Which Sluice is Best

[ssdevilfish]

Ok I'm new on here and to gold sluicing but not so new to mining and mineral rights business and for few months have read about people loving the bazooka or gold cube or Keene and so on. Could as many of us as possible please reply with your sluice of choice and why in just a few words. No dredges or trommels just stream sluice owners. I think a poll from you people will be a very strong indicator as to what stream sluice truly catches the gold and at what quantity. I will post a tally every few days as to which sluice is most owned and most productive.

 

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[GrizzlyGremlin]

Oooo boy u dont know the box of worms you are about to open! Its ALL preference. I run a 36" proline with 2 sizes of black mat glued down. I can run slow and get it ALL. I dont run production though. I clean bedrock. I spend most of my day moving big rocks and getting to bedrock and only need to run 5 buckets of bedrock and crack dirt. Most of the time i just pan.
It all has to do with what kind of material you are digging and what the gold is like. For instance. Northeast gold is glacially pounded and fine flat flakes. Out west the gold is fine sand like granules and swollen flakes.
The BGT can process more volume no questions asked but i can set my proline,with just mats, up in almost still water.
Many factors

 

[Prospector70]

Mine naturally.

Kidding
I love the bazooka, high production, set it up and shovel until you think you hurt yourself. I got an old Keene for low water situations but havent had to pull it out yet.
48" Prospector HWHG is the one I got.
PS there is a bgt in monument 36 inch for 30 bucks off on CL...

 

[ssdevilfish]

Cool posts from two of the best so far. Much appreciated. You had to mention cl and the 30 bucks off didn't yea. Lol.

 

[ssdevilfish]

As far as clean up goes. I know when I use my royal sluice recirculator I have all black sand and after running say 4 five gallon buckets of classified I end up with about a pint or little more of cons. What is it like with the BGT running about equal material.

 

[pods]

Well all I have run is the BGT. I have a mini at the moment (smallest one) and a 36" prospector is on its way on a UPS truck somewhere probably around Kansas.
The biggest complaint I have seen about the BGT is that you cannot see if you are on gold. Well, using a trowel with the mini and using a shallow angle, fine gold will even stick to the slick plate. So you can see color if you look.
As for cons, the creek I run has a lot of new rocks with sharp angles. So the trap does contain them. Easy to pan though.
You do need some amount of moving water though. Thinking of getting a drop riffle to clean up my cons and for slow water, or maybe a small recirculating setup.
I guess what catches the gold is the best, but the BGT has been a winner for me. Easy to run even as a newbie (I have ~1 year into this).

 

[Goodyguy]

I own and use many different styles and types of sluices.

However, if I could have only one commercially produced sluice to use in a stream it would definitely be...........

The Bazooka Gold Trap "prospector" model sluice

Here's why:

Easy to set up...... comes ready to use, it's all one piece.
Easy to operate ....no classifying, just feed it.
Easy to clean ........just dunk it into a 5 gal bucket of water.
The trap only fills with a super concentrate making further processing a breeze.
Built rugged and durable.
Can be fed with a #2 shovel
Can be adapted for use as a highbanker.

The 30" model sells for only $185!
Not to mention that the BGT's trap all the gold, even that hard to recover glacial flour gold!

GG~

 

[Prospector70]

Cool posts from two of the best so far. Much appreciated. You had to mention cl and the 30 bucks off didn't yea. Lol.

That's just off the price, not including what you would save on shipping, you'd just have to go to monument lol.

Cleanout of the BGT 48 pretty much fills a big pan, there is more and larger material than when I would clean out the keene (About a pint of gold and black sand and garnets/lead shot/zippers etc.)
In my opinion I end up with more black sand and gold in the BGT cons than I ever brought home before. Nothing against the Keene, I like that sluice too. I'll work any sluice I can get my hands on for that matter.
Edit:
Also, you can see the gold sliding on the upper plate on the BGT, just have to watch for it because it doesnt take long for the water to bazooka it down into the gold trap. <3
However with the Keene you can see it sitting pretty on the assayers matting, OH SHINY! (Always nervous about knocking it loose with the next scoop though, lots of clean outs)

 

[mxer47]

I own a drop riffle, standard riffle/carpet, and a bazooka fluid bed. The bazooka is by far the most useful trouble free high production sluice I own. It catches fines like a gold glove short stop. Your choice however would be determined by your stream, river situation. The larger sizes require deeper water and the availability of more drop due to their depth. The cons from a bgt depend on the model. Some clean out into a 5 gallon bucket. Mine (30" miner) holds about 1 1/2 gallons of cons.

 

[ssdevilfish]

Wow. You guys know how to explain things perfectly. I'm seeing a trend for the BGT. It seems the fluid trap is the answer. I'm pulling the trigger and buying a BGT. But not till I see a high banker kit. With droughts so severe in Cali it's only a year or two and that will hit the Rockies were I'm at as well. Making for scarce water and more restrictions on it's use. Seems the high banker kit with the BGT just might be the best option for us in the west. Thank you all so much for the detail and honesty in your answers. What a jump in knowledge I have received in just a month or so on here. It's refreshing and saving me time and money with my decisions. God I love gold.

 

[Prospector70]

ah ah ah! *waggles finger*
You didnt ask what the best highbanker was!

 

[ssdevilfish]

Oh no !!! Lol. I like the option of using sluice in the stream as well as with a banker kit. What to you prospector70 is a good setup?

 

[ALewis]

I say go w/ the BGT..... I have a homemade fluid trap, modeled after to OG, with help from GG . I love it ! You will not be disappointed skipping the classifying.
At some point I would like to get a drop riffle, for a little more prospectin, and maybe some day a high banker,
But, right now I'm getting the most recovery at a gravel bar....If I had to classify & then clean carpets I figure I'd be losing 1-2 Hrs of diggin each time out. Yikes ! If I'm not diggin, I'm not recoverin.....

 

[Prospector70]

I have no idea on the highbankers, I've never had the good luck to try one out.
I don't think water is going to be your issue unless its too much of it!

 

[ALewis]

Same here Prospector70, I have never had the fortune to work a highbanker....The cost seems prohibitive unless on some seriously good ground, and most of the area I'm at I've hiked back to. Carrying a pump & motor just dosn't seem feasible. I've always thought most of the areas I can drive equipment to have already had people all over them ? I've been told you can highbank upriver form Yankee Jim's ? Not really sure though, so have never tried....Maybe someday when I'm on my own Claim....

 

[KevinInColorado]

If you are in CO, here's a quick way to get a 36 inch Prospector via Craig's list : http://cosprings.craigslist.org/spo/4348569022.html

Ssdevilfish - buy this NoW! Then stop by my place, which is half way between your home and the seller and we'll put gold in it immediately. Get down here before evening rush hour today and we can use the last couple hours of daylight to get your first 1/4 gram!!

PS you already know what I think. I've used riffles, drop riffles and fluid bed...the Bazooka is the ONLY way to go around here. Basically double the production of other sluices and a great workout if you want that too (I do!). I still drive around with a drop riffle in my car but honestly never use it.

 

[pods]

Wow, wish I could find something like that Kevin. My 36 is on the slow truck from Cali, due in tomorrow night.
As for the craigslist one, why do people put screen over the grizzlies? I can see keeping out some larger rocks from your cons, but to me having a horizontal screen would reduce the grizzly from shedding rocks to begin with.
The vertical grizzlies will allow a rock to roll up and over while the screen would block it, making more buildup on your grizzly that you have to clean off anyways.
I have never had a problem with buildup in my fluid bed of my mini and it even catches gold you need a loupe to identify. As long as you have water flow, you will shed lighter stuff from your fluid bed.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Wow, wish I could find something like that Kevin. My 36 is on the slow truck from Cali, due in tomorrow night. As for the craigslist one, why do people put screen over the grizzlies? I can see keeping out some larger rocks from your cons, but to me having a horizontal screen would reduce the grizzly from shedding rocks to begin with. The vertical grizzlies will allow a rock to roll up and over while the screen would block it, making more buildup on your grizzly that you have to clean off anyways. I have never had a problem with buildup in my fluid bed of my mini and it even catches gold you need a loupe to identify. As long as you have water flow, you will shed lighter stuff from your fluid bed.

You're right about the mesh slowing rocks from shedding over the grizzly. Only time it seems recommended is if your material is slate or otherwise has lots of bigger flat rocks that would quickly fill the trap and are too big to get pushed out by trap water flow.

Disclosure: Not an issue where I'm digging so I've never actually tried a mesh on the grizzly myself...just repeating what I've seen from others.

 

[mxer47]

Putting the mesh under the grizzlies helps. It is tricky though. I tried one and removed it.

 

[pods]

That makes more sense. I have a lot of odd shaped, jagged, new rocks as opposed to pebbles, but they never seem to fill the trap enough for me to worry. I have the smallest BGT too.
If I ever look to add mesh, I will definitely add them under the grizzly. Thanks mxer!
Have to work out a way to run as a highbanker first. Thinking of just adding a gold-n-sand header box and not worrying about a grizzly like a highbanker header box has. I can also use it that way if I ever get a dredge setup. Seems I can just grab large rocks off the skid plate and let the flow take the others over the grizzly. A very versatile sluice indeed!