Bazooka Trouble

[johngfoster]

I've managed to take my 30" Prospector out two times now, and seem to be having a bit of difficulty getting it set up quickly. There is plenty of flow, I think, in the creek, but not a lot of drop. I'm having trouble getting the larger rocks to clear. Eventually we built a large rock dam across most of the creek, and it seemed that the water level completely covered the Bazooka in order to get most of the larger rocks to clear. If I tipped it down more, then not enough water got into the top deck to clear it. Multiple times I stuck my finger in the trap to see if it was building up, but the ends of the tubes were still exposed. Ran about 10 3/4 buckets through it and did get gold, mostly fine stuff, but I'm just wondering if I had too much water flow and blew out a lot of the other fine gold. Any quick and easy setup tips for using the Bazooka?

 

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[Aufisher]

If you are finding fine gold and the trap is not overloading you are probably close to good on your setup. Pawing off a few rocks per bucket beats classifying. Flat rocks can be trickier.

 

[utah mason]

Any pictures or video so we can see angle and flow? Sounds like your trap is scrubbing out a little, you don't want the tubes exposed. Maybe a little flatter, I wouldn't worry about it clearing all the rocks, a quick nudge with the shovel and problem solved.

 

[triple d]

Flat and fast is not good. Need some angle. Or slow down the flow. You will lose fine gold. A flat area does make for problems. Try to keep the box as full as possible.

 

[utah mason]

Flat and fast is not good. Need some angle. Or slow down the flow. You will lose fine gold. A flat area does make for problems. Try to keep the box as full as possible.

That is contradictory to how everyone else here on treasure net has advised me to run My bgt. I'm pretty sure even the instructions say flatter for fine gold.

 

[Goldwasher]

as flat as you can get it while it is clearing the majority of oversize!

 

[HardHatMatt]

I have yet to discover for myself (or observe) conditions in which no CLEARING is needed.It's kind of like a high banker...you don't need to classify, butin most stream gravels you're going to encounter rocks in each shovel that are too big to clear in a flow that won't blow your gold out of the box as well. In some conditions I have actually classified to one inch before running the Bazooka. Doubt I saved much time or effort but it worked well without requiring any clearing of the grizzlies at all

 

[HardHatMatt]

John this isn't necessarily a solution to your specific issue, but one suggestion from others I have tried with mixed results is zip tying a strip of 1/4" mechanics mesh flush with the grizzlies. The only advantage I can figure is you don't get rocks wedged between the grizzlies. The disadvantages are that you still get a little +4 material lodged in the mesh, the mesh seems to act like a filter to catch moss, etc and restricts water flow and I think the added obstacle almost prohibits the action of hitting the bottom of a grizzly and sliding over the smooth metal and out the mouth.

One thing I've wanted to try is to create some kind of separate "flume" along both walls. It would take in water along with the slick plate, taper to add pressure and dump out just short of the grizzlies. Theoretically, this may add some turbulence and help clear the more stubborn rocks. How this introduction of water near the entry of the fluid bed might effect the material inside the box...no idea. Nor do I know if the mechanics are practical...off hand it seems the water in the narrow side flumes would immediately start flooding the slick plate itself, but by playing with the angles etc of the flume one might be able to find the right conditions.

Back to picking corn.

 

[KevinInColorado]

John, running it full of water as you did is just fine.

 

[triple d]

Ive found flat is fine. But a very fast flow of water. Just blows the fine gold right thought the box. What I find is super fine gold.As small as you can see. If I up the angle some. In instead of going over the material in the box. It will go into the material in the box and hold it.Larger gold theres not a problem. But I don"t find much of it. Im in New Hampshire. And its hard to dig down four or five feet with a shovel.To get to the better stuff.

 

[HardHatMatt]

If it CAN be run full of water with no negative impact, i would think the optimum condition for a Bazooka would actually be fully submerged...clear more of the big stuff and you apparently don't lose any gold. Never tried it.

 

[KevinInColorado]

It can be run full of water, I've done it many times with great success. It can be run under water too but ideally you have the output end of the trap above stream level.

 

[HardHatMatt]

Good call

 

[Goldwasher]

Nope that actually slows the material down and it clogs the grizzly

 

[HardHatMatt]

In any event if there is a modification that would make the device clear completely without having to poke the grizzlies with your shovel, that would be an improvement. Yes, I know manually clearing a few rocks each time is not the biggest deal in the world, still better than classifying and blah blah blah so please keep the long-winded lectures in your back pockets. Just saying, it would be cool if there was a device into which you could legitimately shovel in and forget.

 

[goldenmojo]

Run flatter with smaller gold, a little steeper for larger. Raking cobble off the grill is not as much a problem as is running material that has alot of 3/16 size in slower water. Very fast water will overwhelm, put some rocks upstream of the inlet to disrupt flow. Bazookas are very forgiving and if you are anywhere close on set your in the money.

 

[mofugly13]

It seems to me that while it may still work fully submerged, you dont get the same pressure differential between the tubes and the trap that you would get if the trap was above the water surface, making it less effective at fluidizing the bed

 

[goldenmojo]

I dont know much about the pressurization aspect of it. All I know is if the water is fast I run it deeper or less steeper and check how much gold I am catching vs my test pans in the layers and any loss in the taillings. If those parameters are not working together optimally I adjust the machine until I am catching the most gold that I can. Some like to run their Bazooka like a George Foreman grill. I have too much ADHD for that.

 

[Aufisher]

Nice pics Mojo! Those setups look great!

 

[HardHatMatt]

Here's another bad idea..., rather than supposedly having to buy several Bazookas for different conditions, maybe you could find some way to set the outer walls on some kind of ratcheting track - the only example that comes to mind is the paper tray in my printer, which ratchets open and closed depending if you are printing a 8x11 or an envelope - and could change the dimensions to make a 30" Prospsector into a 30" sniper. Or you could keep the shape of the scoop/trap portion static in all configurations, use the deck as a "mother board" into which different tracks are laid and the outer walls could be "clicked" (or somehow secured) into the tracks to make different configurations for different conditions. Anyway, just a thought.