Bazooka Gold Trap Prospector 48 Inch

[Prospector70]

Well...

I forgot to take pictures and videos of the BGT P48 in action. I saw gold go in, and was nervous about the trap being fluid so I cleaned out a few times.
I was out maybe 4 hours, cleaned out 3 times and had almost a 1/2 gallon bucket of cons to go through tonight. <3

I just panned a test few tablespoons and have color.
It's a little tricky to set up, I'm definately making a stand for it. And getting a hand truck for it. I was exhausted from shoveling then realized I had to carry it all back to the car... WHEW!

I am pleased! Nice work Todd!
I'll post a pic of what I got. But it may take me a day to work through all these cons.
Thanks to you all for your advise on this fine sluice (Kevin especially).
I call it: BLACK BACK MAMBA rofl

Edit to add:
It barely fits in the trunk of my car, and won't ride in the pasenger seat. I love this thing!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[Follows Camp Craig]

Why is "Kevin" missing from this thread?
It's been over three hours!!!

 

[tweeta_bear]

very nice... i just went out yesterday on the south platte for 3 hrs and ran about 15 5gallon buckets threw my 36" and this is what my half gallon of cons revealed.

 

[tweeta_bear]

infact every time ive used my bazooka ive got gold... i cant say that with my keene!

 

[Goodyguy]

I get gold every time with my Keene....... ever since I got rid of the carpet and miners moss and went to straight vortex mat.
But the fluid bed gold trap is still my favorite


GG~

 

[KevinInColorado]

Why is "Kevin" missing from this thread? It's been over three hours!!!

You are such a troll. Lame.

very nice... i just went out yesterday on the south platte for 3 hrs and ran about 15 5gallon buckets threw my 36" and this is what my half gallon of cons revealed.

looking good Tweetabear! I got out too down on the south end. Got good gold but nothing as big as that big one you've got there

 

[tweeta_bear]

youll never guess what... i know one of the guys daughter that owns gold and sand hand pumps. she told me that her dad said i should go check out big bend, its somewhere by 78th and steel street. oh and my wife said i could buy a mountain bike so i could ride these trails along the green belt.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Yes, big bend has good gold. Pretty sure I've mentioned it to you but nothing like having a pretty girl tell you where the good gold is right?!

There is parking on the east side of Steele St just north of 78th Ave. there is gold in lots of spots there but the big cobble bar on the west side of the river is where I've had the most success. From the parking, walk to the river, follow the path downstream past the train bridge and you'll see the big bar on your right. Very productive! It's not very well known which is odd but then most people don't bother to explore, they just follow their club around and go where everyone goes...

 

[tweeta_bear]

oh yes now i remember you saying something about it but yeah a pretty face does help.

 

[Dain8404]

Just wondering about something I have been thinking of and would like your guys input on it. I know that the area I normally prospect has a lot of heavy material, but still seems to me that the prospector does tend to fill and pack quite fast I feel. I usually have to clean about every 10 - 20 shovel scoops. I notice a lot of rocks that make into the trap through the 1/4 inch mesh, not getting "blown" out, and even when the trap is only about half full, I check the bed it seems to be packed already. When it gets full I of course clean it out. My question is, since where I normally prospect, nuggets are few and far between. Every once in a long great while there is a picker fo me. I have an old classifier that is comming up to its last day. Do you think changing the hardware cloth that is 4 mesh, and replacing it with the screen from the 8 mesh classifier would help and make the bed stay more fluid? This would result in less clean outs, and if a nugget or picker over 8 mesh were to be present by some luck, it would rest at the bottom where the mesh starts.

Any input and thoughts would be greatly appriciated!

 

[tweeta_bear]

ima greenie so im still learning... ive only had mine in the water less than a 1/2 dozen times... sorry. the only thing i could think of is put it at a steeper angle.

 

[Prospector70]

I am also new and have only had it out once, however here is what I did.
I ran it a while then emptied as much water as I could out of it. stick finger in back end (oh baby!) lol.
felt what it is like without the tubes running it felt definately packed
Reset, shoveled my ass off, every now and then when cleaning the tailings I stick finger in back end again a few times. (Easy now rofl)
Felt fluid.

You got to trust your tools, I also definately saw 3 pieces of gold go in and definately got them out when I was done. Did not get my usual haul but I was in a different spot.
I'll photo what I got and post it later, today I'm going to get a scale and figure out how to seal up my wader boot (Stepped on a nail or something). Also need a stand of some kind so I don't have to deal with tailings.
For tomorrow is shovel day.

 

[Dain8404]

A steeper angle to a certain degree, yes. But not too much. I think it was Good Guy that illustrated it on another post. Too much angle and you could blow out fine gold, but helps to clear the grizzlies. My issue is the bed becoming full and packed quickly. It is my understanding that the BGT works best at the flattest position possible while getting thoes pesky rocks to flow over the grizzly. I love this sluice and it makes a great combo with my Gold cube... Run the material thru the bazooka, quick clean outs into an # classifier. Then before i leave for the day, run my cons through the GC, clean the trays, and run all cons throug the GC 1 last time. Usually about 45 min for a final clean up, and a very small amount of supercons to take home for the day. Hauling 5 gallon buckets full of cons is over rated!.

 

[Dain8404]

I am also new and have only had it out once, however here is what I did.
I ran it a while then emptied as much water as I could out of it. stick finger in back end (oh baby!) lol.
felt what it is like without the tubes running it felt definately packed
Reset, shoveled my ass off, every now and then when cleaning the tailings I stick finger in back end again a few times. (Easy now rofl)
Felt fluid.

You got to trust your tools, I also definately saw 3 pieces of gold go in and definately got them out when I was done. Did not get my usual haul but I was in a different spot.
I'll photo what I got and post it later, today I'm going to get a scale and figure out how to seal up my wader boot (Stepped on a nail or something). Also need a stand of some kind so I don't have to deal with tailings.
For tomorrow is shovel day.

Simple enough. I can't believe I didnt think about that either. Thanks! I also ran into that problem. Like in my other post I also have the Gold Cube. I made a wing dam and set up the bazooka on my GC stand in the river. Had the start of the BGT sitting on the lower lip of the dam. This worked out well because i had the water pressure desired and i made sure there was a couple of flat long rocks placed at the end of the BGT so the current would clear the tailings (for the most part). still had to shovel them away but this also let there be some clearance and flow under the BGT to allow this to happen.

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

I have been using a Super Mini for about a year now. I have been very happy so far but I still find myself classifying to a 1/2 inch to get it to work right. Well I gave myself a Christmas present and ordered a prospector. Since it is the 3rd sluice I have bought this year I kept the price down by buying the 30". I was kind of bumming thinking I should have gotten one of the longer ones. That bad boy came today and it seems huge compared to the super mini! I can't wait to feed that thing this weekend.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I have been using a Super Mini for about a year now. I have been very happy so far but I still find myself classifying to a 1/2 inch to get it to work right. Well I gave myself a Christmas present and ordered a prospector. Since it is the 3rd sluice I have bought this year I kept the price down by buying the 30". I was kind of bumming thinking I should have gotten one of the longer ones. That bad boy came today and it seems huge compared to the super mini! I can't wait to feed that thing this weekend.

yer gunna love it!

 

[Aufisher]

The 48" Prospector can get quite heavy when loaded full of gold

 

[KevinInColorado]

^^^for the WIN!^^^

 

[sluicelee]

I have been using a Super Mini for about a year now. I have been very happy so far but I still find myself classifying to a 1/2 inch to get it to work right. Well I gave myself a Christmas present and ordered a prospector. Since it is the 3rd sluice I have bought this year I kept the price down by buying the 30". I was kind of bumming thinking I should have gotten one of the longer ones. That bad boy came today and it seems huge compared to the super mini! I can't wait to feed that thing this weekend.

Hey Rdg, I too have been using the super mini for about a year now and have been classifying down to 1/4 - it runs great when scoop feed classified material, but lags when shovel feed unclassified. I just purchased the 30" prospector hoping it will run similar to the super mini, but able to be shovel feed. I understand it will take more water flow to run/process material in the prospector, just hope it will still run in the lower flow like my super mini did. I will also try adding a v mat before the gold trap like I did with my super mini. The mat works great in catching fine gold before it enters the trap, the trap catches fine gold too, just added the mat so I could sample areas with the bazooka without having to do a cleanout. Heres my super mini with the v mat, will do some experimenting with the prospector, can't wait for it to get here :-)

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

I have noticed I get a thin line of sand built up at the top of my sluice while its running. If there are a couple of flakes mixed in I know I am in a good spot. I would think with the v mat you might need more water to run?