Chief701,
Do you KNOW you have gold? If not then you need to search for it and that really means a pan and learning how to pan and that is a cheap way to go. If you have gold then how much dirt sample can you move? Are you good and strong and in good shape? For most sluices a person needs to classify, sort out the big stuff, and only run the small stuff through the sluice. But if you are not really into the work of sorting then take a look at some of the smaller Bazooka Gold Trap (sluice box). The BGT does not require classifying of samples, saves a lot of time and effort and works (read about it here on Tnet is the Sluicing section). A bit more costly but It Works.........................63bkpkr