GRIZZLY GOLD TRAP Fluid Bed Sluices

[yotaboy86]

recieved my GGT nugget today finally!! ...most definitely tried my patience but he came through and I couldn't be more happy...so now I can't wait to go try it out !

 

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[Underburden]

...and update your profile's equipment list

 

[yotaboy86]

...and update your profile's equipment list

Will do [emoji106]

 

[StrandedSailor]

Anyone know how to use this thing?? I have never used a fluid bed sluice so not sure depth, angles, speed, classification, etc.

I know they are going to post some videos but not sure when that will happen.

Any thoughts would be great thanks!

 

[KevinInColorado]

Anyone know how to use this thing?? I have never used a fluid bed sluice so not sure depth, angles, speed, classification, etc.

I know they are going to post some videos but not sure when that will happen.

Any thoughts would be great thanks!

Sure, super easy. They aren't picky about depth, angle or speed. They don't need classifying. Now you know why people fall in love with them!

It is important to have:
1. Enuf water over the top deck to fill the Grizzly with water plus at least a little over the top.
2. Less slope is good to help catch the very finest gold (like any sluice), but it'll tolerate pretty steep setups too.
3. You want enuf slope/speed for the deck to clear fairly quickly. If material is backing up and not getting "eaten" thru the Grizzly, add more slope or flow.
4. Worry less, shovel more!

 

[KevinInColorado]

BTW, I checked in with Dennis today. He is actively shipping sluices to fill the remaining pre-orders right now. I'm excited to see a production model in the field soon!

 

[GrizzlyGoldTrap]

StrandedSailor, video on setup will post to GGT YouTube, Facebook, and web site Thursday. We will also have video about key features and function by Friday.

 

[Underburden]

Look forward to seeing the vid...as long as it doesn't take time away from you making my Nugget
Excited to finally get it?...ya, a little bit.

 

[Prospector70]

More videos please!

 

[arthos]

Come on #1030 Daddy needs a new pair of shiny!

 

[GrizzlyGoldTrap]

Grizzly Gold Trap setup and tuning video:

 

[yotaboy86]

tested out the GGT Nugget today. It seems to run good with a lot of flow but still need to classify, I did 1/2" and fed it with a small hand trowel. This is a good size if you want to hike a long ways and want to do some small scale sampling. I think I'm going to fabricate a mount for my UTV and mount it on there for creek crossings [emoji106]. All in all it's a decent little sluice but I think I'll be buying the Mother load when the rush is over

 

[Underburden]

Hard to tell in a bird's eye view, but it appears the sluice is nearly completely submerged

 

[yotaboy86]

Hard to tell in a bird's eye view, but it appears the sluice is nearly completely submerged

I had about 1/2 inch sticking out by there were a few spots where the water was spilling over

 

[GrizzlyGoldTrap]

I had about 1/2 inch sticking out by there were a few spots where the water was spilling over

Next time out take a few photos from side angles too - helps to see the setup. Depending on the gravel size you are feeding and flow velocity, you may be able to slowly feed the Nugget with your shovel. We will be developing a setup and use video just on the Nugget in about a week... Will post here on TNet and let you know when it posts. Glad you are enjoying the Nugget!

 

[HardHatMatt]

View attachment 1482512tested out the GGT Nugget today. It seems to run good with a lot of flow but still need to classify, I did 1/2" and fed it with a small hand trowel. This is a good size if you want to hike a long ways and want to do some small scale sampling. I think I'm going to fabricate a mount for my UTV and mount it on there for creek crossings [emoji106]. All in all it's a decent little sluice but I think I'll be buying the Mother load when the rush is over

Just my opinion here, but in terms of efficiency and production, I suspect you would come out ahead by forgetting about the classifying. Sure, you're always going to have to pick out the baseball-sized and above by hand...and occasionally use your hands/shovel to clear 1"+ stuff that gets hung up on the grizzlies. That said, I am confident that the amount of time and effort you spend to do that will pale in comparison to the time and effort you'll spend filling your screen one shovel at a time, setting your shovel to the side, bending over the bucket, shaking it, emptying out the +1/2", grabbing your shovel again, repeating til you have a full bucket and finally feeding the sluice one hand trowel at a time.

You'll get in to a lot better rhythm with your digging if you're not starting and stopping so much...and ultimately move a lot more gold-bearing material through your box if you don't interrupt the process to classify. Again, I admit that the Grizzly isn't a perfect solution...but for me it was about embracing the lesser of the evils - in this case, the amount of time and work you'll put into manually clearing the grizzlies (even if its after ever shovel-full) is going to be less than what you expend in the process of classifying each shovel-full . At the very least, if you insist on classifying, you should go ahead and use your digging shovel to feed the classified material out of the bucket about 5x faster than you can with a little trowel. If you aren't able to get the box to clear an entire shovel-full of sub 1/2" material, you most likely need to tune your setup. Tough to tell from the angle in your photo, but it looks like you might be running it a little flat...increasing the pitch should help move material down the deck and past the grizzlies.


I speak from experience. When I first got a fluid bed sluice, I classified to 1" - after some trial-and-error and a sore back I decided that occasionally using my long-handled shovel to move larger rocks down the deck was a walk in the park by comparison.

 

[brianc053]

Just my opinion here, but ...I suspect you would come out ahead by forgetting about the classifying.

I will always remember a day in Massachusetts with KevinInColorado (yes, despite his name he prospects in other states too) where he had his BGT and I had a traditional sluice where classifying was a necessity. He and I worked similar spots in the creek, but I was classifying and he was just shoveling. He walked away with 2X the gold that day. Maybe it was because he moved more material...

I walked away from that experience feeling like I needed to eventually acquire a fluid bed sluice. I haven't ordered a Grizzly Gold Trap yet - I've been spending my prospecting time using my dredge in New Hampshire and Virginia - but I expect that I'll pick one up at some point to be used in those states/places where dredges aren't allowed.

- Brian

 

[yotaboy86]

Just my opinion here, but in terms of efficiency and production, I suspect you would come out ahead by forgetting about the classifying. Sure, you're always going to have to pick out the baseball-sized and above by hand...and occasionally use your hands/shovel to clear 1"+ stuff that gets hung up on the grizzlies. That said, I am confident that the amount of time and effort you spend to do that will pale in comparison to the time and effort you'll spend filling your screen one shovel at a time, setting your shovel to the side, bending over the bucket, shaking it, emptying out the +1/2", grabbing your shovel again, repeating til you have a full bucket and finally feeding the sluice one hand trowel at a time.

You'll get in to a lot better rhythm with your digging if you're not starting and stopping so much...and ultimately move a lot more gold-bearing material through your box if you don't interrupt the process to classify. Again, I admit that the Grizzly isn't a perfect solution...but for me it was about embracing the lesser of the evils - in this case, the amount of time and work you'll put into manually clearing the grizzlies (even if its after ever shovel-full) is going to be less than what you expend in the process of classifying each shovel-full . At the very least, if you insist on classifying, you should go ahead and use your digging shovel to feed the classified material out of the bucket about 5x faster than you can with a little trowel. If you aren't able to get the box to clear an entire shovel-full of sub 1/2" material, you most likely need to tune your setup. Tough to tell from the angle in your photo, but it looks like you might be running it a little flat...increasing the pitch should help move material down the deck and past the grizzlies.


I speak from experience. When I first got a fluid bed sluice, I classified to 1" - after some trial-and-error and a sore back I decided that occasionally using my long-handled shovel to move larger rocks down the deck was a walk in the park by comparison.

I have a BGT prospector and never classify I am well aware of how these things can run ....that being said, this thing is tiny and I had it a a pretty decent angle and about as much water as I could get flowing through it and it still would not clear 1/2" material if I fed it fast with a hand trowel, it is so short and narrow that the material isn't gaining must velocity before the grizzlies

 

[GrizzlyGoldTrap]

Just shipped the 59th Grizzly Gold Trap sluice (Explorers and Nuggets) out today, fulfilling pre-orders and current orders on these models. This coming week we hope to ship the MotherLode models on order out - will have an update from fabricator on Monday.


Top view of Explorer and Nugget - Explorer (35.5"), Nugget (26")

Our goal this week is to get 20 Explorer sluices and 10 Nugget sluices on the shelf ready for new orders and shipping. I want to keep a good number assembled and ready for shipping so that future orders do not have any delay in shipping. As soon as we have current orders of MotherLode sluices fulfilled, we will get several of them on the shelf as well. Will let everyone know when we are ahead on assembling these.

Starting with tomorrow's post highlighting the key features of the GGT sluices, we will be posting every few days with instructional videos, production news, photos of GGT sluices in action, comments from users, and more...
This information will also be on our web site and Facebook site, and of course, the videos will all be on our YouTube page.



Thanks for all your support, here's to keeping the community of fluid bed sluices going strong! Heavy pans all...

 

[yotaboy86]

Just shipped the 59th Grizzly Gold Trap sluice (Explorers and Nuggets) out today, fulfilling pre-orders and current orders on these models. This coming week we hope to ship the MotherLode models on order out - will have an update from fabricator on Monday.

View attachment 1484879
Top view of Explorer and Nugget - Explorer (35.5"), Nugget (26")

Our goal this week is to get 20 Explorer sluices and 10 Nugget sluices on the shelf ready for new orders and shipping. I want to keep a good number assembled and ready for shipping so that future orders do not have any delay in shipping. As soon as we have current orders of MotherLode sluices fulfilled, we will get several of them on the shelf as well. Will let everyone know when we are ahead on assembling these.

Starting with tomorrow's post highlighting the key features of the GGT sluices, we will be posting every few days with instructional videos, production news, photos of GGT sluices in action, comments from users, and more...
This information will also be on our web site and Facebook site, and of course, the videos will all be on our YouTube page.

View attachment 1484887

Thanks for all your support, here's to keeping the community of fluid bed sluices going strong! Heavy pans all...

I'd definitely like to know when you are done with Motherload pre-orders and have some in stock [emoji106]