Second Sluice Choice?

[Goldfleks]

So I'm currently prospecting with a 36" Sniper BGT. Any thoughts on a good second sluice? I had wanted to go up to the prospector model for the rainy season. With the volume of water finally dummping on Southern California (Flooding/Landslide warnings for the burn areas in the East Fork finally a "golden" lining to all the chaos last year) and the river starting to wake up I had wanted something that could take advantage of the higher flow of water and process material faster. I was filling buckets faster than the sniper could process it.

Any thoughts? As it stands I'm not willing to place an order with BGT and wait 3 months or loger to receive it. Anything else an obvious second choice?

 

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[rodoconnor]

A lot of great choices out there. EFSG doesn't have any real challenging conditions to grab the AU. No massive amounts of microfines or clay to contend with. Practically any manufactured sluice will serve you well. Keene, Proline etc.If weight is a consideration think about LeTrap or Angus Mackirk plastics. Good Luck

 

[KevinInColorado]

A lot of great choices out there. EFSG doesn't have any real challenging conditions to grab the AU. No massive amounts of microfines or clay to contend with. Practically any manufactured sluice will serve you well. Keene, Proline etc.If weight is a consideration think about LeTrap or Angus Mackirk plastics. Good Luck

Which of those will handle double the volume of a Sniper without wasting your energy with classifying? I don't think any of them, am I right?

 

[Hunt4gold]

I'm also looking at second sluice and am considering a Gold Hog stream sluice. I hear and read so much about how good their mats are for catching flour size and up and that you do not have to classify material going in. Would also consider 30" Prospector Bazooka, but as you pointed out, not sure if they are reliable for shipping products.

 

[wingmaster]

The Angus Mackirk sluices are good, I would get at least the forman size but the AU trap ones work great. HH

 

[rodoconnor]

Which of those will handle double the volume of a Sniper without wasting your energy with classifying? I don't think any of them, am I right?

Not a single one,but they were inquiring about something other than a BGT.You can also build one yourself with the correct design and matting that will match the volume of a BGT.I've built several.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I'm also looking at second sluice and am considering a Gold Hog stream sluice. I hear and read so much about how good their mats are for catching flour size and up and that you do not have to classify material going in. Would also consider 30" Prospector Bazooka, but as you pointed out, not sure if they are reliable for shipping products.

This may be the winning answer. Go Gold Hog if you're worried about Bazooka biz practices. [emoji106]🏻

 

[johnedoe]

Looks like bazooka biz practices is a sinking ship.

 

[Goldfleks]

So is gold hog just getting the mats? Or is their a specific sluice anyone uses? I've seen their highbankers which is nice but no Highbanking allowed in cali.

 

[arizau]

They make their own and it looks like a good deal. Stream Sluice - Placer Gold Stream Sluice. If you already have a sluice body then the mats are pretty easy to install. I did and if I can do it you can do it.

 

[wildminer]

Probably a good choice if you got the bucks and don't mind getting punished on shipping to the left coast.

 

[Hunt4gold]

Goldfleks, I spent a fair amount of time researching and studying different sluices before buying my Bazooka 36" sniper, so for a first sluice I think both you and I made a good choice with that sluice. Also read a number of reviews on forums (thanks to all Tnetters!). I think most folks in this hobby end up buying a second sluice. In choosing a second sluice, here are some of the factors I'm considering (may help you in your decision).
-- Don't want a sluice that is the equivalent to my 36" Sniper, that would be redundant and it works great
-- Sluice style that does require classifying. I don't mind it if I have to classify to say, 1/2", but not doing much classifying means I run more material, more gold.
-- Want at least two times more material running volume than Sniper (although the Sniper processes material pretty fast for one person.
-- Easy and fast cleanup. One of the really great attributes of the Bazooka products is that you can do a clean out in less that 30 seconds and be putting the sluice back into production fast. The Gold Hog all-rubber mats (come with high and low volume mats) are quick to release and clean out, guessing one could complete the clean out in under two minutes - pull mat, reverse roll in bucket, reverse roll again in bucket, and done.
-- Needs to have leveling legs for ease of setup (am fabricating set for my Sniper)
-- Reasonable weight/size for backpacking or just hauling to stream

One other factor (with listed ones above) that made my choice to choose Gold Hog stream sluice is that I can look and see how much (or little) gold is in the material I am running. This would tell me if, all the sudden, I start to see less gold accumulating in the mats, that I may be moving off the paystreak. And of course, its just pretty cool to see gold in the mats.

Just my thoughts... good luck in choosing your next sluice.

 

[Goldfleks]

Any of you guys put any VMat on your Bazooka skid plate to let you see if your "On the gold"? That's my only issue with the bazooka product. I guess you could go back to "sample pan sample pan sample pan" before going into production. But in EFSG down past cattle canyon bridge it's all about the same no matter where you stick your shovel. So i kinda know how much I'm getting, but just never get to see it until I clean out. And as Hunt4Gold says, that's pretty cool. If anything any time I talk myself into trying a different hole or moving to another spot to dig with someone I end up with less. Spend all the time moving my stuff when I could of just ran more buckets.

 

[arizau]

There has been a lot of discussion about that on this forum and you can probably find it using the search feature. My inexperienced opinion; one or so inches of shallow v mat a few inches before the grizzly would suffice as an indicator mat if you just have to have one. That would at least slow the gold before it enters the trap so you could spot it. Works for me on a stream sluice used exclusively for minus 100 mesh beach sand feed.

 

[Hunt4gold]

I don't take the time to set up the Bazooka unless I have had good color in the sample pan. So in that aspect, I already know I'm getting gold. And since I can pull the Bazooka, clean it out, and have it back in production in under two minutes, I don't mind checking every half hour or so and doing a cleanout. Did this just last week -- I actually enjoy the anticipation of panning down the material during a clean out to see the color coming through the black sands...
One of my clean out pans from last week:


But all said and done, will still be fun watching color show up in a Gold Hog mat.

Not sure if I would put any mat on my Bazooka. The added surface resistance would likely cause more 1' to 3" cobbles to hang up on the grizzly, which would require more manual clearing of them.

 

[Golden_Crab]

First choice
1) GH Stream Sluice
2) Keene A52

Either way with custom stream classifier for wet classification / saving back-ache

 

[Frank D.]

Gold Hog stream sluice is awesome. I ordered mine, and received it three days later, from Georgia, to my front door in Pennsylvania. It was packed VERY well, and is very well made. My favorite part about it, is the two different matting configurations it comes with.

 

[nuggetshooter323]

The Gold Hog stream sluice can be used in fast or slow water with the two included Hog Mats. You also don't have to classify, so you can shovel straight into the sluice. Theother good choice is the Gold Hog Multi Sluice. It comes with two mats and can take unclassified material or clean-up concentrate's.

 

[goldenmojo]

Go to use a Goldhog Stream Sluice today. It was easy to setup and worked well. It dropped a small amount of gold out the tail but that was not the fault of the sluice. Two of us shoveled unclassified material into it at a steady clip. The material had lots of clay chunks and large flat cobbles and we just scraped everything that wouldnt flow down the mat and kept shoveling. After all of the abuse it still caught very fine gold, flat chunky flake and pickers. Easy cleanup and back into the sluice line in short time. It is a well built product and the mats fit tight to the channel walls. I am impressed with it.

 

[Hard Prospector]

Saw a fella 2 years ago sluicing on the Mokelumne (Roaring Camp) who took two of those plastic La Trap sluices and attached one to the other. He used square aluminum tubing for the lite yet strong rigid frame. He would classify down to 1/2 and then just shovel it in not being shy about it. This thing must have been around eight foot but surprisingly lite and manageable. He called it his "LaTrap long tom" and it seemed to work well.