New re circ LeTrap drop riffle box project.

[goldenIrishman]

I'll be picking up a new LeTrap box and making a custom stand for my recirc system starting tomorrow. Details of the build will be on my journal thread. (M3 monsoon mining)

 

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Good luck! I an amazed at the LeTrap sluice even with very slow water.

 

[goldenIrishman]

a couple quick shots of the rough out. front end of the sluice rack pivots to all for angle adjustment thru all thread rods at the feed end.

 

[Seden]

Of all the sluices I've tried, the LeTrap is hands down the best.

 

[goldenIrishman]

This is the first commercially made sluice box I've ever owned in all my years of doing this. I've always made my own in the past and they worked very well. Since I don't have the molds or machines to do a molded one myself I broke down and bought the Le' Trap. I chose it for several reasons:

1. light weight
2. strong construction... I've NEVER heard of one breaking in all the years they've been around
3. Great reviews... Many of the people whose opinion I trust and respect on here swear by them.

The local prospecting supply shop had the Le' Trap as well as several other plastic boxes in stock and after looking them all over I knew without a doubt the Le' Trap was the way to go. The construction design would work perfectly for what I had in mind for the stand. The "Sluice tray" is removable for easy clean outs and the over all weight is next to nothing. I can break the stand down in a matter of moments and it will take up a lot less room during transport, thus giving me more area for other equipment.

 

[russau]

Unfortunatly the Le Trap sluice will break! but not with any reasonable handeling! ive seen several le trap sluices that had their edges broke off. Mine never had any issues like that but I ended up selling mine for gas money to get to Wyoming for dredge season. I wish now I didn't sell it!

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well life has been rearing its ugly head here lately and the sluice progress has slowed down to a crawl. I still have to shorten the legs by 6 inches to adjust the height above the water tanks but I did get the water spreader bar fabricated. Just have to add the barbed adapter for the hose from the pump to attach to but I'm waiting on that until I have the pump in hand.

I've also bee working on getting a work area set up here at the new place. We've build up a 10 X 12 shed and I'll have a 12 X 20 ft area with a shade cloth cover over it to set up the sluice under. Soon as the mobile is finished up and we don't have building inspectors dropping by, I'll run conduit for power and pipe for water between the house and the shed. I'll be installing a pair of 500W halogen floods for working after dark and there will be plenty of Guinness in the mini-fridge in the shed. (You didn't think I was going to drink the water out of the hose did you?)

Soon as I can get the sluice finished up and test it to be sure it's working the way I want it to, I'll do up a parts list as well as step by step instructions on how to make it.

 

[AU_Solitude]

Try a bazooka. Angus Mackirk and Le'Trap are close seconds and better under certain conditions though I'll give you that.

 

[Goldwasher]

Try a bazooka. Angus Mackirk and Le'Trap are close seconds and better under certain conditions though I'll give you that.

For a recirc set up a drop riffle is better/easier to use than a bazooka

 

[goldenIrishman]

I have to agree with GW here Woody. I had researched many a box for this project and although the Bazookas are great stream/river sluices, they don't lend themselves to a re-circ system as well as many other boxes do. Because of the very high levels of black sands (both magnetic and non-magnetic) in this area a drop riffle style of box is a much better choice. I started off using a std box with raised riffles and mats but found it clogged up with black sands after a half a buckets worth of materials. This lead to flat boarding and loss of gold. The drop riffle boxes are "self cleaning" and I've yet to clog one up.

The 4000gph pump will be ordered on the 3rd of next month and I should have this project finished up by mid month. I'll write up a parts list and do the write up on it as soon as time allows. Getting the new place ready for us to move into has been taking up a big chunk of my time but we're almost there. We should be all moved in by the end of next week and then I'll be able to finish up this project.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well today is the day! We should be getting the final inspection on the new place and our certificate of occupancy so we can move in! This means that I can get back to work on the new re-circ system and get it finished up at long last. Just have to gt through the moving in thing. Gawd I HATE moving!!!! Pump for the system is being ordered on Monday and I should have it by Friday at the latest. A couple of plumbing parts to finish up the water feed and I should be able to bench test everything. I'm already working up a parts list and detailed instructions on the construction for the write up. I'm also going to try to shoot a short video of it in action. Look for the final write up sometime late next week.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Sorry for not getting back to this thread for some time now but the projects around the new house that have to be done keep adding up. Between digging trenches for water lines, building and back filling retaining walls and everything else I just haven't had time to get the Le`Trap system finished up. If I haven't been doing house projects I've been doing research into new areas. On that front I've gotten all my due diligence done for about a dozen areas and testing will start on them this weekend if the weather cools off a bit.

I promise that as soon as I can get the system finished up I'll do a full write up on it and include a list of all materials used in building it.

 

[russau]

GI I know what your talking about! honey dos and things pop-up all the time and interrupt what I really want todo! Ive been trying to cleanout my shop for room to set up my cleanup equipment for 20 years now! as soon as I get it cleaned out I go out and buy more "stuff" to put in its place and here we go again! BUT the day is comeing soon! my knees / ankles / back are telling me its time to quit! so it may all go out for sale! when a person has something that he really enjoys doing and CANT anymore , its rough!

 

[goldenIrishman]

LOL That's the whole problem Russ! They're NOT "honey dos". These are all self inflicted projects. I see something that needs improvement and I'm on it. Once I get them done this place will be rocking when it comes to the shop, processing area and ease of the yard maintenance.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well I finally got the sluice to a point that I'm pretty happy with how it's setup. Just finished a few more mods this evening but pictures will have to wait till tomorrow. I've added a header box as well as a second holding tank. The header box spray bars are supplied by a 1250 gph pump with a 1500 gph supplying the main box. I'm still kicking around some ideas on how to do the wiring for the pumps but that shouldn't be all that hard to set up like I want it. When powered by the truck battery it moves plenty of water but the battery charger just doesn't have enough amperage to keep the pumps running at full power. I'm really hating that Radio Shack closed up as I could really use some parts to build up a power supply with enough "umph" to keep the pumps humming.

All in all the setup is pretty light and portable so I can still take it out to the field with little to no problems. I'll inventory all the parts I used, give approx costs and a write up of how to build your own done up by this weekend. (Honey do's permitting)

 

[goldenIrishman]

Getting closer to finished

Between house issues and projects things have been slow and sluice funds are dwindling. I've still managed to get some more work done on the sluice. I've added a second water barrel to the system that give me double the water and modified the header box of the highbanker I retired. Now I'll only have to classify down to 1/2 inch which means I'll be able to run more materials and will be getting free gravel for some of the projects around the house at the same time. The -1/2 to +1/4 gravel off the header box is about perfect size for doing paths and landscaping.





I'm still using the 1500 gph pump for the main box water and the 1250 gph for the spray bars. My plan is to upgrade the main pump to a 4000 gph unit and move the 1500 to the spray bars. This will give me approx 5500 gph through the system which will allow me to run the box at a much flatter angle than it's currently set at. The spray bars will be reworked to eliminate any flow restrictions but I'll still be loosing some flow due to the head height. The transfer tubes between the tanks should still be able to keep up but if they do lag behind, it's a simple matter to add another. They're cheap and easy (both good qualities) to make up.

The header box is removable and is held in place with three bungee cords. Having it removable makes doing clean outs much easier. The drop bottom plate directs the slurry so it hits the box right on top of the Le Trap logo. The main water retaining bar serves double duty. It keeps the main water spreader centered in the box and provides support for the bottom end of the header box. I still need to replace the hardware cloth that goes over the end of the header and sluice to make sweeping the tailings off easier and keep them out of the main box as well. Yet another of the infamous "round tuits".

One thing I would strongly suggest is that if you decide to build one of these that you use the thick walled PVC pipe as it is much more ridged and much stronger. The extra weight is not all that much and your sluice will be much stronger as well as steadier. Also sand down the pipe that forms the pivot points so they don't start binding on you down the road. Parts list coming soon.

 

[utah mason]

How far down do your transfer tubes go? I''ve been useing shower drains for my rec. Sluice they seal up nicely, but I like the no holes set up you got.

 

[goldenIrishman]

The tubes are about 18" long on each side but that's including the elbows. This is the best way I've found to do it because you don't have to drill your barrels or mess with getting fittings sealed up. Out in the field when you have to haul water you don't want leaks of any type. I loose enough water from what's left in the tailings catch bucket as it is. I can do about four buckets worth before I have to do a top off on the tanks. Once I find a good area to file a claim on and start "production work" I'll upgrade the tanks to a pair of 150 gallon stock tanks. That will allow me to add some filtration to keep the water cleaner longer.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

The tubes are about 18" long on each side but that's including the elbows. This is the best way I've found to do it because you don't have to drill your barrels or mess with getting fittings sealed up. Out in the field when you have to haul water you don't want leaks of any type. I loose enough water from what's left in the tailings catch bucket as it is. I can do about four buckets worth before I have to do a top off on the tanks. Once I find a good area to file a claim on and start "production work" I'll upgrade the tanks to a pair of 150 gallon stock tanks. That will allow me to add some filtration to keep the water cleaner longer.

Are you pumping back into the first water container from the tailings catch bucket or what? Siphon? TIA.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Are you pumping back into the first water container from the tailings catch bucket or what? Siphon? TIA.

The water cycle is as follows:
1. Water is picked up from the barrel under the sluice and goes to either the main box or the spray bars.
2. Water combines back to a single flow at the feed end of the sluice box.
3. The slurry flows down the sluice and it does it's gold recover thing.
4. Water and tailings flow out of the sluice and into the tailing bucket.
5. Tailings (for the most part) stay in the catch bucket while the water flows out over the edge of the bucket into the barrel.
6. Siphon action through the tubes keeps the pump barrel replenished so the cycle can repeat.

I get about a 1/4 inch drop in the water levels on both barrels at startup due to the amount of water needed to fill the hoses and sluice and loose about a gallon that's trapped in the tailings when I change catch buckets.