How long is too long for a sluice?

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Goldtarget

(AKA OldGT)
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Messages
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Location
, VIC
Subjective question but on the next stage of the build. Intend to go narrow (200mm wide) and have access to some bigger pumps. Was thinking longer than in the past builds to put in more captures and production. Weight and cleanup isn't really a problem. Thoughts?
 
i have my flow rate and dip angle of my system worked out so that i could cut my sluice in half and it wouldn't make much difference in recovery(flour gold diferent).

if i were to rebuild the only changes i would make would be the width of system another 50mm to spread the ammount i need to feed in a day and reduce the moss clog rate. :cool:
 
Hey GT,

I reckon you can go as long as you want mate, just need to think about each stage of your sluice and what your trying to achieve. If you incorporate an aggressive cleaning capture area like large expanded metal you would want some slick area afterword to increase speed again before your next capture area.

You can increase speed by using slick plates, plain v matt with fine expanded over it, increased angle for that section, inclining width just to name a few.

at 200mm mate i'd go quite long its going to be light anyway with that width.
 
On my big one it's 4.7m long
There is a few people on here that carry on about it saying its rubbish that you need a sluice that long
But there have never heard about a long Tom
Or the sluice races at the old diggings some up yo 70-80m long
I have anouther section that will bring it to 7.1m
That should get some crows on the fence warbling lol
Do it as long as you can
And with as many different surfaces as you can to maximise you chances of catching gold

But also be practible you have to carry the sucker lol

Just my 2c :D
 
One advantage of a long sluice is you can feed it harder and wont loose gold because you give the gold enough time to settle out. My latest build is 1800mm x 300mm and i have almost no losses. though mine does break down into 2 halves for transport.
 
The way things are travaling here in victoria id be building the biggest and longest sluice box you could physicly carry, stopping short of punching roids to get the big girl down to your favourite digging spot and start pumping through the dirt in cubes not shovel loads.
The old timers were not wrong where to dig for gold, they were not wrong about how long to have their sluice boxes, i work mine out on the size of sheet metal you can purchase, 1200mm, 1800mm,2400mm, maximising the use out of a sheet, left overs make hopper boxes, slick plates and riffles.
As the not so well known famous actress "Belladonna" once stated, " length and girth baby, length and girth" :lol:
 
It's just a matter of practicality. If you'd rather be shovelling all day without cleaning out the sluice, the longer the better. A short sluice is going to overload with heavies before too long. I like the mobility of portable sluices, especially that I can put known volumes through relatively quickly and get an idea of values.
 
Thanks lads. Time to go big while I still can, pull as many of the big ones out while they table the new changes.
 
As the not so well known famous actress "Belladonna" once stated, " length and girth baby, length and girth"

hahaha is it a bad thing i know who your talking about??? ;)
 
Stumbled into the right place at the right time today, picked up half a ute load of materials for future projects for a song.....Now I just need the gold gods to be kind. Got enough to keep me going on projects for the next 6 months, just need to scout around the contacts for a mig/tig call in a couple of favours and I'll belt out a few items I've had in prototype and drawing board.
 
Goldtarget said:
Stumbled into the right place at the right time today, picked up half a ute load of materials for future projects for a song.....Now I just need the gold gods to be kind. Got enough to keep me going on projects for the next 6 months, just need to scout around the contacts for a mig/tig call in a couple of favours and I'll belt out a few items I've had in prototype and drawing board.

This is the minimun standard i am expecting GT

1406589024_sluicebox-optimized.png


And lets not forget our legendary Master

1406589024_tonybeets-optimized.jpg

I LOVE YOU TONY..... :8 your my man crush :lol:
 
dwt said:
Goldtarget said:
Stumbled into the right place at the right time today, picked up half a ute load of materials for future projects for a song.....Now I just need the gold gods to be kind. Got enough to keep me going on projects for the next 6 months, just need to scout around the contacts for a mig/tig call in a couple of favours and I'll belt out a few items I've had in prototype and drawing board.

This is the minimun standard i am expecting GT

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/428/1406589024_sluicebox-optimized.png

And lets not forget our legendary Master

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/428/1406589024_tonybeets-optimized.jpg
I LOVE YOU TONY..... :8 your my man crush :lol:

"no drill, no dig"!!!! :cool:

for us its.."no sample, no sluice"!!! :cool:

my fav words I heard ever from gold rush were from the driller dude..."because people are lazy"! :cool:
 
One step at a time mate, I've seen the scale you build on. ... so I know your coming from the right place. It's not me you need to convince... haha... where did I put that tatts ticket?
 
The "Z" banker lives! I'm nearly ready to shed a tear. I've called her Lil Ugly Box, now prototyped dimensions recorded do a real test run tomorrow (I think the depth of the crash box is a bit small but I'm hoping to add a removable puddler). She's sporting removable (interchangable) spray bars, a tipable top, into classifying mesh, to expanded on aluminum, into vrib and ur gold hog mat, levels adjustable for maximizing flow rates, then out to the sluice where I have some ideas but for now is slick plate expanded over vrib, into custom riffles. I'm a proud father, can't wait to sort out any niggles and build her in earnest and put a sizeable sluice in and rip into the fields. Was thinking a side by side twin sluice like pictured above, any thoughts?
 
I find the difference of vortex powers and behaviors (displayed with coconut flakes) between the tail gate up and the tail gate down on a toy ute in a water tunnel very interesting when I think of custom riffles!
 
Goldtarget....thoughts on lil ugly box = mmmm drooling :).... must give pics on this please !!!!!
 

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