Bazooka Trouble

I base the size of the Bazooka on the different hiking situations and the situations of how the material will be collected. If the hike is long and arduous a supermini goes in the pack. It will collect gold as well as any you just have to dump it more often. If I can drive to the place and walk a hundred yards the prospector is the choice or a sniper. Todd and Chris at Bazooka built a custom 4' sniper for me and it works great for the situations where the gold is fairly evenly dispersed throughout a layer and I want to make side tosses from a long distance and still hit the sluice. Not having to classify with a bazooka opens up many different possibilities on how to use them.
 

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Good point...for some, it's the size/portability of the unit rather than different stream conditions that necessitates a different model. In the ratchet scenario, maybe the entire thing could somehow be ratcheted to nearly flat for portability? With the "Mother Board" model with tracks, the walls would be removable so that might help with portability as well. Besides, if someone found a practical way to get the moveable walls to "click" in to place securely, you could probably apply the same principle to the whole sluice and disassemble it as much as necessary.

I'm quite sure no one will mistake these ramblings for substantive ideas...simply musings based on my experience using the Bazooka. I certainly appreciate those with more experience and knowledge quickly talking me out of my own misery!
 

Amusings and thoughtful thinkings are what make innovation possible. If you ever design a working pair of gold detecting eyeglasses give me a call.
 

clicks, ratchets, holes, adjustability = complication and things to break and lose
 

Didn't someone say "shovel more,think less"? I have a few mods as needed but don't screw with a very good tool. A rock picker for the grizzly and occasional help with water flow is all I'd add.
 

goldog said:
Didn't someone say "shovel more,think less"? I have a few mods as needed but don't screw with a very good tool. A rock picker for the grizzly and occasional help with water flow is all I'd add.
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A crevice tool works ok for removing stuck rocks but with too much up force you can pull the sluice out of line. A screwdriver works better and the cheapest fastest and best tool I have found is an oblong piece of cobble. Just bash the stuck ones down through the grill and into the trap. You end up with extra oversized material but it is easy to pick out.
 

goldog said:
Didn't someone say "shovel more,think less"? I have a few mods as needed but don't screw with a very good tool. A rock picker for the grizzly and occasional help with water flow is all I'd add.
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Haha, I came up with that phrase and agreed to let Todd use it!

goldenmojo said:
A crevice tool works ok for removing stuck rocks but with too much up force you can pull the sluice out of line. A screwdriver works better and the cheapest fastest and best tool I have found is an oblong piece of cobble. Just bash the stuck ones down through the grill and into the trap. You end up with extra oversized material but it is easy to pick out.
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Bashing pebbles thru with a cobble or shovel is a bad idea. Over time this will stretch your grizzly bars :( ...I speak from sad experience. A screw driver or pair of narrow pliers is better.
 

that's why a crevice tool is essential. Besides its intended use. You can use it to pop those little pebbles out and run it between the tubes to help keep the trap loose.

DO NOT attach anything to the grizzly. Organics build up and more material than usual. Material ramping over the grizzly leads to loss.
 

This has made for a very informative discussion. Thanks for all the insight and wisdom so far. Next time I'm out, I'll take a short video of my setup so everyone can see what is going on. Given the advise so far, I may just set it up with a little less flow, and manually clear the bigger rocks off the grizzly. Any advise as to how to test your tailings? I thought maybe set a Garret Super Sluice pan below the box and let the tailings wash into it? Would have to be weighed down with a large rock first so it didn't wash away.
 

Set the Supersluice down with a classifier in it and a big rock on top of that. You won't do it often once you've tried it ;)
 

Went out again today, but didn't bring my phone with me, so no pics of the BGT in action. Sorry. I did notice a couple things that seem to maybe be causing some of my difficulty. I also ran it slower, but had to be constantly clearing the grizzlies of rocks.

1. Almost all of my rocks, from the tiny thumbnail size pebbles, to the larger rocks, all seem to be flat. They tend to get hung up either IN the grizzlies, or on top of them, and the water running over them presses them down onto the grizzlies, making it much harder to move.

2. I'm having a hard time digging in the gravel. I'm using a pointed shovel, be even so, it is hard to dig, and often only come up with a few rock each shovel full. Maybe this is a problem of the flat rocks again? Not sure, but I'm open to suggestions.
 

johngfoster said:
Went out again today, but didn't bring my phone with me, so no pics of the BGT in action. Sorry. I did notice a couple things that seem to maybe be causing some of my difficulty. I also ran it slower, but had to be constantly clearing the grizzlies of rocks.

1. Almost all of my rocks, from the tiny thumbnail size pebbles, to the larger rocks, all seem to be flat. They tend to get hung up either IN the grizzlies, or on top of them, and the water running over them presses them down onto the grizzlies, making it much harder to move.

2. I'm having a hard time digging in the gravel. I'm using a pointed shovel, be even so, it is hard to dig, and often only come up with a few rock each shovel full. Maybe this is a problem of the flat rocks again? Not sure, but I'm open to suggestions.
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If you are digging on an exposed bar next to the creek, or maybe even in it, then a garden rake (not the springy type) may help to move the larger rocks out of the way and expose the underlying, smaller gravel and sand and make it easier and more productive to dig.

Good luck.
 

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was going to suggest the same arizau

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That would be the 1/4" Diameter, hard tined or toothed type of rake one would use to rake out a horse stall and used for the same purpose.................63bkpkr
 

arizau said:
If you are digging on an exposed bar next to the creek, or maybe even in it, then a garden rake (not the springy type) may help to move the larger rocks out of the way and expose the underlying, smaller gravel and sand and make it easier and more productive to dig.

Good luck.
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I've been digging downstream of a large rock (bedrock outcropping?) on the bank, with tree roots running through the gravel (varying sizes of flat rocks). Very few nice round "cobbles" where I'm prospecting.
 

Hi John,
I read your post and thought it was odd that there were no rounded rocks behind that "large rock", what does the other side of the river look like? I ask as I know of a spot with a large boulder (1.5 to 2X the size of a VW Beetle) with all kinds of rounded rocks boulders on its down river side. Also behind that rock is gold BUT on the other side of the river there is very little of the yellow metal so it is how the river flows that determines where the good stuff is deposited.

Up stream from my cherished spot 200 to 300 yards there is an incoming stream on the other side of the river and its spring run off outflow drives the current, at least somewhat, to the other side of the river where I've found gold. I've checked the other side of the river with very little to warrant my digging over there again. Anyway, just a thought for you as to what is on the other side of the river, your spot just could be on the poor side of the river. A picture of your spot from up stream would be interesting to see IF it does not give away the location of your interest!........63bkpkr
 

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The spot I'm digging is in the upper parts of a creek. It's not a river. The big rocks are about the size of a piano bench. No boulders the size of a VW bug. It's just too high up in the watershed to get that much flow. Next time I'm out, I'll try to get some pictures.
 

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