Bazooka Gold Trap....Again

[bottlecap]

Hey fellas as some of you may know I am headed to Colorado Friday and I ordered a Bazooka gold trap, I am eager to use it but just wanted to hear if any of you had any tips. I talked to Kevin already and he said he loves his. Here are a few questions right off the bat for you. I know how often you empty may depend on amount of black sands etc. but as a general rule how often do you guys empty yours? Seems that setting the angle on these is pretty flexible but I would assume the steeper the angle the bigger chance you have at losing fine gold. Perhaps some of you have found even with a steep angle you retain most of the fines?? Of course the appeal to this for me is avoiding classifying and saving my back. I have a few days straight I plan on running so I am always eager to find ways to save my back. One thing I have found personally to alleviate some back pain is when cleaning up, panning, using magnet for black sands etc stand up at a table. I initially set up a chair by a panning tub and would do everything sitting down but that slight bent over angle is a back killing sucker. By the way I have looked at past threads on the subject and learned some from them too. Thanks guys!

 

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[KevinInColorado]

I'm cleared to meet you in Fairplay!

 

[utah mason]

Looks like your not in need of any online advice any more since you have a bazooka pro going with you🙆
Have a great trip, looking forward to some good pictures.

 

[bottlecap]

I'm cleared to meet you in Fairplay!

Awesome! Glad you were able to get permission

 

[bottlecap]

Looks like your not in need of any online advice any more since you have a bazooka pro going with you��
Have a great trip, looking forward to some good pictures.

Good point! I'll be sure to take a picture of my mason jar filled with gold.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Good point! I'll be sure to take a picture of my mason jar filled with gold.

Maybe one of those baby mason jars that holds one shot of moonshine

 

[johnh]

Or get a big jar of moonshine drink it over the couple days your prospecting then put your gold in it once your done might not get a lot of work done in the creek/river but its always a good time

 

[KevinInColorado]

Or get a big jar of moonshine drink it over the couple days your prospecting then put your gold in it once your done might not get a lot of work done in the creek/river but its always a good time

Sounds like a plan! Heck the motel Bottlecap is staying in is walking (stumbling?) distance from the dig site so why not?!!

 

[Goodyguy]

What size trap did you order? The bigger the scoop the heavier.

Kevin will show you the best way to lift the bazooka out of the water.
Could be a real back killer if done wrong, as the scoop when filled with water can be really heavy on prospector and larger models.
I always lift trap end first to empty the scoop, but you have to be careful not to back wash material out of the trap.

The other back saver I've found is to sit down on an overturned bucket next to the Bazooka and feed it out of another bucket of material with a scoop. Or else I use my long handled scoop shovel to dig and feed with while I'm sitting down.

When using the Bazooka it's best to keep it less steep as possible and still get a good flow.
If you have to make it really steep to get enough flow there will be a certain amount of trade off as far as optimum recovery goes.

Wish I could be there with you guys as I could bring along some good ol' Kentucky shine to make all your cares disappear.
Have fun and take photos/videos so us t-netters can go along with you.

Go for the Gold
GG~

 

[bottlecap]

What size trap did you order? The bigger the scoop the heavier.

Kevin will show you the best way to lift the bazooka out of the water.
Could be a real back killer if done wrong, as the scoop when filled with water can be really heavy on prospector and larger models.
I always lift trap end first to empty the scoop, but you have to be careful not to back wash material out of the trap.

The other back saver I've found is to sit down on an overturned bucket next to the Bazooka and feed it out of another bucket of material with a scoop. Or else I use my long handled scoop shovel to dig and feed with while I'm sitting down.

When using the Bazooka it's best to keep it less steep as possible and still get a good flow.
If you have to make it really steep to get enough flow there will be a certain amount of trade off as far as optimum recovery goes.

Wish I could be there with you guys as I could bring along some good ol' Kentucky shine to make all your cares disappear.
Have fun and take photos/videos so us t-netters can go along with you.

Go for the Gold
GG~

Wish you could come to! Would be fun getting a bunch of different methods on the gold recovery! I got a 36" prospector. I could see emptying it being a back breaker but it can't be nearly as bad as Pro Panning and classifying! Honestly Goodguy I have no idea what I am getting myself into here, maybe I won't be able to set it up near where I am gathering material so I have to fill buckets and haul em, in that case I'll definitely flip a bucket over and have a seat when I feed it. BGT should be here Thursday just in time for me to take off Friday, I really haven't heard anything bad about the BGT so I am pretty excited! I'll make sure to take some pics or a video for all of you fellas that have been helping me out

 

[KevinInColorado]

A Bazooka that size (I have the same one and will also bring my smaller ones to show you) will eat a whole 5 gal bucket in less than 60 seconds...barely time to sit down so I don't bother!

To empty that sluice just slide a 5 gal bucket over the downstream end and stand the whole thing right up. Easy on the back and quick as heck.

 

[Dallasb84]

When are you guys going? I am heading through Colorado the end of this week. May be able to do a stop and play for a bit!

 

[Goodyguy]

A Bazooka that size (I have the same one and will also bring my smaller ones to show you) will eat a whole 5 gal bucket in less than 60 seconds...barely time to sit down so I don't bother!

To empty that sluice just slide a 5 gal bucket over the downstream end and stand the whole thing right up. Easy on the back and quick as heck.

Great method for doing a clean up Kevin.
I'm gonna try that next time.

At my age I don't like carrying buckets or much heavy lifting so I usually use my bucket chariot to get the bucket to the sluice and then tip the bucket over onto the deck of the Bazooka using the swivel of the chariot. Or if I'm in no hurry (which is most of the time) I just sit down and scoop it in.

 

[bottlecap]

When are you guys going? I am heading through Colorado the end of this week. May be able to do a stop and play for a bit!

I will be there tomorrow afternoon sometime depending on travel times. Swing by if you're in the area, could always use an extra hand neatly stacking my mason jars full of gold

 

[bottlecap]

Oh and I also extended my stay by a day so I will be there until Wednesday now

 

[KevinInColorado]

I'll be there on Sunday for the day (it's less than 90 min from home)

Looking forwarding to sampling around to find a hot spot!

 

[KevinInColorado]

When are you guys going? I am heading through Colorado the end of this week. May be able to do a stop and play for a bit!

We will be in FairPlay at the town prospecting park (yes, they really have a prospecting park!).