Opinions on the bazooka sluice

[yodi]

I have been reading up on the bazooka sluice I know many of you use them how do they stand up to boxes like the keene mod 51 and 52

 

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[The Gilded Lens]

Wow you guys are definaty talking me into getting one not having to classify would save sooo much time. Most of the gold in my area is relay fine how does it handle 100 mesh and smaller?

Seems to catch the fines just fine You can see some real tiny specs mixed in here.

 

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[kayakpat]

I cannot see how the bazooka catches larger pieces of gold and very small fine gold at the same time. Without fibres or ridges or any other device to trap fine gold while blowing larger particle of dirt and rocks , Gravity is the only way this classifies and traps gold, and difference in water flow would make a huge difference in what this thing traps and what it blows out. I just can't see it working that well in varied flows

 

[goldog]

Get ready for some replys Pat. It catches the gold. Most all of it. Gravity is all you need. No moving parts, no nooks or crannys, it simply drops into the box... and stays.

The trap is self regulating so varied flows aren't a problem as long as it is enough. Only so much can go through the tubes. So you can't really have too much.

You gotta try it out. I'll speak for all of us...

We Can't Believe It Either.

That's just part of the learning curve. Maybe the hardest part. 😖

 

[KevinInColorado]

Stand back I'm going to try science! It's physics and pretty simple at that. The material is kept fluid just like the stuff behind a riffle in a properly run riffle sluice so the dense stuff can settle under the less dense stuff constantly. This settling process pushes the least dense material up out the exit of the trap. Overtime the trap gets more dense material in it as heavy stuff pushes out light stuff. Think of it like one big riffle, really a hydraulic riffle but all the same, one big hungry riffle.

 

[Hemisteve]

What Kevin said! The darn thing works, and works well!
Depending on how it is set up, it can lose a few pieces of fly poop or a super thin floater flake. But I don't care about a little fly poop if I can run 10 times or more material in one outing.
My A52 has been collecting dust since I bought a "Zook".
Buy it, use it, trust it and shovel like a madman. You wont regret it.

 

[mshanygin]

Imagine how awesome a complete sluice of repetitive fluid beds would be. Would of course require a ton of water pressure but would be great. Check out Todays take in gold prospecting forums. Almost all the gold I got is with the 36" sniper. Super fine stuff.

 

[goldenmojo]

I would like to explain it in technical terms

 

[tvanwho]

My mini catches gold so fine in Indiana at Gatesville, I can barely see it, and that's shovel feeding it from a spot I found on the bank with my copper dowsing rods. There were 2 guys running a Gold Hog mini excavator near me but I was doing better than them and with no gasoline or engines, hoses, and other hardware to drag around. Just a #2 shovel , dammed the creek a bit for better flow, did have to pick out bigger rocks off the grizzly is all. You do need to shovel the tailings frequently. This keeps the flow real good and prevents gravels from backing up into the sluice and clogging the trap. I now own 3 bazookas, just waiting for warmer camping weather to go out to Gatesville,Indiana , April 2015. That mini sets up in minutes, just need a flat rock over top of it to keep the creek from taking it.

 

[Hamfist]

It's stupid easy to convert a Bazooka to a high banker as well. As long as you have a high enough capacity pump, the only other thing you need is some PVC pipe and fittings. Lately, I've been using my 30" Sniper and a 1,000 GPH AC fountain pump to super concentrate buckets of drywasher cons. Wouldn't go any smaller on the pump, though.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hamfist, can you share the practicals of how your water supply connects to the fluid bed tubes, etc? I recently found a deposit that is just begging for a visit with a high banker so it's time for me to build one with my super mini or sniper

 

[Hamfist]

Sure!

I built this last weekend in about an hour because I was tired of panning and wanted to speed things up. There are things I will change... next time I'm near a hardware store.

The fluid bed tubes appear to be made from 1/2" PVC on the Sniper so I used a slip-on coupler to attach a length of 1/2" PCV pipe to each. They stay permanently attached to the assembly of pipes that turns the whole thing into a highbanker. I connected the assembly to the fluid bed tubes loosely so it comes apart easily.

The rest of it is a very simplified version of other setups I've seen around the internet, using mostly stuff I already had in my garage. It could be done more efficiently than this, but it accomplishes the task of sending what seems to be ample water through the fluid bed tubes and over the deck.

The valve is unnecessary as it seems to flow enough water to the right places with a 1,000 GPH pump on the Sniper with it wide open. Larger would be better but this does work. Some people use two valves for more adjustability - one for the fluid bed and one for the deck.

The T fitting at the bottom is there because it's all I had, and my tubing fits into it snugly enough. Water flows in through the bottom.

You could build a spray bar for this. I planned to until I used it and found that it works fine as-is for the drywasher concentrates I was running. I plan to add a 45° elbow to the nozzle for the deck, but really, this accomplishes the goal.

Hopefully these photos help. My BGT is a 30" Sniper and it works comically well as a little highbanker, considering there might be $10-15 in PVC stuck to it.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Thanks, Hamfist; especially appreciate the pictures.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Same here, I'm totally doing this as a high banker for use in the field! (DC pump and battery obviously) Thanks!!!

 

[CA Gold Hunter]

How big of a battery do you use and how long does it work?

 

[KevinInColorado]

A 1200 gph pump on a gold cube runs many hours on a good quality battery

 

[Hamfist]

No problemo, guys!

 

[kayakpat]

seems too good to be true catching small fines and larger with varied flows, but I never tried one and sure seems like a lot of people here like it , so I am gonna have to try one myself

 

[Thurman]

Just wondering, is there one or two fluid beds in the Bazookas?

Thanks

 

[CA Gold Hunter]

seems too good to be true catching small fines and larger with varied flows, but I never tried one and sure seems like a lot of people here like it , so I am gonna have to try one myself

I've never tested the tailing pile on mine but I literally go home with 3x the gold I'd get with my a52 simply because I run at least a yard of dirt every time I get out now. I can do it by myself which is a huge plus, classifying by yourself is terrible.

I'm glad I have my a52 still simply because you can't run a bazooka in all conditions but it tends to collect dust now.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Just wondering, is there one or two fluid beds in the Bazookas?

Thanks

Just one, that's all you need!

...and I have the same experience CA Goldhunter...3X the gold comes home which makes it easy to stop worrying about sluice setup, classifying, recovery rates, full fluid beds (your fluid bed should always be basically full but loose), etc...