13x06 - Man vs. River

[bunniefuu]

[Mitch] {\an8}You know,
if you work in the city,

{\an8}you don't probably get to se
a bear walking

{\an8}right through the middle
of your job site.

We'd probably have to
shut down the site

and come back to work
a week later.

[Mitch] {\an8}Everybody get
proper bear training.

[Man]
{\an8}Yeah, proper bear training.

Don't pet the bears
or feed the bears.

{\an8}Just the bear chilling ther
in the Bear Cut.

[Parker] {\an8}It's a good thing
we've got

{\an8}a good group
of people this year,

because we've certainly
bit off more than we can chew.

[Narrator] {\an8}27-year-old
Parker Schnabel

{\an8}is making big moves,

{\an8}opening a new mine in Alaska

{\an8}and mining more ground
than ever before

{\an8}in the Yukon.

[Parker] {\an8}So, Big Red's
in the new cut, Easy Street

and it'll probably be
the last easy bit of ground

for the season, so I guess
it's a fitting name.

Because everything else
is not ready.

[Narrator] {\an8}Six weeks
into the season,

{\an8}Parker's hauled in


{\an8}Before he takes on
Alaska as well,

{\an8}he wants all of the 90 acre
he secured

{\an8}on the airstrip claim
down to pay.

{\an8}Parker's crew has already
stripped and mined out

{\an8}the 14-acre Keyhole Cut.

{\an8}Now they're running pay dir

{\an8}from the 11-acre
Easy Street Cut,

{\an8}and are getting ahead,

{\an8}stripping the massive


[Parker] {\an8}You know, we gotta
have the next cut ready,

or else it'll be
the end of the year

and we'll have ground
that's all frozen.

So I'm trying to stay ahead
of the frost

and stay ahead of...
With the stripping,

it's really tough when we have
this much ground to to.

Right now, we're just
in the middle of tackling

this next section right here,
and, um,

I don't know, we just have
a mountain of mud to move

while we try to get
some more ground opened up.

[Mitch] How's it going?

Every single spot where we
want it to be frozen, it's thawed,

and every spot where we
want it to be thawed, it's frozen.

- [Mitch] Yeah.
- Um...

[Mitch] What do you wanna do?

It might get to the point
where they need a third truck.

All right, sounds good.

{\an8}So, we've got Tyson
in the D10.

He's dozing up
all the thaw here

and I'm gonna
load it out in trucks.

{\an8}Once we get to the pay,

hopefully it'll thaw out
pretty quick.

[Narrator] {\an8}In the narrow
Bear Cut,

{\an8}they need to dig out
and remove

{\an8}15 feet of frozen overburden

{\an8}weighing in at
over half a million tons.

[Tatiana on radio] {\an8}So, just
let you guys know,

{\an8}the conditions up here
are pretty rough.

Just be careful when you guys
coming up the road.

Thank you, ma'am.

[Narrator]
{\an8}Joining the rock truck crew

{\an8}is Yukon rookie,
Tyler Ma honey.

[beeping]

[Tyler] What is that beeping?

I don't know what that means.

[Tatiana] {\an8}Hey, Tyler, my gir
you got a copy?

[Tyler on radio] {\an8}I copy.

How's it going, girl?

Hello. Yes,
everything's going okay.

{\an8}I'm, um, slowly getting ther
I think.

[Tatian on radio] {\an8}If you
need anything, just radio me

{\an8}and, yeah, if you don't,
I'll see you back at camp,

maybe for
some spicy margaritas.

Sounds like a plan.
Thanks, Tatiana.

The mud in this spot
is just so thick.

It's been a tough
last few days.

[clattering]

Oh [bleep].

What was that?

[bleep]. Oh [bleep].

Shane, Shane,
you got a copy? Shane?

[Shane on radio] {\an8}Hey.

Uh, my tire
just literally blew.

So I need you to come
and help me right away.

[Narrator]
{\an8}Tatiana's rock truck

{\an8}is blocking access
to the dump site,

{\an8}bringing the stripping
operation to a standstill.

{\an8}Operator Shane Colliou trie
to help free Tatiana's truc

{\an8}without doing any more damag

Okay, here we go.

[bleep]

[truck creaking]

[Shane on radio]

Yeah, I'm feeling a bit
on the edge right now.

[Shane] Yeah, just go
right into that ditch there

and get around
some dry stuff there.

[Tatiana]
I'm literally sweating.

So I'm gonna stop it here

and hopefully this is
a good spot for the mechanics.

[Narrator] {\an8}The ramp clear,

{\an8}the other trucks get back
to dumping overburden,

{\an8}while Mitch's crew get to wo
changing the tire.

[Mitch] This isn't just
changing your car tire here.

This is heavy, it's big.

We've gotta use a crane,

we've gotta have
an excavator over here.

Lot involved to get this done.

So the faster we can
get her back on track,

the better off we're gonna be.

I'll bring the 480 over,
we'll lift it up,

let's just NASCAR this thing.

[Narrator] {\an8}The six-foot tir

{\an8}weighs in at
over 1,200 pounds,

{\an8}and costs $4,500.

[Man] She moving?

[Mitch] She's gonna take a
little persuasion, I'm thinking.

- Wanna just give it a wack?
- Yeah.

There we go, there we go.

There she be.

There it is right there. Wow.

Man, that's crazy.
We haven't seen one like that,

I don't think, probably ever.

We're looking pretty good
on our line-up here.

Down just a little bit more.

- [groans]
- There it is. We're close.

That's what we wanna see
right there.

So we've got the wheel
started on the hub.

{\an8}We're gonna throw some nuts
on to the studs here.

[drilling]

Dude, I like it.

- [Mitch] We're good to go.
- Ready to move some dirt?

- Let's do it.
- All right.

[Taylor] Take it easy on it.
This is our last tire, right?

Yeah, I will be extra careful.

Thank you very much.
I gotta get going.

[Taylor] Have a good day.

[Narrator] {\an8}Up and running
in less than an hour.

{\an8}Tatiana heads back
to the Bear Cut.

[Tatiana] Thank [bleep]
it's finally done.

Let's go move some dirt.

[Fred] We're so far behind,

I don't even wanna talk about
how far behind we are,

but we've still got
a monumental task ahead of us.

[Narrator] {\an8}Six weeks
into the season,

{\an8}ex-Green Beret Fred Lewis

{\an8}hasn't mined an ounce of gol

[Fred] We still can't sluice

because the claim is under
a lot of ice.

We've thrown
everything we have at it,

except for the kitchen sink.

[Narrator] {\an8}Record snow
{\an8}this winter means an ice fie

{\an8}is stopping him
from getting to the gold.

[Fred] The more
we sit around and wait,

the less gold we're gonna find

and the less time
we're gonna be sluicing.

But fortune favors the bold.

We're making things happen.

[groans] I hate this pump.

[Narrator] {\an8}Former scout snip
{\an8}Stuart McKenzie

{\an8}is installing a water pump

{\an8}to help melt
the quarter-mile glacier.

[Stuart] {\an8}Early in the sea so
{\an8}we used this technique

where we basically
pump water on to the ice.

{\an8}It creates stress fractures
it helps it go away faster.

We leave it unchecked

and it will probably be here
until the end of the season.

{\an8}So we need
to start running pay,

we don't have
any time to wait.

Oh, wow.

[Narrator] {\an8}Last week,
{\an8}Fred found a vein of quartz

{\an8}and gold in the creek

{\an8}that he hopes
leads to rich pay.

[Fred] Doesn't look like
it continues much more here.

It might go underneath.

But it's going that way.

[Narrator] {\an8}Waiting for
{\an8}the ice to thaw

{\an8}is not an option

{\an8}if Fred wants
to save his season.

{\an8}So he sends
his most experienced miner,

{\an8}Buzz Legault,

{\an8}to see if the vein
continues upstream.

[Buzz on radio] {\an8}Yo, Fred, ma

{\an8}I got something
you're gonna wanna see.

[Fred on radio] {\an8}On my way.

[Narrator] {\an8}Buzz finds
{\an8}the quartz vein,

{\an8}and makes another discovery

[Fred] {\an8}Did you find anything

You're smiling.

[Buzz] Some promising-looking
[bleep], man.

- Lead the way, I'll follow you.
- Let's go.

[Narrator] {\an8}When Buzz and Fre

{\an8}scouted this ground
last season,

{\an8}it was solid permafrost,
and impossible to mine.

[Buzz] Come look.

You see this stuff here, man?
You know what that tells me?

[Fred] That there's a crack
in the ground?

No. It means that this here

is pretty much
all defrosted, man.

[Fred] So all these cracks,
this is all thawed?

Yeah. This ground is settling.

Get that all stripped
right down to pay.

Let it all defrost.

What about the middle there?

Out to the next post,
about 500 feet.

- Right? So it's a big area.
- Whoa.

[Fred] I mean, just looking at
the size of that area,

there's probably at least 15,000
to 20,000 yards of pay in it.

If their pay is as consistent
as it's been down there.

More pay than we had
the entire season last year.

Wow.

- It's [bleep] mining season, man.
- Wow.

It's gonna give us
financial freedom,

so what we're calling it
is Freedom Cut.

[Buzz] It's huge.

We'll build a road across

from the top, our platform,

- over to here.
- Yeah.

Get into this freaking big
flat spot here.

[Narrator] {\an8}Before he can sta
{\an8}mining the Freedom Cut,

{\an8}Fred must clear mountains
of mud from tough terrain

{\an8}to build
a 300-yard access road.

That means we gotta get that
dozer here, like, right [bleep] now.

[Narrator] {\an8}Five weeks ago,

{\an8}Fred bought
a 40-year-old dozer

{\an8}which is stocked


{\an8}Building the road to free do

{\an8}now relies on Fred
finding a way

{\an8}to transport his monster
earth-moving machine

{\an8}to California Creek
as fast as possible.

It's quite a distance, probably
about a seven-hour trip.

Maneuvering to get
that dozer up there...

Up in the Yukon,
finding a bulldozer

is easier than finding someone
to transport said bulldozer.

[Narrator] {\an8}Working capital
{\an8}almost spent,

{\an8}Fred makes a Hail Mary play

I'm headed out
to the one man I know...

We gotta start stripping.

That's the key. If we
can't strip, we can't mine.

There's always so much
going on here.

[Narrator] {\an8}Fred Lewis's
{\an8}mining season

{\an8}depends on finding someone

{\an8}to transport his dozer


All right. Do or die.

Tony!

All clean this year.

How you doing?

Great, actually.

Yeah.

Well, we haven't really gotten
started yet, Tony. Um...

That river's not letting go
any time soon.

It's basically the beginning
of the season for us.

So the biggest thing
for me this season

was finding a dozer.

I found one, but in order
to get up there on the claim

and start stripping,
I gotta get it out there.

Then shopping around
for someone to transport it,

road vans,
everyone's super busy,

I'm striking out.

To be honest, outside of you,

I don't really have a lot
of connections in the area.

So that's what's landed
me here.

So do you think there's
something we can make for a deal?

Yeah, it's 50.

Okay.

Okay.

Awesome,
I really appreciate it.

Awesome.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

All right, awesome.
So I'll talk to Troy.

All right. I appreciate it.

All right. Thank you, Tony.

{\an8}I'm on cloud nine right now

This was probably
the biggest fear we had,

was not being able to get
our dozer out to our claim.

We couldn't find anybody.

But once again,
the king of the Klondike,

Tony Beets, hooks us up.

You know,
what Tony's just done for us

has basically solved
the biggest problem we have.

[Tony speaking]

[Narrator] {\an8}Klondike legend
{\an8}Tony Beets

{\an8}is planning to mine
more gold than ever before.

[Narrator]
{\an8}Tony's already mined

{\an8}all the easy pay dirt
on Paradise Hill.

{\an8}Now he's digging out

{\an8}the deepest cuts
of his career,

{\an8}the Cold Cut and the Blue Cu

{\an8}With only 650 ounces
of gold mined so far,

{\an8}Ruby Ma honey loads 300 yard
of pay dirt an hour

{\an8}into the trommel
from both cuts.

[Ruby] {\an8}You know,
{\an8}we're working really hard.

Mother Nature doesn't wanna
give up that gold very easily,

and there's things that you
have to juggle all of the time

but luckily
we got the manpower

and we got the iron.

[Narrator] {\an8}In six weeks,

{\an8}Tony's son Mike has removed

{\an8}two-thirds of the overburde
from the cuts.

{\an8}Now he must strip
the last third

{\an8}in just one week.

{\an8}While one crew strips
in the Blue Cut,

{\an8}Mike leads another crew
in the Cold Cut,

{\an8}ripping overburden, which I
loaded into rock trucks,

{\an8}then hauled
to the nearest dump site.

{\an8}But temperatures are rising

{\an8}and the ground
is thawing so fast,

{\an8}the trucks are in danger
of getting stuck.

It's a dangerous game trying
to drive when it's this muddy.

With the mess they make,
we have to make sure we have

something there
to push the dirt.

[Narrator] {\an8}At the Cold Cut
{\an8}dump site,

{\an8}Yukon rookie Peter Akama

{\an8}is using a D6 dozer
to move the thawed mud

{\an8}and keep the route clear
for the rock trucks.

[Tony on radio]

[Tony speaking]

[Nick on radio] {\an8}Yeah.

[Narrator] {\an8}Until they can ge
{\an8}the track back on the D6,

{\an8}the rock trucks
will have to use a dump sit

{\an8}on the other side
of the claim,

{\an8}half a mile away.

[Megan] {\an8}So now that
{\an8}the dump site has moved,

{\an8}the guys are ripping
through the overburden

faster than we can
truck it out,

because now we have
a longer haul.

So now it can just [bleep] up
the whole progress

of everyone's situation
right now.

[Narrator] {\an8}Tony needs to ge
{\an8}the D6 out of the mud

{\an8}before he can do
the track repair.

[Narrator] {\an8}The 63-ton D10
{\an8}is stuck in the mud.

{\an8}Tony's problems
keep getting bigger,

{\an8}with both dozers now strande

[Narrator] {\an8}To get
{\an8}the dozers out,

{\an8}Tony throws even more iron
at the problem.

[Tony on radio]

[Narrator] {\an8}If Tony is going
{\an8}have both cuts

{\an8}completely cleared
of overburden

{\an8}by the end of the week,

{\an8}they'll need to fix
the D6 dozer in record time

Some small problems
turn into big ones.

It's a pain in the a*s.

{\an8}Everything like that
puts a knot in your schedule

{\an8}makes things take longer.

{\an8}I can't pull miracles
out of my a*s.

[Mitch] {\an8}Looks like a highwa
{\an8}down here

{\an8}with all the trucks
in and out.

{\an8}This is gonna be
a massive cut.

Really looking forward to
getting to the bottom of it here

and seeing what kind
of gold's in it.

[Narrator] {\an8}At Indian River,

{\an8}foreman Mitch Blaschke's cre

{\an8}are trying to get down to pa
at the Bear Cut

{\an8}before Big Red chews throug
all the Easy Street pay dirt

[Mitch] We're definitely using
all the tools in the tool box

to get this project done.

We got the dozers out here
pushing this material up.

Now the excavator's
sitting here on the piles,

and the truck's taking this
waste up to the dump site.

Hey Tyson,
how's it going over there?

Lot of it's down to pay,
but there's still some frost

we're gonna have to
go over again here.

Yeah, well just keep sending
that stuff as fast as you can.

Oh [bleep].

Hey Ty, you got a copy, man?

[Tyson on radio] {\an8}Hey, buddy

Hey, I just blew the track
off the 480

[Tyson] {\an8}No good.

[Mitch] Yeah, I'll try and get
it in a good spot, man.

It's no good
where it's sitting here.

All right, I'll see you
down here. Thanks.

This is the last thing
we need right now.

[Parker] {\an8}It's not normal
{\an8}for you guys

to be able to drive
to where this happens.

No, it's beautiful, man.

I was expecting it to be
on a hillside somewhere.

So we're laughing.

- [Parker] Use at two max.
- Yeah.

- We'll be here most of the day, so...
- Yeah.

That's no good.

- Ty. Come here.
- [Tyson] Yo.

- Have a look there.
- Oh, yeah.

Our tensioner's broken.

Oh [bleep].

Yeah. No good.

Let's rip this thing out
and see what it looks like.

So, here's
our tensioner assembly.

The nut and rod have been
sheared right off the end there.

They should be caged together

with that piece
and this piece.

And we have no end
of our shaft.

We don't have parts for that.

Lead time on tensioners,
I mean,

it could be weeks or longer.

I think we should
put this back together.

Once we put some tension
on the track tensioner,

the piston should hold
the tracks snug enough

that this thing
can walk around.

[Narrator] {\an8}Facing a delay
{\an8}of weeks for the part,

{\an8}Taylor has come up with
a bush fix.

{\an8}His plan - place the broken
tensioner assembly

{\an8}back in the track frame.

{\an8}Then weld two steel pads on
either side of the idler whe

{\an8}to lock it into position.

{\an8}Next, pull the track
back around the rollers,

{\an8}and finally add
hydraulic fluid to the pisto

{\an8}to push the idler back out.

{\an8}If successful, this will bot
tighten the track enough

{\an8}to stop it from falling off

{\an8}and keep the broken tensione
in place.

[Taylor] All right, well, we'll
hand-b*mb this thing into the spring.

Then we'll sling her in there.

Lift with your back.

There we go.

There you go. Perfecto.

All right, so, we're just
putting the idler back in.

And we just wanna line it up
with the recoil spring

so everything sits
nice and even

in the track frame.

We're in. Beauty.

{\an8}Ty's just welding in
some pieces of plate

just to try and keep our idler
from moving side-to-side.

I'm just craning
these tracks back.

Hopefully it's gonna
fold 'em open

and then we'll walk
the machine

right up on top of the tracks,

flip them back over,

and then link them
back together.

[metal grinding]

Ah. Good enough.

[metal creaking]

Nice and easy now.

Just keep some tension on it.

And Ty, you're gonna walk
forward with both tracks.

Well, she's pinned together.

I'm gonna start putting grease
in these tracks

and see if we can get them

snugged up
to where they need to be.

Okay, go ahead.

[engine revs]

It's looking all right.

Yeah, just walk it around
a bit, back and forth.

It's looking good.
You can cruise.

Like, this thing can
walk around no problem.

It can dig pay, like, actually
better than I thought.

But, yeah,
don't billy-goat it around.

[Taylor] Yeah.
Hey Mitch, you got a copy?

[Mitch on radio] {\an8}Yeah, go.

Hey, you wanna come
pick up this 480?

[Mitch] {\an8}Is she ready to go?

She's ready to go for you.

You gotta make [bleep] work.

We got a tensioner in there

that's blasted
in three pieces.

But it's holding
the tracks tight,

and it'll probably do its job
until the new parts arrive.

[Mitch] Ty did an awesome job
getting the 480 fixed up here.

I know it wasn't an easy fix,
but she's back rolling.

[Narrator]
{\an8}After just six hours,

{\an8}Taylor's bush fix
has the 480 back at work

{\an8}and stripping the Bear Cut
down to pay.

Time to move some dirt
and get down to some gold.

[Narrator] {\an8}Tony Beets needs
{\an8}both his massive cuts

{\an8}fully stripped
and down to gold-rich pay

{\an8}by the end of the week.

{\an8}But the closest
overburden dump site

{\an8}is a muddy mess,

{\an8}and the D6
used to clear the way

{\an8}is down with a thrown track

{\an8}Tony has ordered
the rock trucks

{\an8}to divert to another dump

{\an8}on the far side of the claim

[Mike] {\an8}The D6 is a handy thi
{\an8}for certain small jobs,

so it being down
is a shame, sure.

I'll do as much as I can
with what I got.

You can't expect
much more than that.

[Megan] {\an8}The D6 is all down.

{\an8}We still got
a lot of work to do,

{\an8}so guess we just gotta try
and be efficient at either e

and hope it makes up
some time.

[Narrator] {\an8}Down in the yard

{\an8}Tony removes the broken trac

[Narrator] {\an8}The truck
{\an8}is so worn out,

{\an8}Tony will need to replace
the whole thing.

{\an8}His chances of having
the cut stripped of pay

{\an8}by the end of the week
are slipping away.

[Tony speaking]

[Narrator] {\an8}At Paradise Hill
Tony wants his two massive cuts

{\an8}fully stripped by the end
of the week.

{\an8}But a key dozer's track
is broken

{\an8}and he needs
to replace it ASAP.

I think it's cool
to walk around here.

[Kevin] Yeah, there's just
so much space.

[Michael] Especially when you
want to make something.

[Narrator] {\an8}Worldwide supply chain
issues mean tracks take weeks to arrive

[Kevin] Oh yeah. There's
plenty of [bleep] goodies in here.

[Narrator] {\an8}Son Kevin and nephew Mike
hope to fin an old but usable replace men

{\an8}in Tony's 5-acre bone yard.

[Michael] And do you think
we're gonna find something here?

[Kevin] We should.

You may have to go...
to the next goodie pile.

Ooh!

Yep, we got it.

[Narrator] {\an8}Only in his sec on
{\an8}year mining...

[machinery clanking]

{\an8}...cousin Mike is charged with
putting the track back on the D6.

[Michael] {\an8}Right now, this wi
be the only D6 running out here.

We're gonna need it pretty bad

so, uh, yeah, we wanna get
this done and get this done right.

{\an8}It's also my first time,
so we'll see how it goes.

We're using a chain
on this end.

And then we put the chain
over the track frame to the back.

And then that's how we're
gonna pull the whole track over

to the track frame
towards the sprocket.

Yeah, well, for us,
it's all new.

We're still learning a lot.

I'm thinking of using the
come-a-long to pull the tracks.

It's a little safer
and you won't damage anything.

It's not tight.

[Narrator] {\an8}The novice mechan
{\an8}has come up short.

{\an8}The track coupling should
overlap,

{\an8}but there is a gap
of 8 inches.

[Kevin] {\an8}He can't connect
{\an8}to where it is.

There's no way you're gonna use the
come-a-long to pull that track from here

underneath all that way,
it's just not gonna happen.

So, disconnect this,
drop it down.

Gonna fire up the catch,
then we're gonna go in reverse.

- Yep.
- But we're not gonna run that track.

It'll cause this to spin back. Till we
get it to, ah, I'd say right about here.

And then we'll slap
[bleep] together.

[clanks]

- Okay. You ready?
- [Michael] Yeah.

[Kevin] Open up the throttle.

Okay.

Piece of cake.

{\an8}Okay, so track is on.
It's all tightened up.

The D6 is ready to head
back out to the dump.

We need it out there a
little bad, so [bleep] perfect.

[Narrator] {\an8}The D6 goes back to work
at the dump site closest to the cuts.

{\an8}Reopening the road for rock
trucks to tip their overburden.

We're throwing everything
we can to get all this dirt moved.

This section's almost
pretty much done.

[woman] The D6 is fixed.
Shoulder dump is now open again.

Now we can haul more dirt out
a lot faster.

[Mike] Had a bit of a hiccup
but, uh, we got it here in the end.

All in all, everything going
quite nicely here.

[Tony speaking]

Oh, yeah.

There are little bits
here and there,

but for the most part, we're
starting to hit pay all around.

Yep.

[Narrator] {\an8}Stripping
{\an8}duties complete,

{\an8}Mike heads to Keno
to make good on Tony's promi

{\an8}to help Fred Lewis transpor
his dozer.

- [Fred] Howdy, Troy.
- Hey.

- [Fred] How you doing?
- [Troy] Good.

- Good to see you guys.
- Good to see you again.

- Welcome back.
- All right, well, we don't waste any of your time.

Let's get to work.

- Okay.
- [Fred] Heck yeah.

[Narrator] {\an8}A hundred and te miles east
of Paradise Hill Fred is up against it.

{\an8}Together with his mechanic,
JB,

{\an8}and Troy Taylor who sold
Fred the dozer,

{\an8}he's racing to remove
the blade

{\an8}and make it legal to transport
before Mike arrives with the low boy.

[Fred] So does this
whole thing come off or...

[Troy] All we have to do
is take the trunnion caps off,

put some blocks under here,

take the four bolts off,
that comes off.

- [Fred] Okay, easy. Got it.
- [JB] Cool.

[Fred] All right. I'm on it.

- [JB] Hey, Fred!
- Yo!

- [JB] Hey, we got an issue over here, man.
- Already?

[JB] I tried with the
breaker bar and I frickin'

- snapped.
- Well, you broke the breaker bar.

- It's like rusted in place.
- Yeah, yeah.

Got these trunnion caps that need to
come off and all these are super tight

and probably rusted in place,

so we could be up [bleep] creek
without a paddle at this point.

Uh, we've got the trailer
coming to pick this up today.

And, uh,
we're on borrowed time,

so we're just trying
to solve these problems

as quick as we can and hope
we don't [bleep] ourselves.

[JB] We got a lot more
leverage pushing down.

- [Fred] Ready?
- All right, one, two, three.

[men grunting]

[JB] Did it break
or did it slip?

I think it slipped.

- [Fred grunts]
- [bleep]

[bleep] kidding.

[sighs] We're running
out of time.

When they show up here and we
haven't even gotten the blade off,

they're probably gonna
turn around and leave.

I mean, what we got
to this point is not working.

[Narrator] {\an8}If Fred can't
{\an8}remove the blade,

{\an8}Mike won't be able
to transport the dozer.

{\an8}Stopping the Lewis crew from building
their Freedom cut road and getting any gol

So you said you got something
with you that might help us out?

- [Troy] Come on and have a look here.
- [JB] All right.

- Ah.
- [Troy] This guy is a 4:1 multiplier.

It might be exactly
what we need

- because it's gonna multiply our torque.
- Times four, yes.

Whatever works, let's try 'em.

[Narrator]
{\an8}The 4:1 torque wrench

{\an8}uses pinion gears
to increase leverage.

[Fred] We're bringing out
the heavy g*ns now.

If this doesn't work,
we got a few other options,

but they all involve quite a bit of
time to go get the tools we need, so...

Our fingers are crossed
right now.

[JB] Ready?

[men grunting]

[JB] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
We got one loose.

- Get it from up there? Too much angle?
- [Fred] Yeah.

Come on. Ready?

[JB] Like, pull on it. Like, go
up and then come down again.

- Like that we were doing.
- [Fred] Like that.

Loose, but...

There we go.
Now she's loose loose.

- All right, see if I can get that last one.
- Three out of eight.

- I'm glad the other one's...
- [Fred] Good job, bro.

Yeah, that's one side.
[laughs] We got it.

So we've gotta do
the other side.

We still gotta do
everything in the front.

But hopefully this
is the hardest part.

[tool whirring]

[Fred] All right,
I'm gonna start her up.

All right, you clear, JB?

- Clear.
- [Fred] All right, buddy. Moment of truth.

[engine starts]

[Narrator] {\an8}Bolts removed,
{\an8}Fred reverses the dozer

{\an8}to separate it from the blad

Dude.

We got some work left to do,
but he's not here yet.

- And we just need to freaking move.
- [JB] All right.

[Fred] Let's do it.

{\an8}At this point,
we're on borrowed time.

{\an8}We've got quite a bit of wor
left to do.

If I can get this thing ready to haul
'cause, uh, we could miss our window.

And, uh, at this point, finding
another driver is nearly impossible.

So we gotta get moving.

[Tyler] {\an8}Uh, so I'm gonna
{\an8}grab my yoga mat.

And then head outside
and do a little workout.

So we're gonna go
to the grass patch.

Which is my favorite place
on this mine site.

It's meant to be peaceful except
I kind of am always stressing

about [bleep] bears
that are everywhere,

but I try and block them out for
the 15 minutes I'm down there.

- Hello.
- [dogs growl]

We've got nine dogs running
around, so it's always a bit chaotic.

This is Cheeker and Isla.

I really do have to start
my day with a workout.

Just because I'm in machinery
all day

and being in a machine is
like being in a washing machine.

You just get thrown around,
it's just a lot on the body.

{\an8}That's why this is
so important.

It's funny, I've asked Parker to come and
do, um, Pilates or a morning workout with me

and, um, the answer is, "Absolutely,
no." He just laughs in my face.

But it'll happen one day.

[Fred] {\an8}Ah, right now, we're
probably any minute for Mikey Beets

getting here with the truck to
move the blade and the dozer.

We're trying to get
the last pieces unattached.

Just these two pins here

have to come out
and it's ready to go.

But we wanna get all that stuff
done and ready before they get here,

so they're not waiting around.
They can load it and go.

[Narrator] {\an8}Mike Beets
{\an8}and Len Hoekstra

{\an8}arrive to transport Fred's
dozer and blade to Dawson City.

{\an8}The first leg of its journe before
going on to California Creek.

How's it going, guys?

Oh, good. Yourself?

- [Fred] Good. Ready to do this.
- [JB] How you doing?

[Fred] So what you think
the game plan's gonna be?

Well, I got the low boy and that's
gonna be the easiest thing to load

'cause all I have to do is drop the
neck and we can drive the thing on...

Uh, your blade's gonna
be a pain in the a*s

because all we got
is a loader.

But everything else
we can get easy peasy.

- Okay.
- So if, uh...

You do the neck.
You drive the dozer on for me.

You want me to drive
the dozer on?

[Mike] Well, yeah.
It's your dozer.

All right, it's your trailer.

Uh, it's not hard.

If you can drive in a
straight line, you can do it.

All right. We'll find out.

All right. Let's do it.

- [Mike grunts]
- [JB] All right. Let's go.

[machinery whirring]

You ready?

[Narrator]
{\an8}Blade successfully loaded..

[Fred] I'm in!

Make sure everybody's back.

[Narrator] {\an8}...it's time for Fred to
show Mike and Len his driving skills.

[Fred] {\an8}I'm a little bit
{\an8}nervous about it.

{\an8}Uh, I've never really driven a
dozer more than a couple of feet.

[Len] Beautiful.

You'll leave it
exactly how it is.

Next step is to, uh,
put some chains on it

and get it the hell
out of here.

[Fred] Think that's it
though, right?

We're all battened down, ready
to roll. You guys can bounce.

And next time we see this
thing, it's gonna be on our claim.

- Yeah, right.
- Appreciate it.

[laughs] See you, guys.

[Narrator] {\an8}The dozer is on its
way to Tony's yard in Dawson.

{\an8}Where it will be held
until the road ban

{\an8}close to Fred's claim
is lifted.

{\an8}But the Lewis crew are one
step closer to mining for gold.

Well, that was
a hell of a day.

Definitely a lot harder than
I thought it was gonna be.

{\an8}We had to do some quick
thinking, but we got it going.

Right now, it's on its way.
Time to get to gold.

- [Chris] {\an8}Howdy.
- [Mitch] {\an8}What's happening, man?

- Cleaning gold, buddy.
- Yeah?

- Hopefully, lots of it.
- Lots of it, I wish.

- Hey, T.
- Hey, Doumitt.

- [Chris] How you doing, buddy?
- Good, how are you?

- Good.
- That's good.

And you guys are stripping
the Bear cut now?

- [Mitch] Yep.
- [Chris] How's it going down there?

Had a busy week. We saw a bear
down there, it kept cruising around.

[Chris] Hey, young man.

[Mitch] So...

Well, this is
our first full week

on the old Easy Street, we'll
see if it lives up to its name.

What do you think about
the Bear cut there, Tyson?

Lots of, uh, stuck trucks
on that ramp.

Yeah, definitely.

We had Tatiana...
Had that tire let go.

- Yeah.
- Man, if she's having trouble getting around out there...

She's got a lot of experience
on those rock trucks.

She knows how to get 'em
through stuff.

And then, 480 blew
the track off it

and we had to put
all that back together, so...

Bad things come in threes.

[all laughing]

Well, hopefully, that's all
of it, right?

Yeah.

Big Red had a good week. I
mean, it plugged right along.

- Well, Doumitt will tell us if it had a good week or not.
- [Parker] Yeah.

It did its job anyway. I mean,
hopefully, there's some gold in it.

- So, all in all...
- Are you ready, Mitchell? All in all, Mitchell.

- We sluiced all week.
- [Chris] Sluiced all week.

[Mitch] We moved
a bunch of mud.

We definitely had
some problems.

We worked our way through 'em.

- Do we have any gold to show for it?
- Well, here. You tell me.

[Narrator] {\an8}It's the first full
week's run for Easy Street

{\an8}and the crew's hoping
for at least 200 ounces.

Come here.

- Ready?
- All right. Let's see. What do you got?

Twenty, 30, 50, 70, 80,





[Chris] That's it.



[Narrator] {\an8}Worth just
{\an8}over $250,000.

One thirty-nine,
not quite 140.

Yeah, first run's
are usually crappy.

Probably hardly covers
the fuel bill for a week.

Where's that put us?

Last week it was 230 ounces.

[Mitch] Yeah.

[Chris] This week
it's 140, so about half.

But for the season total,

it's 1,343.75.

It's still early.
We're still in good shape.

[Mitch]
Where were we last year?

We're around 860 ounces.

- [Mitch] A little bit of a jump on it.
- [Chris] Yeah.

But yeah, we're getting there.

Once we have
two plants running,

the rate at which we're doing,

getting through ground is
gonna, like, more than double.

[Chris] Another couple of
weeks, man. Can't stop now.

- [Parker] All right, thanks, guys.
- [Tyson laughs] Later.

[Chris] Okay,
we'll catch you guys later.

- [Minnie] Hi, guys.
- Hi, everybody.

[baby babbles]

How was everybody's week?

Some ups and downs.

Mostly a D6 that went down.

- What happened?
- Uh, a track came off and all that goo.

So, that was fun.

- [Minnie] We kept on sluicing though, Mike.
- [Mike] Yeah.

Regardless of what else happens,
that plant keeps on turning.

[Tony speaking]

- [Minnie] I think so.
- [Tony speaking]

- [Tony laughs]
- [Kevin] Yep.

Cool.

- [Tony speaking]
- Ready?

Three, two, one. Let's go.

[Narrator] {\an8}To stay on target
Tony needs at least 215 ounces.

Forty, 60,





[Narrator] {\an8}Thirty-eight ounc
short, but still worth $318,000.

[Tony speaking]

It is what it is.
You're not going to change it.

[Tony speaking]

That's what I said earlier.

[woman] So what's our total?

- Ah, we have roughly 828 ounces right now.
- [Tony] Okay.

I mean, hell, we're still
in 12 hour days,

I mean, it doesn't take much
to double up.

There's still lots of room
to play, guys, aye?

- [Kevin] Oh, yes.
- Oh, yeah.

[Kevin] Sandbox
is still pretty full.

Speaking of which, this probably
means we gotta vamoose.

[Tony] Yeah, probably
should get back out.

- [Kevin] Let's go.
- Okay, let's do it.

Let's go, Mike.
We got [bleep] to do.

Oh, yeah.