Ordered a Bazooka gold trap sluice

[UncleMatt]

I spoke with Todd prior to that. We had a great conversation, and I left it with a good impression. I am sure it is something beyond his control, but I leave tomorrow morning for Durango, CO. Still 3 hours left in the delivery window though, so hoping for the best.

 

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[Joel1316]

Which size did you order?

 

[UncleMatt]

I heard from Todd. Won't have my sluice for Christmas.

 

[walldo]

Just in time. My super sluice is here.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Wow, congrats!

 

[walldo]

No more begging to go with my friend.

 

[NeoTokyo]

Congrats, your going to love it.

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Your lower back is going to love it even more with no more classifying.

 

[UncleMatt]

Got my super prospector today, and its a beauty! I can't see any holes in the tubes though, and hoping they are underneath out of sight. Already got several spots in mind to break in this puppy, along with my gold-n-sand...

 

[KevinInColorado]

Yup, they are underneath..have fun with it and ggg (get great gold)!

 

[walldo]

Heading out tomorrow. New super prospector and new insulated chest waders.

 

[alienbogey]

I just picked up my new Super Prospector and Super Mini from the post office.

Walldo: Where are you taking yours to play? I figured I wouldn't be able to use mine until spring. (I'm in the Puget Sound area.)

 

[walldo]

Waddell creek just south of Olympia. Exit 95 off of I-5

 

[alienbogey]

I had no idea there might be gold there. Good luck. I'm trying to get out to the beach to give that a try with my highbanker.

 

[walldo]

I bought a gold cube from one of the members here. Still have not got back out to Cape Dissapointment. But ran all of my cons I was getting ready to throw out. Found a few colors.

 

[Goodyguy]

The river I go to has pretty good water flow, especially during the Summer run off. I can always build a wing dam too.

I had been playing around with the idea of a portable wing dam for use with my homemade fluid bed sluice for some time and decided to go ahead and test my idea.

It's very easy to do, so easy in fact that I am surprised no one has thought of it before.........(if they have I've never seen or heard of it)
All it takes is two 6" x 48" strips of 1/16" aluminum. (same gauge as an A52 sluice is made from).

Fasten a strip to each side of the sluice and voila.... instant wing dam!
I'll have to post photos next time out (my camera batteries were dead at the time)

Anyway it worked great, I had to build it out of 1/8" aluminum as that was all I had at the time but I'm pretty sure that 1/16" will be fine. I used a 4 foot broom handle screwed through the bottom end of each of the two strips for the mouth of the dam. I had planned to later swap the broom handle for something adjustable so the mouth opening can easily be adjusted according to need.

GG~

 

[Joel1316]

GG - Another great project! Your right, by now, I would have thought someone would have marketed a portable wing dam by now Hmmmmm (gears turning )

 

[UncleMatt]

I used it 2 times last season, and this season I am going to modify the stand I built for it to be more sturdy. The Llano river is really fast and it knocks over the stand, so I am planning on mounting pontoons to the stand and that should keep the bazooka submerged at the proper depth no matter what depth of water Im working in.
This is what my stand looks like now, Ill post photos when Im done modifying it.

View attachment 704185 View attachment 704186

I love your stand, and had a crazy idea that if you are in fast moving water, you could use small deflection plates attached to the legs to help pin it to the bed. Like upside down hydrofoils. :-D

 

[UncleMatt]

I had been playing around with the idea of a portable wing dam for use with my homemade fluid bed sluice for some time and decided to go ahead and test my idea.

It's very easy to do, so easy in fact that I am surprised no one has thought of it before.........(if they have I've never seen or heard of it)
All it takes is two 6" x 48" strips of 1/16" aluminum. (same gauge as an A52 sluice is made from).

Fasten a strip to each side of the sluice and voila.... instant wing dam!
I'll have to post photos next time out (my camera batteries were dead at the time)

Anyway it worked great, I had to build it out of 1/8" aluminum as that was all I had at the time but I'm pretty sure that 1/16" will be fine. I used a 4 foot broom handle screwed through the bottom end of each of the two strips for the mouth of the dam. I had planned to later swap the broom handle for something adjustable so the mouth opening can easily be adjusted according to need.

GG~

GG, I had a thought about this. What if you used a thick canvas or other material, maybe old inflatable boat rubber, to make these wings? I envision a spring tensioned spool on each side of the sluice with the rolled up material, and a stake on the end of the "ribbon". In use, you just pull the material out away from the sluice only as much as you need to, then stake it into the bed. If rocks happen to hit the bottom, they just deform the fabric a little, no biggie. You control how much head you develop with how much you pull off the spool, and you can have different angles and pullout on each side as is warranted to control overall flow rates. And for a simpler implementation, you could just attach the fabric wing directly to the sluice with no spool at all.

 

[Goodyguy]

GG, I had a thought about this. What if you used a thick canvas or other material, maybe old inflatable boat rubber, to make these wings? I envision a spring tensioned spool on each side of the sluice with the rolled up material, and a stake on the end of the "ribbon". In use, you just pull the material out away from the sluice only as much as you need to, then stake it into the bed. If rocks happen to hit the bottom, they just deform the fabric a little, no biggie. You control how much head you develop with how much you pull off the spool, and you can have different angles and pullout on each side as is warranted to control overall flow rates. And for a simpler implementation, you could just attach the fabric wing directly to the sluice with no spool at all.

That's thinking outside the box Matt

Speaking of outside the box I just mounted my wings to the outside of my box using piano hinges. That way when not in use they just fold back alongside the length of the sluice. Then when needed I just swing them around to form whatever size V necessary.

Also had to make the hinges able to pivit a little to allow for the sluice drop.

GG~