Disabled Veteran - Advice on carrying cons out, please help!

[Fossil4Life]

Today, my wife and I went on our first gold prospecting outing at a privately owned creek known for producing gold. Everything went well, until it was time to pack up and leave. Our concentrate (sized to 1/4" via a HogPan) filled a 5-gallon bucket to just over 3/4 full. I would guess that the bucket weighed 60-70 pounds.

I am a disabled veteran, and I have degenerative disc disease in my lower back (aircraft mechanic in the USAF) and it took everything I had to carry that 5-gallon bucket of concentrate out. I know that going forward, I will not be able to physically do that again. The mind and will are strong, the body not so much.

Anyhow, I'm looking for advice and tips on what I can do to carry out our concentrate in the future without so much effort. I know many here will say to classify out on the water, and I agree with that to some extent, but I want to spend time on the water gathering concentrate, not classifying it. Also, I'm looking to recover as much gold as efficiently and effectively as I can, and I want to do that with a Miller table at home.

I've seen some carts with wheels that fit a 5-gallon bucket, but that is simply not feasible when trekking through rock strewn creek beds and forging your own path through overgrowth. The only solution I've been able to come up with is an ALICE type backpack with a garbage bag lined inside of it that the concentrate can be emptied into.

I figure that carrying concentrate via a backpack has got to be easier than dead lifting 60-70 pounds of concentrate in a 5-gallon bucket via a handle. I'm up for better ideas though, and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

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[goldenmojo]

You can just use you Bazooka Sniper without classifying run all day and have a small amount of super cons when done. Ran my supermini last night dropping fist sized cobble on the plate. Scraped off the grizzly as needed and collected the gold. Good Luck in your adventures and thanks to you for your service.

 

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[bill-costa rica]

hoser john has a great photo of his clean up sluice, light weight and works great…. how about a picture john ?

bill/cr

 

[preshrunkmilk]

Thanks to all for your responses! A lot of good ideas and solutions here! After evaluating what it is I am trying to do, I've decided that trying to pack out 5-gallon buckets of concentrate is not efficient (or safe), no matter which way you cut it. Given my back condition, I'm likely to hurt myself trying to carry them out, regardless if I am using a backpack, cart or other solution.

So, with that said, I've decided I will go ahead classify on the water after all. It's easier to pack out the resulting concentrate this way (as mentioned by several people), and even though it means less time on the water gathering material, I beleive it will be faster and more efficient in the long run. I went ahead and purchased a 24" Bazooka Gold Trap Sniper to use in tandem with my HogPan. The idea is that I'll run material through the HogPan first, classifying it to 1/4", then run those cons through the BGT.

I really like the idea of the BGT and can't wait to use it. I chose the 24" because it's light and easily packable for long treks. I'll probably end up getting a Prospector down the road at some point. =)

You will love the sniper. Just remeber to take it easy it works so good that you can end up hurting your back by moving to much dirt. Ive done it many times lol

 

[Fossil4Life]

You will love the sniper. Just remeber to take it easy it works so good that you can end up hurting your back by moving to much dirt. Ive done it many times lol

Thank you for the tip! You've no idea how excited I am to try it out!

 

[425jesse]

****please remember if you classify too small you will cause your BGT fluid bed to go solid, you do not need to classify beyond 1/2", and shouldn't. Your BGT uses that larger material (between 1/4 and 1/2") to keep the bed fluid.*****

You have purchased one of the best sluices on the market, and it is really simple to use. May I suggest looking up Kevinincolorado's posts, he is the bazooka master.

 

[jog]

You could try building a cart that attaches to a pack frame & have the best of both worlds, a friend of mine builds the cart that you can see in the first 30 seconds of the video.BlackTail and Cougar Bowhunting Late Season 2009 ... The other pic is a cart I built for my 73 year old mining friend who uses it almost every day. If you put the two together then no strain on the back.

 

[preshrunkmilk]

Bgt is the best sliuce there is. My sniper can handel large rocks as long as the fit on there lol. It catches everything you will be very happy with your purchase.