6/03/12 THE BAZOOKA GOLD TRAP DOES IT AGAIN!

[Goodyguy]

blynch35,
In order for life to be pleasant when rolling equipment over rough rocky ground the wheel diameter needs to be larger. GG's wheels are something like 6" to 8" in diameter making it relatively easy to roll it over rocky ground. The wheels he put on his washer plant are about 18" in diameter and I would guess that outfit is a pure and lovely dream to wheel over rough ground. Jump right in here GG..............63bkpkr

14" diameter on the trommel and 24" diameter on the Gold Daddy.
The pump's are 10" diameter.



My Bucket Chariot has 12" diameter wheels

 

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[UncleMatt]

There are no new ideas under the sun!

Gold Recovery Pump

This guy aleady has plans for sale that are exactly what I was describing earlier when it comes to a hand operated dredge pump. And if you had 2 guys, you could switch off between pumping and running the suction nozzle. Now I just need to get my sniper video scope up and running to attach to the nozzle so I can see what I am doing down deep in channels...

 

[KevinInColorado]

Hope u build one and let us know how good his plans are as well as how well it works.

 

[Goodyguy]

There are no new ideas under the sun!

Gold Recovery Pump

This guy aleady has plans for sale that are exactly what I was describing earlier when it comes to a hand operated dredge pump. And if you had 2 guys, you could switch off between pumping and running the suction nozzle. Now I just need to get my sniper video scope up and running to attach to the nozzle so I can see what I am doing down deep in channels...

That works ok but to really clean the cracks you need POWER!
Nothing outdoes a gasoline powered vac. Works wet or dry. Just not designed for underwater crevicing.



I made mine from a leaf blower

 

[63bkpkr]

GG, have you ever thought about designing medical devices? You have a good mind!........63bkpkr

 

[UncleMatt]

That works ok but to really clean the cracks you need POWER!
Nothing outdoes a gasoline powered vac. Works wet or dry. Just not designed for underwater crevicing.

I made mine from a leaf blower

Of course given the option, I would love to haul a nice turbo V powered dredge up to places I am prospecting, but all of them are in National Forest, so nothing motorized is allowed without a permit.

I am going to order that guy's plans and build the gold recovery dredge hand pump, as it would work very well up in the San Juan high country watersheds.

Later: Viewing the plans now, and it looks simple and easy to get done. Christmas is right around corner, so maybe I will sit in my off time and work on this.

 

[UncleMatt]

My brother and I are going to have a couple of drinks and have his wife drive us to Home Depot to pick up all the parts for the gold pump I posted about earlier in the thread. Its a simple build, and might have it done today. But the drink is evil, and might bedevil our progress.

 

[UncleMatt]

I'm curious if anyone has tried using the clear 1 1/2" swing check valves like you see here ? If there are no problems with them, I am going to try them out...

 

[KevinInColorado]

That clear valve looks cool but costs a lot more than the usual ones. Heck you can get a pair of valves from the gold-n-Sand guys for $20.

Mine it and recycle it!

 

[mapatrin]

Hi I am wanting to build a small bazooka trap style sluice out of stainless steel that deposits all it's waste and loaded material over a conventional sluice ( grill and carpet) , is this worth doing or would the bazooka catch everything anyway ? Any help would be great thanks ..... Rob UK

 

[UncleMatt]

That clear valve looks cool but costs a lot more than the usual ones. Heck you can get a pair of valves from the gold-n-Sand guys for $20.

Mine it and recycle it!

I like the clear valves because you can see the flow happenings. My concern was that the clear plastic would quickly become opaque due to the scratching from sand and rocks. Still curious about that.

 

[UncleMatt]

Okay, here is a new line of thought. I have previously posted concerns about nuggs rolling over the grizzly in the bazooka sluice. Those concerns may be more than reality will support. But after putting together the gold pump from the plans I got, I see a way to use this pump with the bazooka sluice that would trap large nuggs before they reach the sluice. This pump has a collection point at its base where nuggs would get trapped as the flow moves through it. There is a slight downturn of the upper pipe surface in the crossover piece, and that would direct heavy nuggs down to that collection point below the plunger cylinder, while the sediments/finer gold and water would continue moving through to the output hose. That would then proceed to the sluice, where the bazooka would gather up the rest.

I am also plannning to take GG's input to heart and move the output check valve to the boomer box to help avoid clogging in the pump.

Its gonna take some time in the grit to see if this works or not. Counting the days until spring runoff is over in the San Juans. I already have areas in mind. I may make several pumps, and take my niece and nephew along for pumping. I wonder if these hand dredge pumps in general would work well in a series on the same line...

 

[KevinInColorado]

My thought is that any big nugget will just sit down on the bazooka skid plate waiting for you to pick it up! I am going to test that with my biggest nugget next chance I get...pics to follow someday soon.

@Unclematt - yes the clear plastic will scour out to be opaque fairly quickly.

 

[Goodyguy]

I'm curious if anyone has tried using the clear 1 1/2" swing check valves like you see here ? If there are no problems with them, I am going to try them out...

I see a potential problem. Do you see the catch basin area under and around the flap? Gravel is going to build up there and prevent the flap from working properly. Most likely causing it to get stuck open.



That is why I moved the check valve to the crash box and disconnected the part surrounding it. That way the flap seal wont get stuck open as there is no place for the gravels to build up.





GG~

 

[UncleMatt]

Thanks for input guys, I will just go with regular check valves then.

 

[UncleMatt]

So GG, that is a regular swing check valve with the surrounding PVC cut away to expose it? I was wondering why it looked so different. Do you have a preferred brand/model of check valve you have found to be best?

 

[Astrobouncer]

You will not lose big gold over the bazooka grizzly if you add the 4 mesh screen unless you have either crazy angle or water flow going into it. The surface of the bazooka has enough grip and acts like a miller table. Anything picker size or even big flakes just stop almost where they land. If you run it real fast the bigger gold will make its way back to the wire opening and sit right before it.

Here's some example videos of this, but I have seen it many more times when I did not have a camera handy:



Starting at 1.01 on this video, and then again at 2.12, and then 2.22:



Notice the size of the gold compared to the 4 mesh screen. In most cases gold half the size of the screen (8 mesh) is sticking to the bazooka slick plate due to its high weight and the grip of the plastic. Nuggets will stand out clear as day.

I am sure I could find more examples of this in my videos as well if you want, but hopefully this is enough to show you not to worry about it.

 

[Goodyguy]

So GG, that is a regular swing check valve with the surrounding PVC cut away to expose it? I was wondering why it looked so different. Do you have a preferred brand/model of check valve you have found to be best?

I bought that one at Lowes , I did not have to cut anything away just disconnected part of it and modified the other end to fit the hose. http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...gId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

 

[UncleMatt]

After taking apart one of those valves, I see the light GG.

 

[UncleMatt]

I also see the need now to make a custom boomer box for my Super Prospector out of plate aluminum. I will also incorporate a bubble level like I talk about in the ultimate sluice thread.

Does anyone have any idea of where to get some spring loaded cylinders that could be used for retractable sluice wings? I am scratching my head about where I might source those, and might have to fab something up from scratch.