGT's can handle fast water, just need to figure out a way to secure it to the river bottom.

Did an experiment one time, ran the Mini submerged in fast water. The Mini was able to process a 5 gallon bucket faster than I could shovel it in! I may have lost some flour gold (I'm after the chunky stuff), but the clean out at the end of the day was very good.

Great test to run, I believe it! It is amazingly flexible and tolerant of varied operating conditions

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

Smart idea. I now have 4 foot long 2x2 wood stake in my prospecting gear so this won't happen again!!! ( however, it is quite rare for me to be in big water. Most of my favorite spots are on little creeks where I use ALL the water I can get!)

In a pinch you can also just cut a branch out of a tree about the diameter you want and carve a point on it......

 

[NorCalPilot]

I too met Todd when I picked up my BGT from his shop-- really nice guy. I like the bazooka over my Keene A52 for 3 reasons: 1) I'm working gravel bars with softball and bigger size rocks and classifying them was taking forever. The most material I've put through the BGT was 40 x 5 gallon buckets in 8 hours, vs. about 20 max using the Keene. 2) Some of the rivers here surge or the upstream dams are opened to allow more water for rafters. The water level constantly changing was miserable with the Keene. 3) Cleanup takes about 3 minutes-- no riffles or carpets to deal with!

I haven't had the BGT float away yet, but the upstream end does tend to float up in deep/fast water if not properly wedged or weighted down. I prefer the faster water because it seems to keep the grizzlies cleaner.

 

[CharlesP]

40 buckets before clean up? Or just 40 buckets in one day? Either way you must have had good day running that much material.

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

I too met Todd when I picked up my BGT from his shop-- really nice guy. I like the bazooka over my Keene A52 for 3 reasons: 1) I'm working gravel bars with softball and bigger size rocks and classifying them was taking forever. The most material I've put through the BGT was 40 x 5 gallon buckets in 8 hours, vs. about 20 max using the Keene. 2) Some of the rivers here surge or the upstream dams are opened to allow more water for rafters. The water level constantly changing was miserable with the Keene. 3) Cleanup takes about 3 minutes-- no riffles or carpets to deal with!

I haven't had the BGT float away yet, but the upstream end does tend to float up in deep/fast water if not properly wedged or weighted down. I prefer the faster water because it seems to keep the grizzlies cleaner.

Doing the 40 buckets did you classify at all? I found I got really tired of carrying all those rocks around so i went back to classifying to 1/2 inch. You also dont have to clear the grizzles as much.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Most of the time I'm able to shovel directly into the sluice. I've gone prospecting with no bucket at all...just imagine!

That said, 2x the volume processed sounds at least right, shoveling direct in good current to clear the grizzly I do even more.

PS the grizzly works better if you run the sluice like in the videos on the Bazooka website...at an angle instead of flat...try it, gold retention is still great like always!

 

[CharlesP]

Most of the time I'm able to shovel directly into the sluice. I've gone prospecting with no bucket at all...just imagine!

That said, 2x the volume processed sounds at least right, shoveling direct in good current to clear the grizzly I do even more.

PS the grizzly works better if you run the sluice like in the videos on the Bazooka website...at an angle instead of flat...try it, gold retention is still great like always!

It's so scary to put that thing on an angle! You think there's no way it'll stay, but it does. How hard of angle do you run yours Kevin?

 

[KevinInColorado]

Sometimes so steep that the grizzly bars are level flat or a bit more...so the skid plate is fairly steep...but that is what they show in the demo video if you look close.

In general only as steep as water conditions require to get the grizzly to clear easily and no more. Even I get nervous for no good reason ;-)

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

Most of the time I'm able to shovel directly into the sluice. I've gone prospecting with no bucket at all...just imagine!

That said, 2x the volume processed sounds at least right, shoveling direct in good current to clear the grizzly I do even more.

PS the grizzly works better if you run the sluice like in the videos on the Bazooka website...at an angle instead of flat...try it, gold retention is still great like always!

I have made some pretty creative dams lately to try and get that drop. I have been working an area with a pretty flat gravel bar where I had to make my own drop with big rocks and gravel from my classifier.