Just hammer the equalizer/ swing frame pin back in and go to work so what's to keep it from happening again? Only works on TV
lol i saw that too. I guess they can swing a mean hammer in the klondike!
Its that easy to line back up? Wow I feel stupid. Tony Beets would have beat that pin in with his boot.
Maybe I should hire them next time one of mine comes apart. I suspect I might need to hire the editing crew as well.
On a different note I do believe that Volvo dumped some coin on the show. notice that almost everyone is running Volvo and if they are not the name is blacked out like the kommie pc400? also, they can cut the drama bull poo out, it's not necessary
Yea like the treacherous drive in the articulated trucks on the deteriorating roads. Lol. It looked like a piece of angle iron welded on the pin on the D10. I also love the little cartoon drawing that was wrong of what the pin holds. The track frame is not bending. Lol
Yeah he whole time I'm thinking its def not that easy.
Stop it. I'm laughing so hard my head hurts and my wife is looking at me like I've lost my mind.:falldownlaugh
How about the volvo getting stuck when he (slid off the road ) and pulling it with the front of the other truck in only 6" mud I thought these were off road truck's and that ice that was frozen in the dark turned to sloppy mud faster than any I've ever seen must be a real scary place to work
And why are you surprised your plants froze up when its 5 deg.
They Did, the dealership up there which I believe is Construction Machinery Industrial LLC with the them. The machines are all local contractor trade in's. Notice that the 400 had it's hitachi logo blacked out. Hitachi used to let them use their name but no longer (because the machines were old and always breaking, didn't look good for hitachi). So all of the miners get to use newer volvo equipment for free. Freddy Dodge owns the pc228 and the pc400. So wether most of them like volvo or not, it makes sense to use it, because they get them for free.
LOL, he's saving his boots for his dredge project, already used them to kick the siding off.
Hoping for a snowy winter around here so I can try sliding one of my excavators on ice to see if the engine revs up and down and sounds like a D10.
Construction Machinery International is a US company. The dealer they got most of the iron from is Great West Equipment, which is a Canadian dealer..........makes sense since they're in Canada.
No, It's CMI, when they were in alaska thats how they started. All the machines are from CMI, Ive talked to people that work there about it
Good one ! I like it.
Oh geez. They use that same revving sound effect for all the machines, it drives me nutz. They must have decel pedals in all the excavators. :beatsme
so jgibson, you all loaded up and chained down and headed north?
What? Lol
The best part of the new season is that the whole crew bailed on the Hoffmans. I can't figure out why anyone would follow that toolshed anywhere. With Freddy & Dave working together they have a shot.
Without having the serial prefix on the D10 , I believe that model had a detent ball and spring on the equalizer bar. . I liked the premiere this year better than the last years , they are gold mining right off the bat , Parker got gold as well as the Dodge boys. That along with the equipment keeps me interested in the show. Tony's cursing gets a little old , I have fired the F word myself but not about everything there is to f about. He probably can't even pour milk on his cheerios without firing an f bomb. Or is it his character.
I can't wait to see Tony's wife lay done the hammer "I need money", she is the boss.
I would not count Tony out just yet. Once he gets that behemoth moved and operating I bet that SOB will eat some ground 24-7.
I think that the dredge is just for the show to get him some show time with showing his huge operation he claimed to pay $1,000,000 for it but its been setting for what 30 years I think he is smarter than that he might have that much in it by the time he gets producing
opcorn
I saw stickers on the equipment that said Great West equipment
Is tony a huge player up there in the ground owning mining business?
they briefly showed his operation in a former show when parker went to the klondike to see how the big boys play all tony could say was drill drill drill
Parker is no newbie to the heavy equipment world, his family's company southeastern road builders is big enough to be chewing on 50 mil heavy highway jobs http://www.construction-today.com/index.php/sections/civil/1366-southeast-road-builders Running competition to Kiewit... http://juneauempire.com/stories/113006/loc_20061130004.shtml I think the gold is a sidebar hobby compared to the regular day in day out operations.
I seen that episode were his dad helped build a bridge. Hardline was asking about tony and the size of his operation
The Volvo equipment didn't show up until last season, and they were in Canada. The only operation in Alaska last season was Fred and Dustin's show. The equipment all has Great West Equipment stickers on it. I would say the people you talked to were feeding you a line. It would be pretty strange for a different dealer to slap their stickers on equipment that was sold by some one in a different country, and is even working out of their territory. Might be a bit different if they were in Great West's sales and service area, but that's not even the case.
I've run into Parker at Ritchie's auction in Edmonton. When he was there he was looking for a larger hoe. Don't know if he got anything as I didn't see home after that but he was there anyways. Fred was there at the same sale too looking around.
He did show up with a bigger hoe so maybe?
I sold a 365c to his dad but it was for SE Roadbuilders and never ended up on the show. Roger is a very good guy to work with.
i cant believe nobody mentioned how thin the rails appeared on that d10? is it ok to rev it up and down as soon as it starts when its ten degrees out?
I don't know enough about undercarriages to comment on the rails being worn but I thought the pads looked to be really thin to me???
The rails did look shot to me too. In some of the previews I could have sworn I see a d10r with a SS ripper.
Just watched the season premier tonight. Rails definatley look like they're getting down. If I remember right Parker put on a used set last year as they were stretched so bad he couldn't tighten them anymore. Was hoping the hoffmans would be gone but sad to see they're still back. There's enough drama and bs going on without them on there as it is.lol.. Parker was at a Dec. sale two years ago this Dec. that I saw him so it probably wouldn't have been the new volvo that he's running now. Talked to him beifly but a good friend of mine sat and talked with him for a good half a hour or so. Said he's just like any other contractor out there.
I love the show but lately don't like it as much. It seems the more detailed information is left out for fake drama. I have watched it since it first started. I keep waiting for more information on screen angles, water flow velocities, plant detail information but it is left out. No fuel usage information, running costs, or pay information is given. I was hoping Todd would explain why they took wheeled trucks into a swamp vs a tracked dump truck. How many times can we touch hard hats and huddle up. I am not sure if that's how you guys in Oregon do it, does not happen here in GA. Lol. I have also wondered why parker does not use pans to move dirt along with a dozer? I have never used a pan. Anyone have thoughts on that?
I like pans, but pans like dry hard haul roads not sure Alaska has them for more than 2 weeks a year. Also there is a lot of moisture in what I see them moving usually. I do however thing some cat and cans would help, but they are slower on a long haul and are more specialized than the rock trucks that are using. What they don't show you is their tailings management, if your only removing one ounce from every ton, every ton you haul in, you haul back.
Georgia Iron, Oddly enough most people are still unaware of tracked dumpers and given the prevalent mentality in earthmoving most would always prefer large behemoth wheeled machines as they can go like blazes while destroying the landscape. A tracked dumper happily snowshoeing over soft ground at five or six miles an hour just doesn't give these testosterone junkies the fix they need to keep banging those hard hats togethers, LOL! Oh, I guess the two Hoffmans will have to do that by themselves this year as I see their crew has wisely abandoned them. As for pans or scrapers instead of dozers, if you watch what happens with the temperature changes the ground goes from having to rip it before pushing it off, to mush you have to sort of squeegee along so I'm guessing you wouldn't get much productivity out or pans or scrapers, but I am not a gold miner and do not play one on television!
there are some motor scrapers in some of the shots in the series thats just been shown in the UK ,and they look to have been in use recently too
I hate seeing the trucks half loaded. I get you want to keep spillage to a minimum when hauling gold material, but come on put some more dirt on those trucks. Especially if its just moving overburden. Fill those trucks up.
So, you know they aren't in Alaska, right? As for the tailings, they let the water from the washing, wash the gravel away into their ponds. They don't haul it back to the cut.
ok so they are actually in the Yukon. I still don't think that water alone will move are the tailings away from the de-rocker and any gravels over 3" all the way to where they need to go. The real fortune up there may be the washed gravel left behind as a bi product of the mining.
I would mine with Todd any day, any season, and be proud!
When I hear haul, I think trucks. From the derocker, you can watch them cleaning the oversize out with the loader, but they will only be stockpiling it off to the side somewhere. From the plants like Parker is running, they don't haul anything away. They simply let the fines wash away, and any oversize gets dumped off the end of the rejects conveyor into the old cut. Every once in a while, they will push the pile with the loader, but they don't haul it away. Now, when Retodd and Joke start washing with the plant they will pull out of thin air, they will likely dump the gold bearing material in the pond, and try running the rejects through their plant. That's just a guess based on their previous performance....LOL.
I'm just waiting for Todd to go back to Parker and try to get big blue or what ever it was called back again. I often wondered a bit about the tailings too. Fred used to haul back with the loader and I believe Parker did as sell when he was in Alaska. Big money spent to do the reclamation work. If it weren't for discovery or the people filming which is apparently owned by discovery now I don't think they'd be able to survive. At 10-20 bucks a yard I can't see them making money.
What I would like to know is who in the hell was advising Retodd to go the the jungle when he had one of the best wash plants in the Klondike, and further more I never heard anything about Parker buying it.Last season Parker was just going to lease it. If I'm wrong let me know.
Who do these IDIOTS at Discovery think are watching this show????? I'm watching the show right now, Todd is crying, "Not enough horsepower!!!" with a 980 loader. Then appears to shift down and drive it out. Is he so retarded he didn't realize he wasn't in low gear or is it more stupid drama?
A little from column A, a little from column B......LOL.
So I guess pushing the travel pedals on a EX400 is like pumping the gas pedal to get it started? Good lord!
He was trying to unload the pumps, not sure about that particular model but I have seen it help if the starter was dragging. That didn't seem to be the case though, lol
With the pilot safety lever up, he is doing absolutely nothing but being a tool.
Well, that was a given, LOL!
Poor Thurber didn't have a hard hat when they touched hats , he had to use a ball cap. Last weeks show was decent , they actually got gold , this week , well it showed once again the genius the Hoffman crew are.
The Hoffman's took a deal from the devil I believe, they went to the broker that got them the mine in the jungle, this could be a good show but Discovery ruins it with there version of drama, the real day to day drama would be better than the made up stuff. I don't think Todd and Jack are dumb, just being paid well to look the part. If they were me or you and things went as bad on a job as it did in the jungle would you be able to get your equipment home? Half way across town would be tough let alone across different continent's.
Please don't let those idiots color your opinion of oregonians. A friend of mine met a guy that was on the show with them the first couple of seasons, he said the "mining" just got in the way of the filming.
I've worked around mining and milling from time to time so I'm no stranger to it. My opinion is that I'd work for Parker even though he takes some risks, but that could just be the way the show is filmed. Tony? No way!! I won't work for a hothead!! Jack and Toad? Nope! Jack by himself might not be too bad but toss Toad into the mix???
Or better yet how did Tony get a million bucks to buy that antique dredge, but not enough money from his wife to buy the crane ??????????
You know how that is. He bought and asked for forgiveness. Then when he needed more toys she cracked the whip. Or is that just my life??? Lol
On the pin on D10, it didn't look like they did anything to stop it from coming back out again? Volvo must be paying or supplying something because Parker just happened to borrow Fred's excavator. They way they tear stuff up, why would anyone loan out their machines. Mind you, Fred seems about the roughest on equipment. Good advertising for Volvo... until it has a major breakdown,
He spent his piggy bank on the old dredge, had to ask Minnie for some sugar bowl money for the rough terrain crane!
Todd rules!
NOW That Is FUNNY !!! ……. needed a good laughing thought on this crappy day today !
Todd has had some bad luck for sure. He thought he was going to strike it rich in the jungle. He can't keep burning money on bad moves. The deal he just took seemed like real hard terms. He has a big hill to climb right from the start, if you factor in the jungle losses, he is in a big hole. All in all Todd seems like a good guy. I would go run a machine up there for him. Seems like a great adventure. I do not think I would get rich unless discovery pays out big. Parker will not last too much longer in the Klondike, I have a feeling girl crazy will hit sooner or later! Seems like slim pickins up there.
Tony's bark must not be as bad as Minnie's bite. She shut his arse down at the auction. The mighty Viking cowl led down. The show has potential , or I like it , just not the unpractical things like " I don't have enough horsepower " then all the sudden it does. Like I said before seeing the gold totals keeps my interest. Parker is on par to get 2000 ozs if he keeps it up.
I think Parker's wash plant belongs to Freddy Doge and Parker leases it
You forget that parker is very loyal to his family, and he is part of a 3rd generation multi million dollar established excavation company. Look back at my earlier post concerning south eastern road builders. Is Parker on the hunt, probably, but there are 9 months out of the year when your not hunting gold for chasing women...
I think given the TV exposure he's had and being painted driven, successful, listens to his Mom, gets along with Dad, and will go to the end of the world for his Granddad that all he has to do is stand still for a minute, the wimmen will be lined up to take a turn. Hell yeah I'm jealous!
despite being painted Parker's family has left him a big shoe to fill, hes gonna need a lot a luck to keep the family tradition going forward. i admire Todd because despite his nasty tripps he hasnt given up. from my perspective the people that fall the hardest, usually climb the highest
What?! everybody takes risks, if they dont they dont move forward. financial or mental im sure they all got somthing? education isnt cheap
"You must always push the limits because if you never fail, you can never succeed!" from a No Fear poster.
I can't believe what I just witnessed. Todd goes begging to Dave and it turns into Todd demanding half a mil from Dave. Does anyone else think that was pretty bold??
The whole show is BS. It gets more unbelievable every year.
I only wanna know one thing since I haven't watched it. Does Dave go back to Todd? I hope not.
'Course he does. Why would he stay with the Dodges and actually make money?
Yeah I know what you mean lol. They do have a lot of over dramatization that's for sure.
Shows up with a whole fleet. Maybe now Todd will be satisfied making a living and not trying to retire in one year. I wonder how much they paid the other crew to leave that claim. If its HALF as good as they were making it out to be last night no one in there right mind would have just up and left.
Dave's Todd's b****
No, Dave is Discovery channels B****. Freddy said Dave was only working for "wages" at the Dodge site. Why the hell would Dave leave a prosperous family owned aggregate company to live in a trailer in the Klondike as an hourly worker? Simple, he wants to be on TV and does what DC tells him to.
Point taken
Wait till Todd drops the bomb on Dave that there paying 20% royalty after 100 oz of gold .
The value of each person's share will drop due to the royalty and so will their attitude. More drama..... oh boy!
Yea, because only on "Gold Rush" do people spend $500K to buy into a partnership with out looking at what the assets and liabilities are. I can hear it now:
When Todd said $500K my response would be: "Get the **** out of here,do not come back!" Todd has been a stupid SOB since day one. Inherited trait from his Dad's side. Such is TV programs.
Pretty good move on Dave's dad, lease a bunch of equipment, give to Dave to use, write off against quarry.
I doubt Dave's dad has anything to do with it. DC probably wrote the family a check just to shoot that 5min segment and they were done.
did you notice it was all volvo but the dozer. probley wasn't a very big check I wonder how many computer geek's are running around up there trying to keep them going.
They're keeping strongco and great west equipment is buisness anyways lol. I've always equated this show to a car wreck you can't help but look as you go by lol.
I don't understand why they run service trucks without cranes, or I am missing them, so much more productive on repairs and maintenance, ?
Probably because not much on a 9 or 10 you can handle with a cherry picker. Screen plants I would agree but then again they have excavator right there.
I heard the two of them are going to be replacements on the WE networks "Tamar and Vince". Todd will be the fat guy, and Dave the broad
I hate parker. He thinks hes alot better than he is. Big headed. Theres a reason hes mining and not doing civil and that's because hes no good on a machine
I agree Parker is a pretty arrogant but he is young and has a lot to learn about leadership. He still has plenty of time to grow up. As for operating equipment, how many 18-19y/o kids do you know that could walk in and make a living as an operator? Most kids I know of that age can barely remember to put pickles on a Cheeseburger.
Most kids I know of that age can barely remember to put pickles on a Cheeseburger. That's a good one
I think the directors cut and paste to create the charectors they want you to see as well. When I met parker he really did seem like a decent guy. Seemed like every other contractor I've met at the auctions.
I am 19, making a living as an operator so i know how it is
What went with Parkers Grand pa and the Dekota boys ?
Parker recently posted on Facebook that his Grandpa is cancer free. So that's great news in my books. The Dakota boys opted out of the show when Discovery wouldn't pay them in line with what the other crews were getting paid. They hired their own film crews to document their season, and have chosen the name of Gold Blooded for the show, which should air next year.
I realize most of the drama is scripted , but my question would be do they actually make a profit? Parker's mom fussed at him over a bill for 10 grand , he's pulled over half a mill so far in the series. I like the show, most interesting part is the totals they come up with. One more interesting or it is to me would be when the dredge gets cranked up. I try not to pay to much attention to the fake engine noises , Todd , Jack etc. I would like to know where Freddy Dodge is on his totals , as far as I know that's not been on the show.
Here is a good explanation for the Dakota boys http://starcasm.net/archives/281566
It makes no sense to me why they would have anything to do with Todd if it cost them $12,000,000 plus what they paid the minors for basically nothing but a lot of failure. I think it was Parker who "borrowed" an excavator from the Dakota's which would indicate Volvo or a dealer is supplying equipment for the show? Parker did over a million last year and can't be suffering too much, he's driving a Raptor and they don't come cheap. Tony Beets and co. are the new crew with a lot more coverage this season. I wonder if all the crews are paid the same by Discovery and what it's based on? Even $8000 an episode seems like pretty good money but I guess it depends on what the script is for the show?
Thanks guys I enjoy reading about it here more than watching the beeping mess.
Even with all the B.S. I like the show. I would suppose the general public would not be interested in such things as coverage of pm maintainance , greasing schedules, daily fuel cost, insurance financing ect. They do throw out some rounded figures. Either up and down . The easiest way to get a loan is having collateral, so apparently some of Parker,s equipment is paid out. He is putting it on the line with money he hasn't made yet, ah yes the American Dream. From personal experience , reality show or not, this is real life.
I would bet that Parker could have called or went to a dealer and bought the D10 even before talking to his parents. They might have called his dad but it would be a done deal. Or his dad's company bought it , refurbished it in they're shop and then it went to the mine. At any rate Parker has resources most of us don't. That being said , the little pecker wood seems like a worker , and as long as he really is covering his expenses let the show go on. As far as maintenance , the regular joe on the street don't change they're car oils so they could probably care less about the machinery. My guess , with such a short season , they most likely ready everything prior to start up and that's probably it till it freezes up. I would wonder how much fuel they go through daily , and just because all that Volvo equipment is there , are they using it or is it a prop/ plug for Volvo? Maybe they will make a deliverance version where Tony has Todd's fat a** bent over making him squeal like a pig.
Ha. Your funny!
My guess is the folks being there was legitimate. The sham scene where his mom is crabbing about paying bills was probably just fake drama. Real reason for trip was more than likely legals or bank papers for the 10 purchase. If Parker's really doing this on his own, he would have to be signing something for a $300,000 purchase. Dad was probably along to look the situation over and make sure that Parker really did need another plowhorse.
They claim his Mom takes care of his finances and as such, will have the signing authority for his company. So he probably wouldn't need to sign anything. That being said, to pay $300,000 for a D10N, and an old one at that, sounds a bit ridiculous. Since the whole thing is scripted, I don't know what a guy really can believe and what a guy has to call as bull right off the bat. Hell, I wouldn't doubt the dozer came from his Dad's company to begin with. If I were him, for that kind of money, I would have gone for a D11.
I had to hook up my f250 4x4 to an unloaded tandem dump that had got stuck in some loose gravel. My ford managed to help get it out but it felt like I was pulling on dead weight. When I had to do this I thought about the show and just shook my head.
I think it depends on what kind of shape the D10N was in. We get the show a little later here but it must have some serious mods to be putting out 700 H.P. like they said. Unless Dave had something really heavy and small in the back of his truck, I don't think it would weigh 8000 lbs. either.
I highly doubt it was putting out anywhere near 700 hp, or weighed anywhere near 75 tons as they claimed. I think it's a case of the producers embellishing a little.......ok, a lot. $300,000 for a 25 year old D10N is a whole lot more than that machine is worth in my opinion.
The HP quoted is high, but I don't believe they were very far off on weight. A little research shows the ripper weighs 10,000 lbs, and the tractor Parker bought has a dual tilt U-blade which weighs 24,500 lbs (6500 lbs more than the standard blade). Add all the ice picks on the pads, with a standard tractor weighing 126,000 lbs, that tractor could weigh 144,000 lbs. Not too far off. Also, I can't believe that a D10 in Alaska will be comparable in price to one down here in the states. Factor everything up, adding the ice picks, transportation, the machine was painted up nice, possibly a dealer refurbish (not factory reconditioned) I don't think they embellished too much. Just my opinion though.
I thought similar, it looked like it had a new u/c , if the power train was refurbished and the interior freshened I could see it costing that. Cheaper than a new one. If it was a CCR it would have had the finger tip controls I think.
Yeah, it had clutches. I saw that right away.
The hp is high, and the weight is definitely too high. Even if it came in at 144,000 lbs, that's still only 72 tons. 13 tons shy of the weight they quoted. I have a feeling they looked up D10, and saw the original D10, at 700 hp and a weight that would have been right around the 85 to 90 ton range and just used that. As for the cost, $300 is still too high in my opinion. The average price for a D10N in that age is a little more than half of that. Now, like you said, it may have had a degree of rebuilding, but that's still a lot for a 1989 D10N. As for the cost of a dozer in Alaska, it doesn't really apply, since they are in Canada. Yes, buying a local machine would be more costly, but I think they are playing on that a bit here. If you look on machinery trader (yes, I know you can't take the prices there as the final word) the highest listed price for a D10N other than the two listed in China is $241,000, and most seem to run in the 150 to 200 range. Even if it were a Cat Certified Rebuild, it would still have the same control setup. Retrofitting the finger tip controls in would not be part of the certified rebuild. Keep in mind, the D10N is a very basic machine, with few electronics on board, and it would require a fairly large amount of work to add finger tips I would imagine.
I don't want to get in a pissing match here, but Parker is a US resident, and if he's buying a dozer, probably going buy it from the states (maybe not, I'm just speculating). Either way, I couldn't believe there is a hell of a lot of price difference Alaska vs. Canada.
I know, I don't want a pissing match either, but it wouldn't make much sense to go through all the extra hoops to bring it in from the US. That's why most of their equipment that was sourced from Volvo has Canadian dealer stickers on it. I'm only pointing out that they are in Canada, because so many people actually think they are in Alaska.
I think if it was completely refurbished $300K might be reasonable considering the cost of new one. A sandblast and paint job on a D10 is probably close to $10,000. Some of the cost could have been for trucking too but we don't where it came from. It's also possible the show embellished the selling price or it was purchased from his dads company. That could certainly explain why it was big deal owing $10,000 but not a big deal to borrow $300K more? I think Discovery purposely doesn't mention how big a company Southeast Road Builders is. Parker isn't driving a Raptor because he can't pay his bills.
I noticed that 60K Raptor in the first show of the season..... you will also notice blue ovals on most of their ground transportation equipment.
Ford isn't supplying vehicles or they would be making sure you see the Ford name every 10 seconds.
Watching now and they said Cheese man plowed snow at age 6 in a 53 ton D6, Like to see the blade on that to get that heavy, they kill the show with all the misinformation.
I guessing they meant 1953 D6. :beatsme
Sure is a lot of Fords driving around though.:yup
Haha 53ton d6 lol
Maybe they got the 6 upside down ** D9 LOL
Polaris is getting some air time too.
This is one of those shows that makes you feel good on the inside because you know that you can go up there and do better than they can. From the way the people are characterized there's a grand total of two people I would hire. Oh well...
Great conversation in here from what I've read. Yeah, I noticed the 53 ton D6 comment too. I was just in one of those a couple weeks ago, and unless the whole machine was filled with lead, I don't think there is any way to make a D6 weigh 106,000 pounds. On another note, I notice some strange things about the show that I want to run by you guys. First of all, has anyone else noticed how the numbers/appearances of machines and vehicles seem to change during various clips of the show? For example, if I remember correctly, I once saw at least 3 and maybe 4 rock trucks supposedly belonging to Parker in one clip. But I thought he was supposed to only have 2 rock trucks? And then, the grille on his Ford Raptor mysteriously changed during one clip. For most of the times we see that truck, it has the standard grille, but one time, it seemed to have a billet grille replacement. Very strange. Anyways, from my perspective, the equipment they are using on the show seems to be too small for their needs. In particular, the rock trucks Parker and Todd are using have very limited capacity in terms of cubic yards. Right now, the largest rock truck sold by Volvo, the A40GFS has a 32.3 cubic yard capacity, a 43 ton payload capacity, and a 35 mile per hour max speed. Compare that to a Cat 770 off-highway truck: it has a 32.8 cubic yard capacity, a 40 ton max payload, and a top speed of 46.5 miles per hour. And that's the smallest model made: if you go up a couple sizes to the 777G, it has a 98 ton payload, almost 84 cubic yards of bed capacity, and 41.7 mile per hour max forward speed. Parker's biggest problem seems to be his cycle times, and by upgrading to a slightly larger, higher capacity truck made for that kind of mining work, he could really improve the amount of pay going to the plant. The main reason I bring this up is because Tony appears to be running 777G size trucks at his mine. Although the show hasn't displayed that much footage of his mining operation, I do vividly remember a large older model Cat off-highway truck being driven by one of his workers at the site. But I digress: I guess it's more fun for the show if things don't make complete sense.
I don;t think the could keep a small haul truck up, They try haul in muck. they need roads and those guys cant build a dog house. I think discovery even brings in there camp and cooks ... I bet they eat there too,,,, I would be lol But there excavators keep getting bigger lol so haul trucks need to haul it away quicker too. so more A40 S or something bigger needed.
Yeah, they would need a better/wider haul road for an off highway truck, but they really need that for what they have currently. And like you said, the excavators are pretty large compared to those small trucks, so something will have to change soon enough.
Before Parker bought the dozer in the show he tore up the water line with it. Anyone notice that? It's all in the editing. I don't think a regular haul truck would work for them. They need the 46 ton john Deere or 50 ton bell ATD's.
Yeah, I do remember that. One of those timely mistakes that works perfect for television lol. The haul truck might not work for them, but the one factor I'm taking into consideration is size. A haul truck is shorter than a rock truck (with greater capacity), and only slightly wider. So what the haul truck would lose in width, it would gain in maneuverability because of it's size. The previously mentioned A40G is almost 37 feet long while the Cat 772G is about 29 feet long and carries more at a faster top speed. Now as for the Bell truck: looks like a good model, but what's their parts network like? Are there any Bell dealers up north?
I think I can explain the different grill in Parker's pick up. This is a picture I found on Facebook, that supposedly shows Parker's truck in a slightly beat up state. I would guess that the new grill came with the repairs. Tony's trucks are older 769 models, so you're only looking at a 35 ton truck. He hasn't got anything as big as a 777. The biggest issue with not using a rigid frame truck is most likely that Volvo doesn't currently offer one. That may change with the purchase of the Terex truck line, but for now, the A40 is the largest they offer. Volvo is a major sponsor of the show, so they get first crack at putting iron into there, and Discovery goes along with it because of the cheap pricing. Another note that others have mentioned, is that a rigid frame truck is better suited to good roads, and they don't have those. Tony's operation has decent roads, but he's also a whole lot more established than they are at the other spreads. So, without the good roads to run the trucks on, you wouldn't get the speed out of them. For what they are doing, the A40 is plenty big enough. The key is that they need to set their cuts up properly, and make the most of their equipment. Right now, they seem to be more in semi retirement mode than anything. One more point, is that if they brought in more, or larger equipment, they would have a harder time inserting the false drama into the show about how they can't keep up. As for the Bell trucks, I think it comes down to the sponsorship deal like I was saying, and also that I don't think there is much of a dealer network for them in the area. I know how you feel, I have had a lot of similar thoughts on the way they are doing things. I know for certain that I'd be doing things differently than they are if I was running up there. I'd sure like to put a couple rigid trucks in and see how it goes. But I'd also like to have a grader keeping the roads up, even if it was only part time. At the very least, I'd have a Be-Ge type drag scraper to help with the roads.
Ok, the truck thing makes sense now. I could believe that picture cause his driving seems to be suspect at best. I also see what you're saying with Tony and the road thing. Something like a 16M on those roads would really make things better, but they aren't very focused on roads or safety at this point. I'm sure Tony is running some older Cat graders on his fleet, but then again, he is way more established and more focused on long-term profitability instead of instant success. Anyone know how Volvo got the sponsorship deal worked out? That's some pretty good publicity for them.
Todd Hoffman is the creator of the show and I think he is the smart one here, there up there mining, making money every which way, Jerusalem Mining is Todd,s company, Discovery give him a paycheck "400.000" a season, Jack gets "300.000", I'm sure most are for wages, equipment sponsors I'm sure!. Any one of us would let Discovery make an ass of us for that kind of paycheck, I'll bet Tony and Dave are on being compensated, Freddy is getting all kinds of advertisement for MSI.
Todd rules
I'm pretty sure I saw what looked like a volvo grader (of course) at parkers site in the background a couple times. It was not running.
Tony had a 16g in one episode. He loads with a 245 too.
I didn't see the 16G, but I definitely saw the 245. That thing is a legend!
They were pulling with it when they were taking the dredge apart. Can't remember what it was tho. Spent a lot of time in a 245 with a shear they are beast for sure.
Now I remember, yeah, that was something like a 16G, but I don't remember the number. As for the 2-Series, yeah, I stood next to one a few weeks ago, and it is so solid, it's pretty incredible. It's really amazing that they even still work, and yet they work well!
The show is the show. I catch it on youtube when I remember around Tuesday or Wednesday. This type of show is always better before everyone goes all 'hollywood'. I'm getting awful sick of watching tony rig and lift every-ting with fgukcing transport chain. That **** will get someone killed.
These people have a GOLD MINE , get it ?
Secretly hoping todd hoffman makes a serious comeback. Packers doing well just not a hugh fan of his cockyness. Love tony beets but skip through his dredge bs atm as its boring.
Wonder if they added the pickup wreck after everyone started noticing the different grilles??
I'm hoping Todd get bit by a rabid dog and then contracts ebola. Did you see the little fit he threw when the truck drivers wanted to complain about the unsafe road? The same guys he made wade in the piraña creek last year while he sat nice and dry with his fat ass on the shore. The guys a douche
Just watched another episode last night. Tonys poor dozer, that thing looks beat on. Grouser pads broken off and crap.
Guys have to understand the price for any kind of equipment up there is tenfold of what it is in the lower 48. Even old equipment. I'm not saying im no expert, but when people are commenting on the old equipment, hey, it gets the job done still. I find the show very interesting myself, last year not so much when they were down in south america. Never cared to even watch that half of the episodes.
Anyone have any rough idea/ guess what it Costs Per yard to shift overburdened like in Todds mine a mile with two a40s and a 700 loading?
Well, direct costs or overall? If that was a bid job for me, I'd probably look for $5/yd³?? So, would probably try and move it for no more than $2? Rough enough?
I had a look to c what u guys are talking about and man did I laugh and people say us Aussies are nuts. Hey shimmy u wanna give a job I think is high time I had a look overseas I wanna come over and experience a different way of doing things
Not sure I could afford ya.
Yes thanks shimmy so I guess that haul isn't that bad if the ground had more gold lol
Okay on two dollars a yard I figure there operating costs about 10 to 11 thousand a day operating costs. That sound about right?
If they are reading this I hope I'm at least close. I just kind if ballparked it, between the hoe and the trucks they're burning probably 60 gal/hr of fuel, throw in a set of teeth for the hoe per week, add 50% for the Canada factor, you have about $7000 per day direct cost. I was figuring 3500 yds per day. Wasn't figuring anything else because I have zero experience with a hoe of that size or wiggle wagons. Just kind of assumed $3/yd³ should be acceptable for overhead costs and profit taking. Like I said, you asked for rough, and nobody else is stepping up.
Thanks shimmy I'm just curious as to the whole process and any input is good. I'm just wonder what is considered the break even point per yard. To figure out if it's cheaper to move the plant or truck it. Also I wonder what it costs to run the loader wash plant and pump. When I seen the new pickups and now the ground isn't what they were hoping for its got me curious as to if they will even break even for this season.
Well, I'm going to make a call here, probably WAY out in space, but I would not be surprised if they go back to the slop hole Dave was working on a month back. It's had time to thaw, they might just be able to pump the water out, and go to work. The whole drama thing, Dave is not stupid, I don't believe he would have wasted that time, energy, and $$$MONEY$$$ for nothing. Also, what if they have been losing gold like parker was? I saw a sliver of a clip that showed another, longer, single sluice running down the side of the main sluice. Wonder what that's about??
don't forget in all the brain storming that drama sell's. they did say something about 300yd per hr to the wash plant but who know's if that's just drama talk
That trough comes off the nugget trap at the end of the screen deck. The idea is to catch the heavier nuggets that are too big to pass through the screen media they are using. Not sure how that one was working out, since one of the clips I have seen is Dave tearing it out with a hoe.
Yea Shimmy I reckon ur math is pretty well spot on its a bit hard for me to comment on the out her side of the world with the dollar value difference and converting imperial to metric but I reckon ur spot on. Oh buy the way Im cheap not free but cheap alwase said I would go anywhere have passport and game enough to try. Why not give it a whirl?
Wow what geniuses! The drivers apparently almost have a head on collision, which Todd totally dismisses, and they come up with building a second road, one to haul and one to return. Now I see why they get the big bucks.:notworthy Then Parker claims he was almost broke last year. Somehow, I think his term for broke with his family having millions is a little different than us mere mortals term for broke.
I like how they built the second road, but it looks like a slalom course. Bad corners with loose fill and no berms. They are asking to tip one over the way they drive. Trucks don't haul much when they are laying on their side.
Those trucks don't haul much when they are full either.
If parker is leasing his excavators i feel sorry for the poor buggers that own them, those pins are so ridiculously worn out! No wonder they put noises over the real sound of the excavators we'd probably go deaf from the squeaking
Did you notice Tony lifting the box of 3/4"-1" bolts, nuts and washers into the back of his truck ? Airbox for the camera ?
Yea I noticed that must be the water up north must have a natural steroid or something in it lol
Even my girlfriend was like I don't think there is 2000 bolts in that box. bleeping bolts must be lighter than grade 8s haha
Always thought those Viking dudes were strong.
Anyone else notice the 800 Hitachi on the hoffman crew? Wonder what the story was there..
No telling , the only thing , Jack loved the old 400 so much he might have got enough gold to buy the 800 , so he could love it twice as much. The Hoffmans still look like idiots , they're at 400 plus oz half way , Tony and Parker pulled 160oz in a week. That is if you can believe what the program shows.
Problem is they're chasing. Haven't got into the good stuff yet. I'm starting to feel for these guys a little bit. They're pounding the yardage through, just not much gold in it. Everytime they try someplace different, it's either froze, too wet, or too cheap. Hope they find some good ground soon. I think if the ground they have been washing would be as good as Parker's, they might be over 500 by now.
I like the quote from the guy up the road giving Toad advice... " We are all here because we are all not there"
Haha yeah i noticed the 800 too. Hoffman crew would probably still be my favourite tied with beets. Hoffman crew will start hauling ass... Watch this space
If you go back to last year, it took parker half the season to figure out what he had and where to dig......AND he got 300 oz. in the last week or so to get to 1000. With the setup that Todd and Dave have, I wouldn't be surprised that if they get rolling on some fat ground, they could get couple hundred oz. per week, too. They'll get 1000. As for Parker's situation with Tony, have to say I can't find much wrong with Tony's request to get all the gold. Parker just cleaned up the bedrock the wrong way. He should have used the smooth bucket first, then for "Tony's test" went back and dug with the teeth. Furthermore, this is at least the second time Tony and Parker have been at odds over how to mine. Last year, he paid tony off to mine his way. I won't disagree the point the Tony might be taking advantage a bit to show Parker who's the boss, but Parker can't just ladle the gravy off either.
you need to remember its TV so the truth will rarely raise its head
He needed to have a clause written into his contract to have him in control of what he does: seems like a simple fix
Wonder if the Hoffman's finally had enough of the Volvo and decided to bring in a real hoe.
I'm not sure what is better, the show or reading these posts!
I didn't see a Komatsu on the show?:beatsme
Yikes! I said a hoe, not a teeter-totter. :avid
Dave was running a Komatsu for Freddie Dodge at the start of the season. Maybe it`s broke down somewhere.
Freddie Dodge is a sharp guy.
You guys know that the entire show is scripted? Even down to their crashes and everything.
Thetabop, What gave it away ?
So, thinking like a writer, they'll probably have Dave and Todd get 1050 or so, looking for 2000 next year, and Parker 1800 or so, and be pissed so next year he's gonna be looking for revenge? Can't wait.
……. HaHa !!! ………. " Arm Chair Gold Miners and Equipment Experts !!! " ………. LMFAO …...
Hey did the hoffmans get a couple dousons excavators because I saw 2 red excavators they were using and the sure didn't look like hitaches excavators or im I seeing things mitch
I think those are Hitachis. Are you referring to the last couple episodes? Looks like a super big Hitachi to me.
Just the last episodes thanks mitch
I was asleep in my chair when gold rush came on Friday and thought there was a forklift backing through my house (beep beep beep beep) guess Tony Beeps was talkin
Where did all this extra equipment come from that Hoffmanns have. Another d9n big hitachi, just wish they would explain it. I know it's a TV show and crap but they talk about breaking a million dollars in gold. That won't cover the cost of their equipment let alone fuel and other running expenses
I am kind of with you on this , if you get 1.2 million in gold , spend 1 million to get it split 2 hundred grand 4 ways , where's the fun in that? If you generated a million on top of expenses now that's a different story. My biggest question is exactly how much fuel per day or week are they going thru? Another , are they getting a discounted rate on the Volvo equipment for the advertising perks? Like said before , it is a show , but there is a reality part to it , they have to make some sort of money or there is no sense in mining. Notice as well you only see a glimpse of Tony Beets mine , the dredge is his star , but if it hits some serious money I bet the content from it will be taken out considerably. All these guys are already millionaires any way. Turin & Sons have a large construction business , Tony Beets has mined enough gold to retire several people as well as the Schnables , Todd and Jack are making a living out of disparity , just barely making it on the show only to collect over half million a year for acting like idiots.
Roles of a lifetime for those two
I'd rather be Dave, Freddy, Tony, ANYONE other than Todd or Jack no matter how much money I had.
"I'd rather be Dave, Freddy, Tony, ANYONE other than Todd or Jack no matter how much money I had. " Amen to that! I think Tony "Beeps" enjoys himself more than the others.
Gender aside, out of all of them I would rather be Minnie! :tong
Need a job? Parker just posted this on his Facebook page: Parker Schnabel 4 hrs · Hi everyone. We are looking to add to our crew. We are in need of a very experienced excavator/loader/dozer operator. Ideally you have at least 5,000 hours of seat time in big excavators doing bulk excavation. Better be ready to work and serious inquires only. Email your résumé/list of qualifications plus an explanation of why you're the right person for the job to: [email protected]
Hmmm ??? ….. Me Thinks I saw Parker going through my Home Town Today Heading North on Hwy 97 !!! ….. What caught my Attention was the New Bright Red Ford Raptor with an Alaska Plate …. by the time of day it was ……he would be in and about Prince George, B.C. Tonight !!!
This thread has gone back and forth for months with some interesting and often comical views. With all the hype you see on the show, the one thing that stands out to me, is that, at the end of every season, the crews are able to show every ounce of gold they mined for the season. There's a whole lot more money being exchanged than we know about. That's reality TV. Who can forget Parker showing Grandpa John his 1000+ ounces at the end of last year. I guess he didn't have to sell a bit of it. Doesn't work that way for me, but, I'm not worthy of a TV show either.
2grit.. I have was thinking the same. They got to make the gold for that whatever or they are going to shut down.. Todd not having any $$ to run. Next show new $65,000 jacked up Ram.
The gold tallies at the end in the jars are fake I assume. Parker gives up 15% to tony up to 1500 ounces and 20% after that. Tony aint gona give the gold back I don't think.lol.. Todd gave up gold to get the wash plant and 100 ounces minimum to the claim owner plus his royalty to the claim owner. So it's physically impossible to keep every ounce of gold that you find. Least that's the way that I see it. Course being reality tv the whole darn thing could be made up.lol..
. Course being reality tv the whole darn thing could be made up.lol..[/QUOTE] This is probably the most honest thing said about "reality" TV.
I think a better title would.... Really? TV
Todd may have let something slip or is possibly just misleading himself. On the last episode of the dirt he said he owned the claim. Maybe he bought it with the millions of gold he's about to find lol.
I watch Gold Rush and I actually look forward to it. During the summer I am lucky if I see 5 minutes of boob tube a week 9 months out of the year. In the winter I watch a bit more 2 or 3 hrs a week depending on how motivated I feel. I look at it this way, what would you rather watch heavy equipment working in the dirt the way God intended or Godless hippies playing butt crack mount??? The kids and I watch it and pick out safety violations and how and why to not do something. AND when something is done correctly that is also pointed out and it was done correctly.
I have a love/hate relationship with Gold Rush. I love the equipment, love to see how they process the material, love to watch each crew work in their own ways. Hate the show forced drama, the sound edits- last I checked an excavator doesn't sound or rev up and down like a truck from the seventies with a Detroit, but the thing I hate the most is the "surprise reactions" when something "breaks" like a bottom on a D10 is wore out, they didn't know it was wearing out? Or the fact it was close to the end of its life, really?? That may work for folks who know nothing about equipment, but I find it hard to swallow the fact that the thing was worn and would be well known it would need attention sooner than later. Stuff like that makes these guys look dumb and ignorant, when there's no way they are. Either way I'll keep watching, I've always loved equipment, weather it was running it or watching it, if this was on when I was a kid it woulda been the only thing I watched....
I get a real kick out of how he's on the newer D10N when he supposedly hears the squeaking, but the older machine when he pulls into the yard and they look at the worn out undercarriage. It's so staged, it's not even funny.
Yup it's stuff like that, that sure makes you wonder. Could be cut and pasted on the editing floor too I supose but most likely it's scripted. The fact that the rails just mysterioiusly wore through though is obviously bs. Wonder how many applications parkers gotten for his job opening.lol.. Tough to find someone I bet with over 5,000 hours experience that wants to go and live in the yukon for fame and glory.lol..
I love how when he needed a loan to buy the that dozer it was 300,000 tat last episode it was only a 180,000 dollar dozer. Or did I catch that wrong?
Two different dozers I think, the old one they put a used set of tracks on last season? One would kind of assume that the one he just bought somebody would have thought to look at the bushings, his Dad if nobody else?
Back when they delivered it, if I'm not mis-remembering, I thought the rails looked pretty fresh. I could also believe that the interest in the show would not be much less without all the fake drama and BS. My 5 year old doesn't care at all, though. He'd watch it if it was worse than a B-movie.
Must be the only 700 hp D10 N around, they are usually 520hp.
To quote Scrubpuller: Yair, we discussed that at length up thread. Cheers. (Hope I don't make him mad.) Discussion starts at post #112.
My 6 year old is in the same boat.. He loves it and the Bush People after. I thinks its all good its all scripted but there is a lot worse stuff on TV. I cold do with out the bad language he is 6.
The foul language does get old , I've been known to fire a few in certain situations but not every sentence. Even Tony's daughter curses like a sailor. Parkers rail problem shouldn't be an issue since he has over 2 mill in gold this far. Best part of the show is when they start dumping the gold on the scales. There's a lot of mistakes in the scripting , but its a decent show. The bush people get on my nerves with the fake accent and being so remote they seem to have what ever they need when they need it. Gas , chainsaws , guns , ammo , bananas , apples are a few.
This will creep you out http://www.psmag.com/nature-and-technology/opting-papa-pilgrim-lure-grid-wilderness-living-77108 A few parallels there
I like how the 700 lost it's pilot pump, so they lost all that production on the overburden side by having to use a 460 to replace it. But they couldn't keep up with the 460, and didn't have enough pay dirt exposed, so they had to shut down the plant when they ran out of pay dirt. I wonder if anybody told them the loader that feeds the plant could actually load overburden while the plant is down, and help them get caught up stripping?
Did anyone see the grader sitting at Parker's site? I thought the same thing about when the 700 broke. Plenty of other machines to back it up.
The Volvos aren't looking to good , Parker has one down and Toad has one down , so they used the dozer to push up. I wonder why Parker didn't use one or both the 10s to strip the overburden.
Because they are just stupid . The show is really starting to old with the stuff they do. A bunch of diaper school dropouts could do better !!!!!!!!
Yeah, last night Freddy Dodge had an o-ring blow on his excavator stick, the camera showed a close up and there was only 1/2 of the flange clamp, probably took the other half off to make it happen LOL, drama for the uneducated
I don't get a lot of what happens on the show. Parker wants to buy land for 2 million but when the land is done your out the two million. Pay tony beats to use his land it still makes more sense to me. You don't find gold you don't pay! The ass clowns with Todd found all that gold in one day but couldn't do it all season *** sounds like a set up to me!
Tony's beeping Titanic beeping sinks on its beeping maden voyage beep beep
Another thing who the hell would pay one million dollars for that dredge?!?!
I'am betting that thats a little more than he has in it once ( and if )it gets to producing gold
When you think about it though... with the price of gold gone down from before... the dredge is a good idea... there are no excavators trucks.. cats... way less fuel... wear and tear.. less costs for the same amount of gold. Anyways though... I still prefer watching yukon gold.
CMI is true, a crew of blasters and a slew of rock trucks {Volvo** and a Hitachi 1800 are in kodiak finishing up a granite job then heading north, they are all leased and will be returning to the show. The machines are well cared for. I Hauled the buckets for the 1800 and man o man the move the dirt and granite!!!!
we need pics
Yeah, apparently clamping a plate over the manhole on those tanks and putting a little pressure in each one to test them never occured to any of those geniuses....
Someone must have torn one of the new sealing washers on the bolts holding the pontoons together.
It looked like Jack asses prayers were getting answered, it was cold and brown when they were cleaning the machines to go home, then the order for 300 more ounces came in and it was sunny and the trees were green in up, I might switch to Jack asses religion.
Is this considered cyber bullying to the Hoffman's? Any way , I like the way the Dodge brothers are doing it. 3 different grades of gold. 3 machines and it looked like 4 total workers. They don't have to get near as much to make twice as much. Of course they're dozer had issues. I would hate to buy a dozer from any of them. Never seen so many shot undercarriage issues. They act like it just happened in the last few hours. The rails on Dodges D8 must have 6 to 7 thousand hours to get that worn.
I used to sell undercarriage, it was funny how often panic would set in about getting track chains, rollers, etc. I used to tell them "undercarriage is never an emergency, it's just like tires, you look at it every day and you know how badly worn it is... just because you want to believe you don't have to spend that money "just yet" doesn't make it an emergency for your dealer. And this was quite often after having measured an undercarriage more than once, with the last previous showing well over 100% of rated wear. Usually went something like they had pulled it into the shop to work on a final drive, and having pressure washed it and split the track... WOW!. LOL I have to wonder on the CAT's though, like the Dodge's D8 looked like System one track with pretty good links, how much the cold temps affect the pin seals. I mean really, if the seals hold up you should wear the links out before you see that kind of stretch. The rotating bushing concept was supposed to let you run the track links to end of life without having to turn the bushings due to external wear from the sprocket.
That was a great line for the salesmen to use, for the first sale. Funny how after a year or so I never heard much about that again.
I've read this thread from the beginning and haven't said much as I don't really care, but OBVIOUSLY this show is produced for entertainment purposes. If it showed perfect production with 100% efficiency it would be boring to watch and then no one would watch it and no one would talk about it. Cut the guys some slack and just enjoy the show for what it is, none of us are perfect and we all make mistakes.
What this equals is like woman watching a soap opera then going to the salon to give who ever on the soap opera hell. I think of it like a guys type soap opera. All this discussion most likely adds to the popularity. I'm a diehard , Friday night at 9 I'm in my chair with a cold beer watching gold rush. I do hope there is some truth to the fact that they are producing those amounts off gold. Last show Dave seemed to be reading off a tele prompt. I hope it comes back for many more seasons. I don't think Todd is the idiot he portrays. I wish they would reopen the glory hole.
Tried not to offend anyone, they are all there working and doing there best, the editors need a little tweaking, I think praying for gold is, well not cool. Praying for a safe work day would be more respected. Overworked
I wasn't offended nor was any of my comment directed towards anyone in particular, I just find it intriguing that people will watch a show that they don't like.
Yep, I tend to get on the soap box, but I am also there watching each week.
:falldownlaughI don't think Todd is the idiot he portrays..[/QUOTE] That's a good un Dickjr
When i seen Parker's guys hit the excavator bucket together when *the Season was over* I thought to my self if those guys where my employees doing that i would fire their asses on the spot! Man they are hard on those machines.
Naw, it looked pretty gentle to me, especially compared to ramming into frozen ground. Just boys being boys. :my2c
would be good for parkers lot to actually fit the safety pin in the quick hitch on the volvo before someone gets killed
man that 475 is a big dozer...
Yes it is , but there is another one.
Komatsu has ( or had) a 575, not sure if it's still in production.
It depends on who you talk to as to the availability of the 575. I had asked a Komatsu engineer at minexpo or conexpo, I don't remember which, and he said it would no longer be actively marketed, but they would still build one of you wanted it. Then I had a guy from Australia tell me quite emphatically that they were discontinuing the 575 and it doesn't matter if you want to order any number, they won't be available. I don't know who to believe.
I only remember seeing that 475 just that one time the whole season? Wonder why it only showed up for a 3 minute clip in there.
"Someone else" owned it and was letting Team Hoffman "borrow it".
When I worked for SMS Equipment, I asked our mining salesman the same question. He told me that yes in fact Komatsu would build you a 575, but you had to commit to 6 machines and pay up front or something to that effect. It has been a few years now, I'm sure that it has changed as I'd bet there would be a thread here showing off the new iron at some mine site.
There was an article in the Komatsu news letter over here about 2 yrs ago that showed a new 575 being delivered to a gold mine in West Australlia so they must still be available.
I would like to see Parker start dating Monica. That would be a real soap opera. But sadly Tony would probably go to jail for murder.
Eh, she'd snap him like a twig, lol. He's probably got some lined up back in Haines, yeah?
There was a young woman in some of his Instagram pictures with him...
If the young lady I have seen in pictures with him is indeed his girlfriend, he really be downgrading by going to Monica.
Aye, but can the other lass run a hoe? :tong
Well it's that time of the year again. Time for the show that makes me annoyed every time I watch it, but yet I dvr it every week. I see the producers still think a 460cl Volvo cost $160k and has the engine of a 70's d9. They will say d10 this d10 that, but never give reference to the 2 different komstsu dozers shown. One being a d475a-5 and the other looks like a d475a-2?
It is hard for me to believe that D10 started right up, like they showed, after it and it's batteries set through a whole winter of -30 to -50 below temperatures. I need to find out what brand of batteries they are using. Jeff
Not just the batteries. The rails and grouser bars on Parker and the Hoffman`s dozer sure looked better than what they were when they parked them last season. The new Esco bucket on Todd`s 460. The generator is new on the Hoffmns screen plant. Last years I think was an MQ. This one was tagged SWP- South West Products. They put them together here in town. The Volvo skid steer with the forks looks a bit new and I think the Volvo loader the girl in Parkers crew was running looks like a newer series. Just what I thought from the first show.
I remember I think it was late last season they made a big deal about the fact the Komatsu dozer they brought in was supposedly the biggest machine up there, but its still quite a bit smaller then a D11 right?
They have a d11n now too. I can't tell how many dozers they have 4-5?
I like the show despite the playing up equipment etc. The one thing that would turn me on the show if the gold totals were fake. That's the reason I watch it to see how much they get. I have picked up small gold bars and for the size they are heavy. I think the 475 is about the size of a 10. The 575 is the largest dozer I know of but they normally are dropped and ran till there's nothing left. They never talk about cost per yard to harvest the gold. As far as the dredge goes , looks like you would still need to strip overburden to get to the gravel, but I see the advantage in it. We shall see.
Whole time thru last seasons dismantling of the dredge, I'm saying one mullion doolars....could have fabbed up brand new for that money. No wasted time tearing down, and stick one of Freddy dodges wash plants on it (if they are in fact superior).
Anything would probably be superior to a trommel and sluice design that old. As to overburden, I'm sure it will go out the back as easy as the spoils from the pay streak.
Wow. Almost two months since someone updated this thread. I'll bite. I wish they would at least TRY and keep stuff in chronological order. The scene tonight with Todd and Parker clearly shows the big Hitachi with the brand new Esco bucket that has been loading trucks for weeks. Really guys? Maybe I just notice the little things. Also, they're fighting the Mammoth mud. Why can't they blend some better gravel with it to push it through?
I literally yelled that exact thing at the TV tonight...... The stuff out of order irritates me as well. Tonight episode shows Parker driving in a new-ish chevy (can't mistake those rear view mirrors) then he gets where he's going and hopes out of the raptor.....
Do you guys actually believe Tony paid a million for that dredge, or is that made up TV stuff?
I hope not , but I bet he will have a million in it by the time they get it running right. My guess he paid scrap price per pound on what it weighed.
I think he said he had a Million invested. I still think that's hard to believe but to break it down and reassemble it you would have some major expense.
I thought he owned the claim it was on? Didn't he own the claim that dip**** Todd mined a few seasons back?
I think they said the dredge weighed 350 tons. That's about $1.43/lb. Not sure if it had a bunch of new electrical installed as well. It's such a joke on all these shows how they have to cover the brand of machine and everybody knows what it is anyway. I understand Volvo is supplying equipment but when you see Hitachi and Komatsu hoes for example, you wonder if maybe the Volvo's just don't measure up. It's obviously scripted. How could Tony be so adamant about kicking Parker off his claim and then miraculously Parker has a clause with Gene. If this was true, Gene would have known and would have had to get a release from Parker before even considering the job.
That was pretty convenient that Gene had that clause in his contract. I don't blame him or anybody else for not wanting to work for that punk Parker. Hoping he gets his ass kicked one of these episodes for the way he runs his mouth to his crew.
That could be scripted too to make him look like a tyrant. Parker wouldn't be anywhere without his family's backing. Yea he's made a lot of money gold mining but his dad is the one who backed him up in the beginning when he needed a guarantee. I think the show really tries to down play how big a company South East Roadbuilders is. I like Parkers grandpa but I suspect it's just for the show he's still driving at 95/96. A lot of shows could be better if they just showed what actually goes on instead of thinking they have to enhance them to make them more appealing. Tony has a bunch of older equipment that seems to be in pretty good shape. It would be interesting if they did features on some of the equipment the miners are using like the old D9 or the 245. I'd guess Volvo wouldn't allow it though.
Tony's equipment is trashed. Have you ever seen one shot of an excavator that doesn't have the bucket flopping all over the place? Couple shots of Gene in that 8 at the dredge showed a cab that was trashed as well. I believe Tony is good at making money by running old equipment to destruction. JMO.
Parker dropped some coin on that 10t too. I noticed the bucket too. Also thought it was hard to believe tony would go that long before he checked the tailings for gold too.
I quit watching the show, I can't stand the needless drama :Banghead
I noticed the bucket on Parker's 700 was flopping around pretty good too when Rick was running it. We're almost a month behind on episodes up here but have watched a few on YouTube. Tony had a newer volvo 290? Lifting on the one episode. Can't remember what they were lifting but they had the bucket off and a lifting hook attached. There's lots of things going on behind the scenes that they don't show. All they show is what they want to tell the story they want to tell.
Quite frightening how there is never a safety pin in the quickhitch (pin grabber)
Like most miners in the yukon or alaska we run the equipment till it dies if we get it cheap or its already not feasible to rebuild/maintain properly. Sometimes a 245 cats pop up for 15k, you run them into the ground for 2-3 years and then scrap or part them out. Financially you come out ahead instead of owning a newer hoe, no depreciation, easier to fix in the field (no bs computers), and your neighbor is more likely to have the same old as dirt machine you have for parts. But newer hoes are much nicer to operate and dont drink as much diesel. Some miners will run a d8k or other like machine until the final drive completely falls off, or transmission chews itself to death, etc.... Seen it happen all the time. But there are also plenty of miners who take very good care of there older machines, much better care than some contractors in town. As for the washplant on the old bucketline, they are perfectly fine washplants, and plenty of miners today are actually running trommels that came off the old dredges. Shakers like Todd and Parker are running are only suited for that kind of ground there in, as soon as you get out of the easy gravel you have to run a derocker or trommel. Or keep plenty of spare screen around. I can't believe they are running all those conveyors. Most miners keep the amount of conveyors down to 1 tailings and sometimes 1 feed one from a feeder. Through friends that are involved in leasing some of the equipment from past seasons, they get product placement stuff all the time, a considerable sum of money for each episode, the gold totals are fictionalized sometimes, and cheap to free leasing on some of the equipment (*cough*volvo). And that new supercut bs would be almost impossible to make much money on because they have to truck the dirt a long damn ways. They have to be making a lot of money from discovery to cover there asses on the poor excavation and site setup they do. Your plant needs to be able to be moved within 1 day, easily by 2 or 3 guys too. Unless you are in a special spot where you only need to set it up once a year. And that tailings screw was a good example of there stupidity, every mine I have been to and worked with has 1 loader that feed and pulls tailings away. For example a mine I used to haul in spare parts for there excavator was running a 988, that fed there hopper, and pulled the fine tailings away a small distance. They were running 200 yards an hour. Worked fine for them, no need for 10 conveyors, a radial stacker, or sand screw. They had a d9h that would push there oversize tailings pile out every day, along with push the fine tailings farther out into the old cut. Sweet setup they only had 4 operators running the whole mine, no need for todds small town of people and family.
Who cares ! It is obvious that it works on the human mind , curiosity . I would like to see these episodes filmed and see what gets edited . These shows are praying on stupidity .Viewers are supplying .
I guess I'm stupid because I watch it. Its better than watching Caitlyn Jenner or some other dumber crap. It is TV anyway.
I hate the fake drama, but I don't think there are enough of us clowns that live and breathe dirt and heavy equipment to keep the show going if it was completely real.
$275,000 Canadian Dollars to be exact. This is exactly why I had an issue with them claiming he paid $300,000 for a D10N last year, and that that was too much money.
Could one that had been a full-rebuild Cat reman cost that much?
The 10n sure didn't look like a cat reman unit. Didn't look like new tracks either just a paint job, maybe new power train? They must have exaggerated or something. I don't keep up on prices but 275k doesn't sound bad for that t model?
What does everyone think about the Hoffman's D11 oil pan fix?
Must be some good silicone. Looked more like an epoxy. I don't see how it could work. Why didn't the ace mechanic take the pan off and weld it? I don't know if they are cast or aluminum or even stamped metal but any could be welded I would think.
They smeared the stuff where the front section bolts to the rear like the gasket was leaking, not cracked. That stuff never worked for me, maybe the bolts were loose. At least I would have taken time to shovel out the belly pan while it was down LOL
What no Duct tape?
I wonder what kind of life hey are getting out of undercarrages in all that sand? Probably not good.
The old-style joint between the two halves of the oil pan was just a set of bolts and silicone sealer. Even if the bolts are correctly tightened there is usually enough movement to fret and break the silicone bond resulting in a leak. Now there are two dowels in the joint plus a composite metal/silicone seal. What's the betting that oil pan is the old design..?
That pan didn't look like it was leaking that much at all!!
I'm willing to bet it was fake. Create some bs drama about their main machine going down. I was expecting them to buy Parkers d10. And what happened to the d475? Never see it anymore.
It was on loan last season so maybe it went back.
i call BS , he is driving it and all the sudden he jumps out and and says its leaking . to see it leaking from where he was it would have had to drop all of the oil at once.. i record the show that way i can fast forward thru the stupid stuff with out listening to it.
Yeah he wouldn't have noticed it leaking until the low oil light/low oil pressure light came on. And if it was a legit crack the size they said it would be they couldn't have walked it a quarter mile to camp.... I dont have a dvr but from the quick glance they showed I believe it was a cast aluminum pan. Don't quote me on that though. And not shoveling out the belly pan! Some ace mechanic they have!
Yep, I figured if this was a worrisome leak they would have a rod thru the block while walking it back.
Yup, that. And then to think that smearing some RTV on a flat oily surface will prevent the leak from continuing?
Canada has 4 new episodes on tonight. They showed the new d10t so I went looking for it and sure enough my suspicions were confirmed. He bought it April 28 for 275,000. Factor in trucking and a bit if work I'm sure he's be pushing the 300 k mark. Just looked back and there was one more from the same company that sold for 220. Guess maybe we can give them the benefit of the doubt this time. Lol. Lot 2649 and 2650 Edmonton Ritchie's auction. On my phone so I didn't take time to look at the condition of either. I've net him there at the auctions before so I had a sneaking suspicion that's where he picked it up. Hours were 30,000 and 28,500
Probably old mine machines so they probably weren't in too bad of shape either.
I was wondering the same thing. Never see it on the show anymore.
I don't understand why these people always "walk" a piece of equipment back to the maintenance yard for repairs. The mechanics have trucks, don't they? We just had an operator try to "walk" a D11T to a maintenance yard that had a low oil pressure alarm going off due to one of the oil filters not being tightened. Guess what happened? Engine locked up after he ran all the oil out onto the ground. If he just would have shut it down, someone could have tightened the filter, filled with oil, and the machine could have been back in production. This is also not figuring in accelerated undercarriage wear tramming these machine great distances.
Nige, haven't you posted a pic before of a "lowboy" they use in the mine to move crawlers around? Here are a couple I found. Probably not going to see them up in the Klondike, but they are out there. How about this? https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=497708523697723&id=217765281692050
No doubt! Last night, they shut down my wheel dozer, and took the operator to out her on a truck. Then they walked a D11 for almost 8km to send it to me and fill in for the wheel dozer. Why they didn't just take the guy off the D11 and put him on truck I can't figure out. I mean, not only did I lose one of the best looking women in the mine, but I ended up with one of the laziest dozer operators to boot!
Sometimes you can not get your truck to the machine, but you can walk the machine a 100 feet to where the truck can get to it though. And we used to rent machines to miners in petersville, that required a 25 mile walk in and 25 mile walk out every season, unless you coughed up the big money for the guy with an old offroad kenworth with a oilfield trailer. He was 300$ an hour, pretty penny at 10 mph or less. Its pretty common for miners to walk there machines a long ways, usually dozers and wheeled stuff though, not many excavators. A mine I was dropping parts off at walked there old 235 2-3 miles a day .
The mine does have several of these trailers. The D11T with the engine failure was working in an area this rig could not reach. These rigs are used for bringing equipment to the main shop from the pit.
The quarry where I worked the longest distance from anyplace to the shop is maybe 1/2 mile so if a machine was driveable it would almost always go to shop for repairs or service. But I tried had to convince operators who suspected any problem to not try to get to the shop unless I could look at the machine first to understand what the real problem was with it. More than once an operator would not do this. Like the time a 769C Cat truck was making a "strange noise" and driver decides to go to the shop, almost made it! Split the 3408 right in half when the rod came out the side and fell on the ground!
Yep, I can see that happening. If the machine is making a noise, suspend operation in a safe spot and wait for a mechanic to arrive!
The only good thing about that one is the Cat dealer had not too long back done an overhaul on that motor and they took the fall for it claiming it was a failure of one or more of the new rod bearings. So all we really lost was the down-time while they replaced the engine. But still if it had been shut down at the first sign of a strange noise the damage would have been much less and possibly easier to determine the cause.
The first thing I would do if I found out I had an oil leak is pull the stick, if I had an idiot lite I would shut it off first. I'd fire a guy who either just kept running it or ran it very far. Makes a difference if you pay the bills
Kshansen, aren't the usual suspects when a rod ventilates the block a rod, wrist pin, or piston failure? I have seen a few rotating failures, of the half a dozen or so, if the rod comes out the side, the crank doesn't look completely destroyed. Of the three rod bearing failures I've seen, none of them shed the rod off the crank. I'm sure things are a little more violent on these big boys, maybe what I've seen doesn't necessarily apply?
Well we were not going to argue with Cat about the cause as they were taking the blame. One thing I do recall is the crank, despite some serious dents, did not show signs of getting hot like I would expect with a bearing failure.
Don't blame you one bit. Probably $75K hit the ground that day.
WOW. Who do they think they're trying to fool?? 380 oz?? I've seen pans with 150 that looked bigger than that. No wonder they aren't using jars anymore.