Who has a Keene A51A sluice??

[robbor]

How well does it work for you and how much materal can you put in? I was thinking about a small sluice.

 

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[TOWcritter]

I have the small back packing sluice. Easy to carry into those hard to get to creeks. I also have been sniping in my area but without much luck. The small sluice I use is a Keene and its 33" long by about 10 inches wide and I can feed a 5 gallon bucket into it in about 10 minutes or so. Very efficient so I imagine a larger model would do better. good luck.

 

[stshawaii]

i do think it is a little small great for backpacking ! works very well just watch ur angle and water speed .i wish i had got the next size up

 

[ChuckNC]

I have the A-51-A sluice and found that on some small creeks it's not too good. You need to have a fairly good flow or the riffles will packup quick. I did convert it to a mini highbanker for testings. Gave it a 3in drop per foot and it works wonderfully. I guess you'd probably need the same as a regular sluice.
I did change one thing. I took out the ribbed carpet and put in miners moss with ribbed rubber matting underneath. That greatly improved my fines retention.
Chuck

 

[fanatic]

I have both the A52 and the A51 Mini sluice. Like ChuckNC (Hey Chuck - long time no see!) I use miners moss with black ribbed rubber underneath. I left the black rubber on the slick plate for two reasons. As you feed the slick plate you should be able to watch the blondes move forst and the black sands last. The ribbed rubber aids in this separation. The second reason is because if your water flow is right you should be able to see fines in the ribs.

I've found the best test is bird shot. We find a ton of it here in NY when we prospect. If your box is running right you should be catching bird shot IN FRONT of the first riffle. If not you have too much flow.

I also added a set of "wings" to the A52 to help add water flow. Made a huge difference. As Chuck said its sometimes difficult to get enough flow in small streams. I'll post a pic of the wings if anyones interested.