15x30 - Worth Their Weight in Gold

[bunniefuu]

[narrator] On this
Gold Rush...

[engine starting]

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Start your engines

as we reveal the ultimate
in gold mining machines.

This is some freaking
big iron, man.

[narrator] What takes
the title
of toughest of the tough?

Holy [bleep].

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] And which
is the top dirt
digging master?

This thing is pimp!

[Rick] Dude,
that is one Frankenstein
machine right there.

[narrator] From heavyweight
powerhouse...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] ...to undisputed
hero of haulage.

-Go, go, go. Don't stop.
-[honking]

[narrator] We pit iron
against iron...

In a full throttle faceoff...

This thing is [bleep] massive.

[narrator]
...to finally crown one.

We're just gonna see
who comes out ahead.

[narrator] ...as the supreme
gold mining machine.

-[man] I'm just so excited,
I could just piss my pants.
-[laughing]

[opening theme music playing]

[narrator] First
in the ring...

a showdown
in the battle to be...

the master dirt digger.

[woman] More power!

[narrator] From the mini
to the mighty.

This thing is [bleep] massive.

[narrator] The excavators'
earth crunching
and super scooping power,

put them in a digging league
of their own.

So much [bleep] dirt.

-I'm ready. Mitch, you ready?
-[Mitch] Let's do it.

[narrator] In 2019...

-[Mitch] Now get
to [bleep] work.
-[laughing]

[narrator] The 480
is Parker Schnabel's
go-to hoe.

Its bucket can dig over
three tons of dirt
in every scoop.

That's quite a bit to do here
in a short period of time.

[narrator] But to dig a new
settling pond
in just three days,

the 480 isn't cutting it.

I just don't know how
we're gonna get all that done.

[Parker]
This is [bleep] frustrating.

It'd be nice
if we had more manpower.

[narrator] And a new contender
steps up.

[dramatic music playing]

[Brennan] Holy [bleep].

This is the 750, like one
of the newest hoes out.

It's got a big bucket
and a lot of power behind it.

So it's really gonna help us
move a lot of dirt.

[Brennan]
[bleep] look at the size
of that [bleep] thing.

The bucket is massive.

[Mitch] Holy [bleep].

[chuckling]

[Parker] It's big.

[Mitch] I wasn't expecting
something like this. [bleep]

Thank you, boss.

Get those ponies a diggin'.

[narrator] The 750's bucket

ups the ante at over
twice the size of the 480.

Digging eight and a half
tons of dirt
in a single scoop.

My [bleep].

When we said we needed help
down here, I didn't think that

he was gonna go spend
this kind of money.

Holy [bleep].

This thing is [bleep] pimp!

[Mitch over radio] It's almost
depressing over here,

watching just how far
you've gotten
and how far I've gotten.

It's unreal.

You sleeping over there?

[laughing]

[narrator] With a maximum


the 750 makes
short work of the pond.

[Brennan] [bleep] yeah!
Burn Pond is done.

Whoo!

[Mitch] Come on, baby.

-[Parker] [bleep] yeah, boys!
-You liking that?

-[Parker] Oh, yeah!
-She's way bigger
than the last one.

[Parker] Yeah, man.

It wouldn't have happened
without the 750, man.

You could have hired
five more people

and it wouldn't make up
for what that 750 can do.

It's unbelievable.

-It's an unreal hoe, huh?
-Oh, man.

[narrator] But even the 750
is small fry...

compared to the mega toy

Tony Beets buys in 2021.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The 950 is taller
than a semi-truck.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] With a boom arm
as long as a school bus,

clocking in at 45 feet.

[Tony speaking]

[upbeat music playing]

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Its bucket
is a third bigger than a 750's

and rated to ten tons,

the weight of five cars.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Unleashed
on Paradise Hill...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] ...Tony's
new gold digger
hits pay dirt in record time.

[Monica] We've hit gravel
and hay in the back.

Yippee ki-yay.

[narrator] Confirming the 950
as the dirt digging master.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Now,
it's a head to head
to discover...

It is show time!

-Fire it up!
-[Brennan] Go!

[narrator] ...which
out of the biggest,
baddest wash plants,

has delivered
the all-time career
best haul to take the title.

Greatest gold catcher.

We're washing rocks, baby!

Yee-haw!

Our season starts now!

-[Mitch] Here we go!
-[Parker] Time to make
some money!

[narrator]
These monster machines...

[Rick] Oh,
that's nice and smooth, man.

[narrator]
...come in two main types.

Rotating trommels.

[narrator]
And vibrating shaker decks.

[Mitch] Here we go!
The shaker deck's shaking!

Time to throw
some dirt at it.

[narrator] And they all have
just one job.

Washing pay dirt
to catch tons of gold.

[narrator] At Paradise Hill,

Tony Beets swears
by his old school


spinning for 35 years.

[Mike] Hey, it spins.

Oh, yeah!

[narrator] Gold bearing
pay dirt
is fed into the barrel

at up to 350 yards per hour.

The big rocks
fall out the back.

And the fine material passes
into the sluices below

where the gold is caught.

[bleep] going in there faster
than we can almost [bleep]
bring it to her.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator]
In the past five years,

the trommel has pulled
in over 16,230 ounces of gold.

-Crank it up!
-Yeah!

[machine whirring]

[Rick] She's shaking!

[Parker] We just got
to hunker in
and keep feeding it, huh?

[narrator] Rick and Parker
put their faith in shakers.

Pay dirt is fed
to the plant.

A vibrating deck bounces
rocks out onto the waste pile.

Water blasts gold bearing
fine material

through holes in the screen
deck to the sluices below

where the heavier gold
sinks and settles.

Sounds [bleep] awesome.

[narrator] The half
million dollar
jewel in Rick's crown

is Monster Red.

This massive


[Rick] [bleep] yeah!

[narrator] ...blasts
of water per minute

into its 9.5 ton shaker deck.

It washes 300 yards
of pay dirt an hour

and catches the gold
in a 38-foot-long sluice box.

Well, that's 100 ounces
right there
out of Monster Red.

[narrator] Since he first
fired it up in 2019...

[Rick] Feast your eyes.

[all exclaiming]

[narrator] ...Monster Red
has banked
Rick 2,078 ounces of gold.

That's what dreams
are made of.

[Parker] It's nice
to be washing rocks again.

He's cranking
through the dirt right now.

[narrator] But Parker raises
the bar with his $600,000
custom built shaker.

Sluicifer!

It's time to make some money.

[narrator]
Sluicifer is ultra-compact
and portable,

built on skids

so it can be moved closer
to the pay.

It has an incline shaker deck,
a tilting conveyor.

Crank that [bleep] up.

[narrator] ...can run up
to 250 yards
of pay dirt per hour.

And catches the gold in
two 14-by-10 foot sluices.

It levels itself.

It can feed another
tailings conveyor
in a heartbeat.

The sluice runs
are super easy to clean up.

It's perfect in every way.

[narrator]
Since it was built in 2016,

Sluicifer's hauled in
over 28,000 ounces of gold.

Whoa!

In my mind,
this is the best wash plant...

that I've ever seen.

[narrator] But in 2022,

Parker goes searching
for shaker deck perfection.

-Hey, Jeff.
-How's it going, man?

[Parker] Good.

[narrator] With wash plant
expert, Jeff Turnell.

[Parker]
With those sluice runs
on skids like that

and them being
two separate pieces,

it's going to move
like super easy.

[narrator] To research
and design

an all new
cutting-edge plan.

Good job, man.

We better get on
building a real one.

[narrator] Parker's brand new
million-dollar
shaker, Rocksand,

boasts self-leveling skids
on the shaker

and the sluices.

It runs 250 yards
of pay an hour,

but the sluice box
is 22 by 27 feet wide,

the biggest Parker owns.

[honking]

[Mitch] There she is.

[Parker] Oh, yeah.

Let's do it!

[machinery whirring]

[Parker] Impressive.

[Mitch] Yeah, that's perfect.

It's a nice setup.
I like the plant,

and there's always gonna
be a few quirks to work out,
but I like it so far.

So we got 200 in that pan,
and then we got another 253.8.

[bleep]

[Parker] That's nuts.

[narrator] When Rocksand
was fired up in the final
month of the 2023 season,

it banked


Over 700 ounces in one week.

That's a hell of a result.

[narrator]
Rocksand is still a rookie.

And yet to prove itself.

But a surprise veteran

is about to grab
the gold-catching glory.

[narrator] In the hotly
fought contest
of the greatest gold catcher,

we can finally
reveal the winner.

[machinery whirring]

A 12-year-old underdog,

battle worn veteran,
Big Red.

[Rick] Red and I go back
a long ways.

We're both old and rusty.

[narrator] It can only sluice


and has sluices
four feet narrower
than Rocksand.

But this old timer
just keeps on shaking.

[Nona] I love Big Red.
She does her job very well.

[narrator] Over the course
of 11 seasons,

Big Red's
unrivaled reliability

means it has hauled
in an astonishing


Wow!

-Well done!
-[man] That's unreal!

[Brennan] Good job, partner.

[Mitch] Yeah,
that's pretty good.

[Rick]
Big Red just crunching it.

[narrator] Worth over
$74,400,000.

You're joking, right?

[Nona] If all of us could do
our job like Big Red,

we'd would be superheroes.

[narrator] Securing trusty,
rusty Big Red's place

as champion
of the gold catchers.

-Cheers, guys!
-[all cheering]

[Nona] Best year ever!

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] To move millions
of tons of dirt,

miners need power.

[narrator] And dozers
bring the power A-game.

These ripping and stripping
monsters use brute strength

to shift mountains of muck.

Whoo! [bleep] yeah!

[narrator] But in a battle
of the heavy weights, which...

[Mitch on radio]
Look at the size
of that dozer.

[narrator] ...is the ultimate
powerhouse
of the Klondike?

[Parker]
When it comes to ripping,

it's just
about how much weight
and traction you've got.

[narrator] The D11
is the strongest dozer
in Parker and Tony's fleets.

[narrator]
Its monster ripper shank
hits the ground

with 1500 times more force
than a jackhammer.

A V12 engine
delivers 850 horsepower...

and more torque
than an Abrams tank...

allowing it to rip
through concrete,
hard permafrost like butter

before its blade
clears 45 tons
of overburden in each push.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] But in 2021...

[Rick] [bleep] steep.

But that channel
looks clear as day.

[narrator] Rick Ness needs
even more muscle

when he discovers
a 3,000-ounce gold streak
worth $5 million.

But it's buried 200 feet deep
and winter is closing in.

We're looking at, you know,
over a million yards

of overburden
that has to be moved.

-[laughs]
-You know?

-Wow, that's a lot.
-It really is.

I think it's doable.
I think I'm ready
to pull the trigger on this.

[narrator] To hit
his buried treasure fast,

Rick brings in the most
powerful dozer in the Yukon.

The 475.

[Rick] I've dropped
a half a million dollars

on the biggest dozer
money can buy.

This dozer
is obnoxiously big.

[narrator] The 120-ton giant

packs two
six-cylinder engines

generating 900 horsepower,

enough to move the weight
of 20 Humvees in each push.

[Rick]
They call it the Rally Valley.

They're calling it that
because by the time
we're done here,

it's gonna be
one hell of a valley.

[engine starts]

The one deadly weapon
we have this year
is this 475.

I mean, [bleep]
this thing push mountains
and rip mountains.

This thing's worth its weight
in gold for what we got to do.

[narrator] Five weeks later...

[Rick] Well, that's it.
Rally Valley's
open for business.

[narrator] ...Rick's
moved enough dirt
to fill Madison Square Garden.

Twice.

[Rick] It's go time.

[narrator]
Uncovering the richest
pay dirt of Rick's career.

[Rick]
Oh, that's a good sound.

-[man 1 chuckles]
-[man 2] That is.

No!

That is by far the biggest
gold total for a week.

It's almost 400 ounces.

Thank you so much,

big, strong, handsome dozer.
I couldn't do without you.

[narrator] We've crowned
king of the diggers
and the boss of power.

But there's one
adaptable machine,
unacclaimed,

that holds the title.

[crew member] Light her up
with some dirt, Tyson.

Yes, sir.

[narrator]
Most versatile player.

I sure do enjoy being
in a [bleep]
loader over a truck.

Hell, yeah.

[narrator] A machine
that combines speed,
power and precision,

as well as being a surprising
savior for miners.

[crew member] Whoa!
Look at the bucket
on that bad boy!

[narrator] The loader.

Blowing the plant!
Yeah! Whoo!

[laughing]

[narrator] It's main task?

Feeding gold rich pay dirt
to the wash plant.

I mean, this is about
as important as it gets.

All of our gold's
coming out of that wash plant,
so you gotta run it right.

[narrator] And clearing away
the waste tailings.

A 220 has a 10-ton bucket

equal to the largest
excavator bucket in the Yukon,

controlled
with pinpoint accuracy.

It's just finding a rhythm,
you know what I mean?

You come up here
and fill the hopper.

Go get a scoop
of coarse tailings.

Dump them off the rail.

Carefully move yourself
into the fine tailings
without getting stuck.

[narrator] Its articulated
steering

pivots between axles
for extra maneuverability,

and it's ten times faster
than an excavator.

But it's when
disaster strikes...

[Mike] [bleep]

[narrator] ...that all
of the loader's abilities
come into play.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] 2022.

Tony Beets has to right
a 25-ton wash plant,

then get it
back on its trailer

on a narrow,
inaccessible mountain road.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony needs
a machine
with maneuverability,

power and precision.

[Mike] What's
your plan, Dad?

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] His solution?

Two loaders that prove
why they're gold mining's
most versatile player.

[narrator] The two loaders
use a combined 805 horsepower

to carefully pull
the plant upright.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Next, Tony brings
the loader's precision
into play

for a maneuver
back onto the trailer

that has to be perfect.

[epic instrumental music]

[narrator] We're handing out
the top titles

for the ultimate machines
of mining.

[bleep] sick!

[narrator] And next,
the toughest machine
on site...

[man] Holy, man! Unreal!

[narrator] ...dozers,
excavators, and loaders

are all built to withstand
a battering.

[Parker] Big problems
require big machines.

[narrator] But leading
the pack by a country mile,

there's an all-terrain vehicle
that can take a smack down
and just keep on trucking.

Oh, [bleep]!

[narrator] Enter
the rock truck.

[Parker] Dude, these things
have some ba*ls.

Yeah, I'm pretty impressed
so far.

[narrator] The toughest
of the tough.

Go, go, go, go, go!

[brakes screeching]

[gasps]

-[Parker] Sorry.
-What the [bleep] was that?

That's why you put
your [bleep] seatbelt on.

Haul about 27 yards a load,

and that means
we gotta truck 400 loads
in 12 hours.

[narrator]
Trucking out mountains
of worthless overburden...

[siren blaring]

[narrator] ...and delivering
gold-rich pay to the plant,

the 400-horsepower A40
can handle a 40-ton payload

packing in 30 cubic yards
of dirt in every haul.

Each of its six wheels
has an internal planetary
gear system increasing torque,

meaning it can handle
the roughest terrain.

We got a lot of dirt to move.

[narrator] And the secret
sauce of this hearty


An articulation joint
lets the cab and trailer
move and rotate independently.

[tense instrumental music]

[crashing]

[narrator] So,
when disaster strikes
and the box tips over...

the cab stays safely upright.

Hey, hey, hey!

See something new every day.

When we roll it back over,
the truck rolled that way,

so we have to bring it back
this way.

-Yeah.
-If this thing starts twisting
too much or we lose it,

we're gonna snap
those hydraulic lines off.

[epic instrumental music]

Guys, watch out!
When this thing hammers down,
[bleep] might go flying.

Here she comes!

[narrator] Back on six wheels
and all in one piece...

Nicely done.

[narrator] ...it's straight
back to work

for the undisputed
toughest mother on the mine.

But as fuel costs
go through the roof...

[Rick] Bigger machines,
bigger fuel bills.

[narrator] ...every miner
watches their bottom line.

-[Parker] Hey, there's
something I wanna go show ya.
-Okay.

[narrator] And in 2014,
Parker buys the ultimate
Klondike cost-cutter.

[Rick] What the hell?

That's one
Frankenstein machine
right there.

[narrator] This ingenious
mining hybrid...

Full steam forward motion!

[narrator] ...is a conveyor
bolted onto the body
of an excavator...

[Parker] We're just gonna see
how it likes the mud.

[narrator] ...creating
a 150-foot all-terrain monster

that moves dirt
for pennies on the dollar.

-That thing's huge!
-[instrumental rock music]

[narrator] With a single
excavator feeding it,

the colossal conveyor
moves overburden up
and out of the cut,

then walks itself
to new ground

and starts the process
all over again.

[Parker] It's time to put
this conveyor into overdrive.

[narrator] This machine
mash-up moves as much dirt

as a three-rock truck
stripping crew

using a third of the fuel
and manpower.

[Parker] There it goes!

All right,
let's get down to business.

-[Rick] Yeah.
-[Mitch] Ooh!

[narrator] It saves Parker
$100,000 in fuel
in its first year,

and is still giving him
more bang for his buck
years later.

[Parker] This is
absolutely badass.

I love it.

[narrator] Coming up...

[Mike] You gotta slow down!

[narrator] ...fast
and furious haulers...

Whoa! [bleep]

[Tony] The monster
comes alive!

[narrator] ...and the ultimate
gold mining machine
is revealed.

[narrator] Even the mightiest
mining machines

need a reliable ride
to get them on site.

[horn honking]

[epic instrumental music]

Go, go, go, go, go!
Don't stop!

[narrator] From
heavy equipment...

Go, go, go, go!

[narrator]
...to wash plants...

Whoa! [bleep]

[narrator]
...and moving camp...

[Rick] All right,
let's go trucking.

-[narrator] ...without
a haul truck and trailer...
-[horn honking]

[narrator] ...there is
no mining for gold.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] But how big
a haul truck do you need
to haul a haul truck?

[narrator] In 2016,
Tony Beets has the answer.

Tony is transporting
a 15,000-pound section
of a power barge

and prepares to haul it
with a 450-horsepower truck.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Once it leaves
the highway,

the haul truck
faces a five-mile climb
to Paradise Hill.

Can't hold it.
She's spinning back down.

[narrator] Stuck on the road,

Tony needs even more muscle.

-Enter the king
of haul trucks...
-[honking]

...the eight-wheel drive
military Oshkosh.

Tony's plan?

Use the powerhouse
to haul the truck
and the barge section,

a combined load of 77.5 tons,
all the way to Paradise.

[narrator] Originally designed
to transport 60-ton tanks,

it packs
a mighty 500 horsepower.

[Tony speaking]

I like it
when things go nice.

It's always fun
driving that Oshkosh.

[horn honking]

Can't state that enough.

[narrator] But behind
every great truck
is a great trailer.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] When Tony
has to move his 100-ton


he needs something
extra special.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] A fully built
for a standard trailer.

So, Tony brings in
a unique 1965 rear steer
Columbia lowboy.

[engine whirring]

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The Columbia
can handle an incredible


It has steering
at the front...

and the rear.

Powered by a hydraulic motor

and manually operated
by levers,

it makes the lowboy
more maneuverable

than a fixed axle rig
on the mountain road.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] It needs
precise communication
between the drivers.

So, first, they take it
for a test drive.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] You gotta
[bleep] slow down!

-[Len] What?
-[Mike] Slow down!

Len, slow the [bleep] down!

I can't even adjust
that fast!

-Stop, stop, stop, stop!
-[Tony speaking]

Whoa!

He has a bad habit
of picking up speed.
It [bleep] pisses me off!

[Tony speaking]

Okay.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Test drive
complete, it's time
to haul the 950.

[Tony speaking]

[tense instrumental music]

[triumphant
instrumental music]

She's a heavy pull.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Taking the honors
for top trailer,

the one and only Columbia.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Coming up...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] ...the best
of the best
is finally revealed.

Zoom, zoom, zoom, [bleep].

[Brennan] That thing
run out of fuel?

[narrator] In the race
for gold...

[Parker] I'm gonna head over
to the fuel truck.

[narrator] ...nothing
runs without fuel.

I don't know how the [bleep]
Parker thinks he's gonna get
a fuel truck in here.

[Parker] Hee-haw!

[narrator] And Parker's
custom-built truck...

[Parker] This thing
is awesome.

[narrator] ...takes the stop
out of fuel stop.

This thing
certainly doesn't go fast,
but it goes anywhere.

[narrator] Originally designed
for logging,

this all-terrain skidder
has been converted to carry

over 2,500 gallons of gas,

and can take
that fuel anywhere.

What the [bleep]
is that thing?

[laughing]

[Parker] Need some fuel?

[Brennan laughs]
[bleep] yeah, I do!

I just might become
a fuel delivery guy.

[epic instrumental music]

[narrator] In the battle
to become the ultimate
gold mining machine...

there's been gold diggers,

gold movers...

and gold catchers.

But there's one machine...

[Tony speaking]

...that does it all.

I'm so excited,
I could just piss my pants.

[laughing]

[narrator] The ultimate
mining machine.

[narrator] Dredges have been
a one-stop gold-catching
factory for over a century.

In the early 1900s,

dredges hauled in
up to 800 ounces of gold
a day.

In 50 years, a single dredge
could mine out gold

worth over
$33 billion today.

But by 2014...

...all had been abandoned
and rusting for over 25 years.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The derelict


is armed
with a 72-bucket ladder.

At the heart,
a nine-ton trommel.

And at the rear,
an 85-foot tailing stacker.

All driven
from the control room.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] To resurrect
his Viking gold ship...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] ...Tony
disassembles the relic.

Whoo!

[narrator] Next, he ships
all 350 tons of it

to his Eureka Creek claim.

[narrator] Then, reassembles.

-[all] Yeah!
-[Tony speaking]

[sweeping instrumental music]

[man] The monster
comes alive!

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] A year later...

[Monica] What's up, bros?

[narrator] ...Tony
wants to prove...

[narrator]
...that his old school tech
is the future.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony's test?

All right,
we're firing up.

[machinery whirring]

[narrator] ...pit his dredge,
run by eldest son Kevin...

Zoom, zoom, zoom, [bleep].

Ow!

[narrator] ...against
daughter Monica's shaker deck.

[epic instrumental music]

...in a 48-hour gold race.

The most profitable
machine wins.

We're just gonna see
who comes out ahead.

[narrator] Monica's
shaker deck processes


nearly twice
the dredge's capacity.

But to sluice more dirt,
the shaker needs five crew

and iron that burns


The dredge is manned
by just one dredge master
and a deckhand,

and is powered
by a single generator

that burns
just 190 gallons of gas.

The only thing I have going
for this plant
against Kevin's dredge

is the fact that I can throw
more yardage through this.

[Kevin] Monica may pull
more gold out of the ground
'cause she does more yardage,

but I am absolutely
I'm gonna win.

[epic instrumental music]

-Hey, guys.
-[Monica] Hold on,
we got one more coming in.

Gotta take the big boss in.

-Mine.
-[all laughing]

[narrator] First up...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] ...Monica's
shaker deck.

-[Monica] 50.2.
-[tapping tray]

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Next...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] ...the dredge.



[Tony speaking]

-I won it, sucka!
-[Minnie] No, no,
no, no!

Now, you have to pay bills.

I think I should take out
some gold.

[narrator] Taking out gold
to cover costs...

[Kevin] 16.8.

-[Monica] 4.1
-For 48 hours.

[all laughing]

[narrator] ...leaves
only one winner.

You started out
with the most gold,
but now you have 33 left.

He had 42, but he goes home
with 38 ounces.

So, it's
a no-brainer, really.

[narrator] The dredge.

It efficiently does the job
of all other
equipment combined.

And since its resurrection,

has hauled in
nearly 6,000 ounces of gold
all on its own.

Pretty [bleep] good, right?

[narrator] The ultimate
gold mining machine.

Beautiful system.