Beware of designs that straddle the belt and scoop from the surface. These samplers are infamous for producing consistantly fines-biased-low samples due to stratification on the belt.

Another alternative is cross-cut samplers that collect a section of the entire belt with a large swing arm. These units are expensive and have lots of moving parts (hydraulic system). They also require a substantial return system for the balance of the material (~30 inches-worth along the length of belt).

The most economical location is at the discharge end of the conveyor. GRSEI (www.GRSEI.com) has an integrated unit comprised of a head pulley cross cut primary sampler coupled with a two-stage splitter. ■