Bazooka Prospector with v-mat

[goldenmojo]

Sorry the video did not come out during transfer as it is in the original. If you look at about 4 seconds in there is a piece of debris that flaots off of the bottom rail. A piece of gold is directly above it in the bottom of the pile. We are going to shoot multiple angles next ime to get a better look.

 

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[GoldpannerDave]

Sorry the video did not come out during transfer as it is in the original. If you look at about 4 seconds in there is a piece of debris that flaots off of the bottom rail. A piece of gold is directly above it in the bottom of the pile. We are going to shoot multiple angles next ime to get a better look.

Thanks; that gold looks bigger than what I get.

I talked to Todd at Bazooka Gold Company yesterday and he said I could likely use about 6" of v-mat, but end it 1 foot to a foot and a half before the grizzly. Of course, I have the 48 inch Miner (I said Prospector, but it the Miner). He said there is plenty of room to try it. So I probably will, but not this weekend.

Keep you guys posted on it.

 

[goldenmojo]

This one in the flick is the supermini 24" long. I had wave surge all day and not much flow as I was not far enough out in the channel and as I expected the water level to drop more and have to move I just put a rock on it and dealt with it. Not a lot of run up to the grizzlies that way but it still caught gold. If you have a miner you have room for some matting. I wouldn't put it near the grizzlies and I wouldn't put it right near the ed where the intake is because if you can shovel alot over the edge and you might get some in the intake tubes. Probably would not get enough to block it up though. I was running mine the other day and found I had shoved my handheld sifter in the intake for safekeeping on the hike in and had been using the sluice for awhile with it still jammed in there. Dumped the box and found it caught gold all the same. like to see some pics of the thing matted up.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

This one in the flick is the supermini 24" long. I had wave surge all day and not much flow as I was not far enough out in the channel and as I expected the water level to drop more and have to move I just put a rock on it and dealt with it. Not a lot of run up to the grizzlies that way but it still caught gold. If you have a miner you have room for some matting. I wouldn't put it near the grizzlies and I wouldn't put it right near the ed where the intake is because if you can shovel alot over the edge and you might get some in the intake tubes. Probably would not get enough to block it up though. I was running mine the other day and found I had shoved my handheld sifter in the intake for safekeeping on the hike in and had been using the sluice for awhile with it still jammed in there. Dumped the box and found it caught gold all the same. like to see some pics of the thing matted up.

When I get it fixed up, I will post pictures. Thanks for the info on your set up there; though I don't think I will adopt the sifter in the intake trick, though.

Seriously, glad to know you still caught gold.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

no gold on slick plate

Went out today with my 48" Miner (I may have called it a Prospector before, but it is a Miner). I could not see the gold though there was definitely gold there. KevininColorado did some panning of his cons and there was nice gold in his pan but so much black sand he could not get it cleaned up that much. I did not do any panning of my cons.

He could not see any gold either until he did a clean up. I may still put the v-mat in the Miner to see but how that works, haven't fully decided yet.

It was a great day on the Platte!

 

[KevinInColorado]

It was a great day on the Platte indeed and you were good company Dave!
...see my journal thread for pics

 

[Prospector70]

Dang, I got out today on the platte. Leafy!

Edit: On topic, did Todd tell you what to use to get it off if you hate the vmatt?

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Dang, I got out today on the platte. Leafy!

Edit: On topic, did Todd tell you what to use to get it off if you hate the vmatt?

Yes, I did ask about what to put it on with and what to take it off with. We mentioned several possibilities and as last resort, I can cut/scrape it off. I might try a bit on the very bottom of the Miner first. Even if it does a bit of damage to the abs plastic, it won't really matter on the bottom. Rubber cement (commercial grade) and remove it with the commercial rubber cement solvent was discussed.

Todd has not really done this before, so there is some interest in how it turns out.

 

[Goldwasher]

Hmmmmm the guy who designed the Bazooka never put v-mat on it

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hmmmmm the guy who designed the Bazooka never put v-mat on it

Well there really is no point to the v mat and it risks reducing your throughput so I'm not surprised Todd hasn't done it.

 

[2cmorau]

There are some who will reinvent the wheel, thinkin that’s the stink, and some who do make improvements on factory product’s that improves the performance. I, myself enjoy tinkering
“ I have not failed a 1000 times, I have successfully discovered a 1000 ways to not make a light bulb” Thomas Edison, and might I point out he dropped out of school at a early age
JMHO
good dirt, good buds

 

[Goldwasher]

I'm just teasing I do not condone thinking inside the box ever

 

[Prospector70]

Yes, I did ask about what to put it on with and what to take it off with. We mentioned several possibilities and as last resort, I can cut/scrape it off. I might try a bit on the very bottom of the Miner first. Even if it does a bit of damage to the abs plastic, it won't really matter on the bottom. Rubber cement (commercial grade) and remove it with the commercial rubber cement solvent was discussed.

Todd has not really done this before, so there is some interest in how it turns out.

Hey that's not a bad idea, put it on the sides to help grip those wedge rocks!

 

[fowledup]

When I tried it I used common silicone. Held it down nicely and peeled off without leaving a residue when experiment was completed. It did work but... all your doing is turning your fluid bed into a conventional sluice- bad juju! It is nice to see gold on the slick plate but if I'm looking at and messing around with the gold on the plate I'm not processing dirt- really bad juju! Lastly three ways to get that ribbed gold out; 1. Dump it and hope it makes in the bucket when you do your normal clean out or 2. Try and use a snuffer or tweezers while it's operating in the stream which is like trying to pick out gold from a blue bowl while it's running- sucks. 3. Pull out the box and snuff or tweeze, while hoping you don't dump any material out of the fluid bed, all three add an additional probability of losing gold.

 

[goldog]

Nice to hear your experiment worked out. Sounds like it failed well. ID'd a couple bad jujus and multiple ways to lose gold. And it came off EZ. Seriously, Thanks!

Mine runs so nice without it. Couldn't imagine fooling with it. I know how to see gold, but its got that bad juju/less gold thing goin' for it. I have been struggling with low water flow at my local creek. As much as I could had the entire stream going thru the prospector. It ran but painfully slow. 30-45 seconds/shovelful with the need for lots of help clearing the grizzly. BUT I think I saw most of the gold.

I would not run like this on purpose. But it did work. Sampling speed works for me where there is good stream flow. Around 10 seconds a shovelful. See some gold. Once you know your on the gold tip it down a bit more and speed up production.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Nice to hear your experiment worked out. Sounds like it failed well. ID'd a couple bad jujus and multiple ways to lose gold. And it came off EZ. Seriously, Thanks!

Mine runs so nice without it. Couldn't imagine fooling with it. I know how to see gold, but its got that bad juju/less gold thing goin' for it. I have been struggling with low water flow at my local creek. As much as I could had the entire stream going thru the prospector. It ran but painfully slow. 30-45 seconds/shovelful with the need for lots of help clearing the grizzly. BUT I think I saw most of the gold.

I would not run like this on purpose. But it did work. Sampling speed works for me where there is good stream flow. Around 10 seconds a shovelful. See some gold. Once you know your on the gold tip it down a bit more and speed up production.

Well, I still have not done it. Kevin sort of convinced me it is not worth the effort. Just get to a good area, shovel in, get some gold!

 

[goldenmojo]

Whenever I am shoveling into my Bazooka I am only thinking inside the box.....

 

[fowledup]

Nice to hear your experiment worked out. Sounds like it failed well. ID'd a couple bad jujus and multiple ways to lose gold. And it came off EZ. Seriously, Thanks!

Mine runs so nice without it. Couldn't imagine fooling with it. I know how to see gold, but its got that bad juju/less gold thing goin' for it. I have been struggling with low water flow at my local creek. As much as I could had the entire stream going thru the prospector. It ran but painfully slow. 30-45 seconds/shovelful with the need for lots of help clearing the grizzly. BUT I think I saw most of the gold.

I would not run like this on purpose. But it did work. Sampling speed works for me where there is good stream flow. Around 10 seconds a shovelful. See some gold. Once you know your on the gold tip it down a bit more and speed up production.

An Idea I've been toying with is making some sort of funnel, a fabric jetflare that would snap,onto the bazooka at one end and stake out on the other.
Another thing you can do is bring a tarp on your trips. Make a wing dam off the Bazooka and line it with the tarp to seal off all leaks forcing as much flow as you csn into the bazooka

 

[GoldpannerDave]

An Idea I've been toying with is making some sort of funnel, a fabric jetflare that would snap,onto the bazooka at one end and stake out on the other.

Yes, Todd at Bazooka mentioned using clear plastic carpet runners to do something like that. Actually, I sort of like your next idea better.

Another thing you can do is bring a tarp on your trips. Make a wing dam off the Bazooka and line it with the tarp to seal off all leaks forcing as much flow as you can into the bazooka

The only problem with this is if you are standing right in front of your Bazooka, like Kevin and I were doing last week. You know, I have used black plastic trash bags to do this, but a tarp with grommets in it (for staking into the river or creek bed) would be a great idea.

You might use a small one on either side. With two you could be flexible; if working in the front of the sluice, put the tarps to either side. If working one side, then the tarps go in front and one the other side of the sluice. Hmmm, have to think about getting some small tarps.

 

[goldog]

I currently use some pool cover, Heavy-duty bubble wrap scraps. Getting almost all the water.