Setting up a sluice...



An easy set-up... plenty of water but not too much; a couple
flat rocks build in drop!



 　

How long does it take you to set up your sluice… so it’s actually working right?

We’ve experienced every problem imaginable: too much water, too little water, no drop, too much drop, flow fluctuation… it boils down to experience and knowing your equipment.

Now I could take from 15 minutes to 2 hours to properly set up a sluice… that’s because Bob usually takes care of it and I am virtually inexperienced. He usually takes about 15 minutes under almost any condition to get us up and running.

Here is Bob’s step-by-step on locating a sluice spot and setting up:

We let the deposit dictate location within 20-30 feet up or downstream. If you’re lucky enough to have drop, placement of bottom rocks and rocks under funnel help stabilize. The trick is to keep the end of the sluice just contacting the water. Sometimes that’s hard to achieve, resulting in flooding of last couple riffles. This requires more manual labor cleaning out tailings from end of box.

I usually throw a small shovel of fine gravels/sands to see if the box cleans out property and if it is level from side to side. Material should wash uniformly across the funnel and riffles. If you need more drop, raise the funnel if you can. Try to drop the bottom of the box as little as possible because it will create a larger load for tailings removal.

The box is in place… if water is low, slight channeling can easily divert flows into the box. Fill in around the funnel and put enough rock/dirt in front of funnel (level with funnel) to seal leaks under the funnel. If water is high, raise box with larger rocks and anchor. A couple of good-sized rocks where the funnel and box meet will keep the sluice box from drifting off! Allow water to continue leaks under and around funnel if you don’t need the extra flow. If creek is running strong, find an area where channel comes to a riffle for set-up.

That’s the word from Bob… happy sluicing!