Has anyone tried the Grizzly Sleuce 3 or Gold Cradle from the U.S?

[fxap05250]

Not that I'm really going to afford any of these but has anyone in Oz tried the Grizzly Sluice3 or Gold Cradle from the U.S? (They're not cheap.)

What I like about these is that no battery, pump or additional forms of energy is required to run them and to cart up the creek. You're not humping a lot of gear apart from these boxes and the setup time compared to a traditional sluice in the creek is minimal. They're all manually human driven with minimal impact to the environment you're fossicking in.

Info on these can be found at websites for bearbottommining.com and goldcradle.com (sorry can't post precise urls until I've had 10 posts up on this website?)

The concept of both is very good. The cradle is tried and proven (but use to be heavy and cumbersome being traditionally made from hardwoods.) At some time further down the track I was going to make my own cradle or something similar to the Grizzly (with the hopper) out of aluminium/stainless...

The cradle is more (officially) acceptable by authorities as I understand it (only digging hand tools, detectors and pans etc)...

I'd be interested to hear anyone's opinion or experience on these two devices (which I reckon are the bees knees...)

Cheers
Chris

 

[slowflow]

not tried either. Read the add, How is that thing crushing, in the hopper?
Why not try the ANGUS MACKIRK sluice, cheaper, portable and you may not like prospecting.
good luck, great to get a report if you don't get other replies.

 

[AtomRat]

They are a bit difficult to carry by the shape of them, I have not made one but will be one day.
If they are a simple riffle / mesh or even ALL expanded mesh down the bottom, they are perfect for fine gold I have read.

 

[fxap05250]

I don't think the hopper is crushing but more so discriminating. The flip top is a great idea as well. The Grizzly is definitely a well made device but for the price - it's quite prohibitive. The AngusMacKirks aren't much cheaper though. I like the Grizzly as there are no legs on the device - less weight, less setup etc. I am not so sure how well made the GoldCradle is and how robust it would be in terms of the hard knocks...

Yes, they are a bit awkward but is any equipment easy to transport? The mesh looks ideal to trap the finer stuff...

 

[AtomRat]

Yes, they are a bit awkward but is any equipment easy to transport?

Prospectors worst nightmare right there mate, trying to get things out the bush in one trip doesn't really happen to me
But I do try to make most of my stuff foldable, handled or wheeled to make it easier. I never made the rocker as the bulkyness of it, but I would put wheels onto one if I did make it.