[lightning thundering] [upbeat rock music]
♪ Monster, monster garage
♪ Monster, monster garage
♪ Monster, monster garage
♪ Monster, monster garage
♪ Monster garage
[container exploding]
- That's right folks.
The garage is empty.
We're not building in here. No.
This week we're headed out to your garages in backyards,
all across North America.
Can you believe it? It's the one,
the only Backyard Monsters get with it.
[upbeat rock music]
We take an underwater trip in a fancy tin can.
- And all of a sudden ka-boom.
- [Host] Destroy cars using the force
of the mighty watermelon.
- We've shot frozen chickens before. Yeah.
- [Host] And even take a fiery ride
on a chopper b*mb hybrid.
- It'll k*ll us all.
It'll make all that you see here uninhabitable
for thousands of years.
- [Host] And that ain't all folks our first stop.
We land in the heart of the golden state.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] There are monsters on the prowl,
even in the most God-forsaken places.
Welcome to El Mirage,
a dry lake bed in California's Mojave desert.
Kicking up the desert dust are the AI Motorvators
and their homemade six cylinder monster.
And they're here for one reason.
- Set it free.
- [Host] And that ain't far from the truth.
These dudes are working on a new breed of automobile,
one with a brain.
- So it basically sees and thinks,
and it drives all by itself.
- [Host] Software makes hardware on the desert terrain.
This baby doesn't run the dune buggy circuit.
It was built for one very important race,
The DARPA Grand Challenge. [upbeat rock music]
The Department of Defense R&D Wing sponsors the annual event
to push brainiac motorheads to their limit.
They put up a cool two mil to the fastest vehicle
to finish the 175 mile course.
The catch? There's no driver.
- So they put on this race
and we thought, [laughs] this will be really funny.
We'll just go ahead and build this vehicle.
And we had no idea how hard it was.
- [Host] It was so hard
that nobody even finished the first two DARPA races.
The record distance was a measly seven miles,
but that didn't stop teams from trying.
- 200 put in paperwork.
Now it's down to 40 teams.
You know, the government guys had to come out
and they had to check it out,
and they tried really hard to fool the robot.
It didn't, it was perfect. It went perfect.
- [Host] Their edge? A love of hot rods.
CJ Petterson is team leader, hot rod builder
and ex drag racer.
He heads up this Motley Crew from garage headquarters
in his own backyard.
Hot rod bodybuilder, Steve Piereck is an industrial designer
with a need for speed.
- Steve's the the meticulous guy
and I'm the like, [horn honks] it's done well,
that together we're finished, guy.
- [Host] With the engineering and fabrication covered.
They still needed a brain to figure out the brains.
- Man, we called all these people that were experts,
like all these people, all these PhDs.
And they'd be like, yeah, well that's impossible.
You can't do that. They've been trying to do that for years.
You'll never be able to do anything like that.
- Enter Gunnar Ristroph, a 20-year-old college student,
they stole from another team
after meeting him at an early DARPA race.
- CJ. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
CJ stole me right up.
I go to the school
and that particular school also has a robot team, you know,
that's making their own robot car,
but they have a total piece of crap.
Then you know, I saw the vehicle
that CJ had already built
and I was just like, holy [horn honks]
this looks like a much better time.
And so I started working for him
and writing software for him
and I don't regret it at all.
You know, it's much more fun
and I have much more control.
You know, I get to do whatever I want to.
- [Host] Gunnar's got the raw IQ to be a geek,
but he still likes to get his hands dirty.
- It's good to have practical experience, you know,
know how stuff works.
I mean, if you haven't done, the lineman on a car,
you don't understand how the carb is working,
you don't understand how brakes work,
you're never gonna be able to write software.
That tells a thing how to work.
I mean that's just stupid. You're wasting your time.
- [Host] With gunner's help,
AI Motorvators created the system
that allows this monster
to see and think for itself. [machines beeping]
- So typically you'd give it like a couple of GPS points
and it would go from one point to another, wherever that is.
And in between those two points,
it follows the road and drives.
And also in the nose here, there's two laser sensors.
These are called lidar units.
And what this does is it basically shoots out lasers
in front of the vehicle and the first thing it hits,
it returns back what the distance that thing is.
And so based on that,
it takes a look at what's in front of it
and it makes a decision.
Well where do I think the road is? Where do I need to go?
How fast should I be going?
- [Host] But don't let this tech talk fool you.
This baby is powered by six fuel injected cylinders
and has the heart of a rat rod.
- We started with a Zuzu Trooper frame
and then we heavily modified it, we z'd it in the back
and we put our own three length suspension
on the back of it there.
And we came up with this cantilever suspension
just to get a little more travel
and also to keep the shocks out of
where the sensors were seeing.
This is an air tank, actually.
We decided to use a keg because it has to be a keg.
You know, we're just going back to the hot rodding stuff.
- [Host] The keg looks hot rod, but it's high tech.
It holds compressed air that runs some
of the computer systems.
One of the many top secret innovations,
packed inside this off-road robot.
- No, I can't really talk about what's under here.
Basically what's under here is,
[air hissing]
without going into too many specifics,
is all the control mechanics
and it's all proprietary stuff that we developed.
So we don't talk about that.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] All systems are go,
the guys charted a 1.5 mile test course.
Of course it's never seen before.
They set the monster free.
Now it'll have to figure out the route and speed for itself.
[vehicle revving]
- Looking good.
- So it's doing about 15 miles an hour right now.
- [Host] This is not remote control.
This car is driving all by itself,
using its own eyes on the road.
- So it's doing a pretty good job of that here.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] When the monster sees
that the coast is clear, it's pedal to the metal,
now it's clocking 35 miles per hour.
- It just decides it's clear
and it decides it can go and start hauling now.
[vehicle revving]
- [Host] Maybe hauling a little too much.
When it's going this fast,
you can't really do anything about it.
I mean if it [horn honks] up, it [horn honks] up.
[upbeat rock music]
Bring it in.
- [CJ] Is that it?
- [Gunnar] Yeah, stop it. Stop it.
- [CJ] No, no. Let's see what it does.
- [Gunnar] Stop it.
It's gonna keep doing-
- [CJ] Dude, it's fine.
Don't you want to see what happens with-
- [Host] When the beast opened up,
it went into a skid veering off course.
Gunnar wants to pull the plug,
but CJ wants his baby to get back on track all by itself.
- Let it be free, dude. Let it be free.
[CJ laughs] [vehicle revving]
- [Gunnar] Why?
[CJ laughs]
- That was great correction. Huh?
That was excellent test.
You see it got all squirrelly and corrected all by itself.
Totally got sideways, - [Gunnar] Got right back
on the path. - Got right back on the path.
- [Gunnar] Did you see- - That's what we wanna see.
[horn honks] - [Gunnar] Like that.
Dude, that was- [car thumping] - Yeah.
[driver screams] - [Gunnar] You know how hard,
you had to get on the gas
to take you out on the way-
- Nice ride man.
[laughs] That was beautiful.
- Holy [horn honks].
- One of the parameters that we deal with is
how hard it hits the gas.
We call that the gain on the accelerator.
So the gain's a little high on the accelerator.
So it got a little happy in that turn and got sideways
and then it corrected and then it got back on the,
eventually it got back on the,
it got back on the right path.
So what we'll do is we're going to just change
that setting a little bit and go back out there
and do it should be fine.
These guys, yeah, this is the most sideways,
we got it on the wake bed, but it's fine with me.
That's what we built it for so we don't baby it.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] The gains adjusted
and the beast hits the course for run number two.
[upbeat rock music] [vehicle revving]
The Garage Monster made it
to the coordinates in record time.
Now it's remote control mode
for some celebratory donuts.
[upbeat rock music] [vehicle revs]
- Excellent.
- [Host] The Motorvator machine may be running fine
on a test, but there's still a few more steps
before hauling in the $2 million prize.
Next up, the DERPA qualifying event.
- That's a good robot.
- [Host] Monster Garage factoid.
It's been predicted
that within 25 years we will have robotic waiters,
firefighters, stuntmen and doctors.
At the University of Washington,
they have even developed a robotic marriage counselor
who can offer advice and predict divorce with 90% accuracy.
- From now on I don't think
there'll be the slightest trouble with your robot.
Your domestic problems are completely solved.
[upbeat rock music] [electric buzzing]
♪ Monster, monster garage
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] Welcome to the California speedway.
Today 43 robotic vehicles will flex their brain back muscles
for the DARPA Grand Challenge.
But these vehicles aren't gunning
for the $2 million payoff yet.
This is the qualifying round.
Only the top 20 teams will make it out of here alive.
Today's rules, each unmanned vehicle
must negotiate the tricky 2.7 mile course
without annihilating too many obstacles.
But each attempt whether a success or a disaster
is scored and rated by the DARPA judges.
[upbeat rock music]
The AI Motorvator boys have their place in the pit
and are feeling confident.
- My prediction is that we're like top five teams
and that we're pretty hot to try.
- Oh we're definitely get away.
Their speed limits are a lot slower than
what we've been practicing with,
but I think it'll be cakewalk.
[upbeat music]
- [Host] While the Motorvators wait their turn.
The guys check out the competition.
Some handle the course with precision
while others are downright embarrassing.
[siren blaring]
[tires screeching]
[bike crashing]
- Yeah, in my head I'm spending my 2 million.
[upbeat music]
- [Host] The Motorvator number has come up.
Their first chance to run.
At the last minute the guys added another higher lidar unit
to give the monster a second set of eyes.
They lock 'em down and hit the course.
- It's pretty cool no matter what happens out there.
- Good job everybody. - Good job.
[vehicle engine revs]
[upbeat music]
Hot damn.
- [Host] She's at the gate.
They initiate the program and step back.
- We got the go order. We got the go order.
- [Steve] I dunno how tall it's, can you see from-
[engine revs]
She goes toward the first obstacle here at the national
qualification event.
Westbound and down.
[upbeat music] Oh no.
- [CJ] That's okay.
Alright, these guys,-
- Why? What's wrong? [laughs]
- [Host] This hot rod with a mind of its own,
does what it does best flies in the straightaways.
- That's a good robot right there.
- [Steve] Lining up for the hay bales.
Down through the narrow and contact with the hay bales.
- [Gunnar] How did that happen?
- [Host] This is when the sweating starts.
- [CJ] Prior to the tunnel,
She's like Alice took a hay bale with her.
We have contact with the north wall of the tunnel.
so it can back up. It can back up.
From the garage to the tunnel.
Left the hay bale. Thank you.
- [Gunnar] Come on.
- [Host] The monster went into the tunnel.
Now it's just gotta come out.
[upbeat rock music]
- [CJ] Steve, can you see down the tunnel?
- [Steve] Yes. The vehicle is perpendicular in the tunnel.
- [CJ] It's probably like trying to turn around.
- [Gunnar] That's a good. - Yeah,
I mean it should know where the path is but...
Okay, that's it.
- [Host] Run one is over.
It was not a success.
CJ and the boys have a few more chances
and no time to waste.
Gunnar hones in on the problem.
- This here is what it's seeing as obstacles,
these red circles.
This point here is where the vehicle is
and this is its picture of what's around it.
And I mean it looks like, you know, they were expecting us
to drive through something pretty narrow
and it was just seeing that as I can't drive through that
because you know I'm gonna scrape something.
It's a pretty easy fix.
It's something that we know about
we should be out there in no time.
I mean as soon as we get another chance, I'm ready now.
[upbeat music]
- [Host] Despite their confidence,
the next few runs don't go any better.
[siren blaring]
Points come off for cone crushing
and the tunnel keeps disrupting their GPS signal.
Crippling the bot rod.
- [Steve] Appears to have contacted the southern wall
of the tunnel.
[intense music]
[siren blaring]
- We cannot penetrate the tunnel.
[upbeat rock music]
The transition going to the tunnel.
We are losing GPS that that just made everything squirrely.
Similar problem as it starts picking up GPS.
As it gets close to the end of the tunnel,
it's screwing up too.
- [Host] This will be the team's final attempt,
but CJ is unfazed.
- That's what we came here to do.
What are we [car crashing] or something,
can't get through a stupid little obstacle?
Of course, gimme a [car crashing] break.
- [Host] They must complete the course
and rack up enough points to put their failed attempts
out of the judge's minds.
The team gets up to the observation deck
just as the beast is charging the gate.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Steve] The Garage approaches obstacle number one.
- [Host] Oh points come off for trashing the barrier,
but it makes it through.
Now off to penetrate the tunnel.
- [Steve] The Garage goes through the hay bales, no contact
and enters into the vicinity of the engine.
[siren blaring]
- [CJ] All right, Woohoo!
- [Host] The beast made it through the tunnel.
Now open her up, pass a few more obstacles
and stop at the finish line.
- Nothing. Not gonna hit nothing.
Oh my God.
[siren blaring]
- [Gunnar] All right. [team applauding]
- Finally, excuse my language, but finally.
- All right.
- [Host] The Motorvators did it.
Their monster mastered the obstacle course
on its final attempt.
- Hey. - Thanks.
Hey we just want to drag out the drama a little bit.
- [Host] The judges won't release the list
of the 20 finalists until tomorrow.
So today all that's left to do is celebrate.
[upbeat rock music]
- Gimme a hug buddy. - Ah.
- Gimme a hug.
[Team member whistling]
- [Team] Yeah!
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] The next day at the DARPA pits are empty,
except for the AI Motorvators. Why?
Because the DARPA judges sent the 20 best vehicles
to the $2 million finals
and this monster wasn't one of them.
- Whatever, we didn't make it, you know, I mean who cares?
We're in the building crazy and making it go fast
and running over cones, you know, will give us some cones.
We'll run 'em over, you know.
- [Host] So what's next for the AI Motorvator team?
- Go out and settle.
- Got plans for even more outrageous vehicles
that are just gonna blow them away.
We're talking a 150 mile an hour Autonomous vehicles.
- You know, we're not quitters.
I don't care what happens. We're not quitting.
There's nothing that's gonna stop me.
[upbeat rock music]
[water bubbling]
♪ Monster, monster garage
- [Host] Now across the border
to what they call the wet coast.
[intense music]
The countryside around Vancouver, British Columbia,
may look like a peaceful idyllic area,
but here deep under the water, a monster resurfacing.
It's not Nessi, [water bubbling]
it's a mini sub.
This sophisticated submarine is capable of diving
to a 130 feet, reaching speeds of five knots
and can stay underwater for up to two hours.
It was built not by the Canadian Defense Department,
but rather by guys who run a neon sign company.
[upbeat music] [signs buzzing]
Let's meet the mastermind.
Rob Shanz is the project manager
and head of research and development
for International Venture Craft.
He's also the owner of the Sign Shop, Neon Works.
Ron Leonard is the contractor who came up
with this Marine madness.
And Dewey Von Randan works at the sign factory
and does the lion's share of the sub fabrication.
This backyard monster is literally just that
because it's built behind the neon sign shop.
And how does a neon sign designer end up in such deep water?
- Had a sign shop going in 1986
and a friend of mine, Ron Leonard, approached me
to help him to design, develop a personal submarine.
Built a prototype, blew it up a couple of times,
had a couple of major explosions, battery explosions,
things like that.
Learned our lessons and now we're at this point.
- [Host] This point is 20 years
and 200 subs later they start at 45,000 bucks a pop
and offer rich guys a glimpse of the sea
that only scuba divers normally get
and their customers don't have to learn a thing.
- The sub is doing all of that technical stuff for them.
They don't even know what's going on to to keep them alive.
- [Host] Ignorance is bliss for the sub buyer
but not the sub builder.
Being the first of a kind, these builders had to chart their
own design course, starting with how
it navigates 130 feet underwater.
- These propellers are horizontal thrusters.
They push the sub forward and back, they make it steer.
We call these ones the vertical thrusters.
They are connected to a computer
that you can set to a depth
and they'll take you to that depth automatically.
This is the new latest technology
- And down at depth, it's safety first.
So what separates the sea tourist from a salt water death?
Glue.
- It's a urethane silicone combination.
So what we do with these, we used
to have all this fancy system of mounting this.
Now we just glue it on.
Basically these bolts
that are holding it in place are just there,
till the glue sets up.
This whole skid plate's glued on with it.
Our battery lids are now just glued on.
If people knew that, you know, that's the sort of stuff
that we were doing, it takes a skill, but...
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] But Rob,
isn't your ordinary small business owner
with dreams of going global.
He's about to say something that may shock Americans.
- We don't wanna see it get big.
You lose control in a big business,
if we mass produce them, we wouldn't have the opportunity
to change them all the time,
make them better and there would be a possibility
that we would hurt somebody,
'cause safety. You know, your life is relying on this thing
to be perfect for a long time.
[water bubbling] [upbeat rock music]
- [Host] Enough jawing, we're here for the build.
While Ron is in charge of wiring the beast.
Rob Fabricates an aluminum captain's chair.
[upbeat rock music]
We don't have time to wait around
until this micro sub's done, another six months.
But the guys want to show off their subsurface skills
so they break out their tester the first sub they ever built
back in 1986.
[country music]
It looks complicated,
but the concept is surprisingly simple.
- The main way that this thing works,
the concept behind it is you're taking a pocket of air
and you're trapping it under the water, like taking a glass,
sticking it into water, pushing it down.
It holds that water in there.
So the way that works is this center chamber here
is where you sit
and that's where the pocket of air gets trapped.
Then you control this pocket of air by releasing air out
through these exhaust ports.
And what that does is when you get an equal amount
of air in there to the displacement,
you're now neutrally buoyant.
So the sub doesn't weigh anything,
it's under the water and it's completely weightless.
- [Host] The team is also here
to put a new feature through its paces.
- The top hatch, the top entry.
This is more just a test platform
to see if this hatch was gonna work.
We are going to eventually seal the bottom of this sub off
and make this hatch be the main entry point.
This particular model was designed originally
as a swim entry model.
It has an opening at the back that you can see back here
and you, it floats in the water up to about this height.
And you swim along and and swim down into it.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] It's launch time for the sub.
The little monster crawls out
to take a closer look at this Canadian lake bottom.
[upbeat music]
- It's okay, we wanted to put it on bottom anyway.
[upbeat rock music]
[water bubbling]
- Cool.
- [Rob] Yeah.
- Ready to die.
[water bubbling]
We are now free to cruise.
Check things out, see whatever, whatever we want.
[intense music]
One handed operation.
This joystick is just so easy to operate.
[water bubbling] See the sun shining off.
[car engine revving]
- [Host] The mini sub swims like a fish.
And of the 200 made, not one has gone belly up.
It looks like the future
of venture craft is even brighter than neon.
- There's nothing else like it in the world.
So to have people see how a company as small
as the Neon company is
and the skills that we have here
that we can actually take in this shop with these people
and build a product as good as this one.
You know that, that means a lot to me.
I'm very proud of that.
- [Host] Monster Garage, factoid.
The longest military submarine ever built
was Russia's typhoon, which stretched 564 feet.
The longest submarine sandwich was cooked up
by the kids at Barnard College in New York City
and measured a full 700 feet,
beating the Russkiye by 136 feet.
[upbeat rock music] ♪ Monster, monster garage
[upbeat rock music]
Next up the Empire State.
[upbeat rock music]
Just outside the big apple lies in abandoned airstrip,
Floyd Bennett field.
This is where a couple of Brooklynites are going
to unleash their monster.
These guys are from the Madagascar Institute
and they're ready to fry some blacktop
with their homemade jet bike.
[upbeat rock music]
But this ain't any monster cycle
It's a salvage train with the motor taken out
and a pulse jet engine thrown in.
- A refined version of of the buzz b*mb.
One of the Germans sent over to London
and they're pretty loud so we'll find out.
- [Host] Is it a bike? [bell rings] Is it a jet?
Is it a b*mb? Yes!
This pieced together, cycle is powered only
by a homemade jet engine.
Just the kind of chaos creating contraption
that the art freaks at the Madagascar Institute
like to build.
- God, I wouldn't ride on that thing.
- [Camera Person] How come? - Are you kidding?
You know how dangerous this is?
That's why Doyle does it.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] These maniacs are just a few
of the Madagascar posse.
Hackett is the institute's spokesman
and owner of the workshop headquarters.
Doyle is a Brooklyn based welder who's always willing
to risk his neck in the name of art.
And Philly is from Philly
and he's the jack of all machines in this shop.
And what is Madagascar and what do they make?
- Mayhem.
- A couple of years ago we did a reenactment
of the Hindenburg disaster.
- Lot of polytechnics. - This is my niche scar.
- As a result of art,
I've already blown most of my face off.
- Yeah, it's an art collective.
- Collective sounds way too hippie.
So we called an Art Combine.
You just have the idea of this huge monolithic force
that crushes everything underneath it.
And that's what we aspire to.
- These guys don't get paid to make mayhem,
they do it just for the love of monsters
and they've put a lot of love into this baby.
Here's how it works.
The jet is propelled by a series of explosions
and to make an expl*si*n, you need three things.
Fuel, a spark, and fresh air.
In this case air from a leaf blower.
- The fuel keeps stumping in
and then at the beginning you have a spark, boom expl*si*n.
Some of the force comes that way. Some of it comes that way.
When it comes out that way,
it creates a vacuum over here, right?
Because there's, you know, imbalance of pressure
and so it sucks enough of a shockwave back
that it sucks in fresh air and the gas keeps coming in
and it's like the piston in an engine,
except instead of an actual physical piston,
it's just the shockwave that does it.
- [Host] Get it?
expl*si*n, Propulsion, Air. [bell dings]
expl*si*n, Propulsion, Air. [bell dings]
expl*si*n, Propulsion, Air. [bell dings]
And this reaction blows off a hundred times a second.
[bell dings]
No moving parts.
It may seem simple but there are still a few risks.
- If one of the welds broke,
it could just engulf you in propane.
Liquid propane that's already on fire.
Pretty much burned to death.
- [Host] Enough talk.
Let's see if this homemade bike actually runs.
- Are we ready?
Spark. - Spark.
- Air. [air firing]
[bike revs]
- [Host] Fuel plus air plus a spark,
equals a buzz b*mb bike.
[bike revs] [upbeat music]
This monster doesn't fly but she does burn.
The pipe heats up to 1200 degrees.
- You didn't mess up this time. Good job.
- I didn't crash.
- [Host] She's hot as hell,
but at 21 miles an hour, she's not a speed demon.
And that's this team's challenge.
Add some velocity to this scrap metal rocket.
- Do you think we can double the speed tomorrow?
- Eh. Maybe.
It'll go faster.
- Yeah, it'll definitely go faster. I don't know,
- [Host] The deal is with more power comes more danger.
So if they can add some speed
and stay alive, we'll toss 'em some tools.
- We're gonna put in an additional fuel line.
We're still gonna start it off propane,
then we're gonna run it for a little while, a minute or so.
And then we're gonna build a gas powered,
a gas driven fuel line.
Gasoline pressurized with nitrogen
and after the engine heats up enough,
I'm just gonna dump a buttload
of gasoline into there
and see what happens.
- You think we should throw all in it?
- Yeah, yeah, let's do it all at once.
What could possibly, oh right, [camera person laughs]
that expl*si*n in the dying in the, yeah, whatever.
- There's really no way to tell until we do it.
So let's go try.
[car revs]
[upbeat music]
- [Host] Brooklyn, New York.
The Madagascar Institute's knife center
where art mechanics bake their monsters.
Yesterday the team's homemade jet bike scorched the pavement
at 21 miles per hour.
Today they need to modify their monster to get more speed.
- We're gonna make a new fuel system for the jet so
that we can run it off of gasoline
that we're gonna pressurize with nitrogen,
- [Host] Hackett and Doyle,
head out to the yard to scrounge up a gas tank.
- That tank's ugly though. - Yeah.
- Why don't we just make it out of,
a smaller cylinder that you already have.
- We could,
that'd be a little more homemade and probably cool.
- Yeah, it just-
- [Host] A few aluminum cylinders are about to go
from trash heap to gas tank and Doyle digs it.
- We have one of these pressurized already?
Nitrogen? - [Hackett] Yeah.
- Two in the back might be okay.
- And one with gas, other with fuel?
That could be cool.
- [Host] The team decides that they'll add not one
but two more tanks.
- And one tank that's full of gasoline.
One tank that's full of nitrogen to pressurize
and regulating the nitrogen pressure going
into the gasoline tank.
That way we have a a finer degree of control.
- [Host] And if there's no control over pressure.
- If one of the fittings fail
and they ignite, then there's no way for us to shut it off
and it'll just be a giant fireball.
- [Host] While Philly gets creative with tank placement.
Madagascarike, Jason rolls in with some extra juice
for the jet.
- Yeah, you wanna stick that one up?
- Yeah, let's throw it on there.
- Okay.
- Thing called an augmenter, which is just a little bit
of stainless steel fru fru that goes around the end
of one of the jet outtakes.
They're supposed to increase the efficiency of the thrust.
I don't know if they work or not, but it'll look pretty too.
And we like pretty.
[upbeat rock music]
- Just like it.
- [Host] Philly's fabbed a gas induction tube.
This rod sprays the gasoline into the combustion chamber.
Before attaching it they pressure test the rod using water.
- I bet that's gonna squirt water right out of there.
- We'll find out.
- That's a lot of fuel. - Yep.
- That's like [hammer thumping] load of fuel.
- Yep.
- I think it's 'cause those holes are a little too-
- Big? - [Hackett] Yeah.
- Okay.
Do you think you can partially weld these holes?
- Maybe.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] Doyle slaps on some precision wells
and it's take two.
- Uhoh.
- Uh oh, what happened?
- The holes are still too big.
- Boy. - It's not atomizing?
- [Host] The spray is heavy but Hackett likes it.
- Think it'll atomize fine when it hits the walls
of the red hot gas tank.
- Alright, I hope you're right.
- Let's say we do it. Let's say we just weld it in.
- All right. It's your call.
- Am I gonna die?
- We'll find out.
- Safety third.
[kid laughing]
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] So they load up their tank bombs
with fuel, strap them to the bike
and head back to Bennett Field.
[upbeat rock music]
The team rolls out the jet as the skies open up.
It doesn't last long, but Doyle thinks it's an ominous sign.
- I'm a little nervous today.
- [Camera Person] Oh yeah?
- Yeah, but
just 'cause it, I don't know, it's different now.
- [Host] As the sun sets they start the leaf leafblower.
Madagascars are go. [leaf blower whirring]
- Whoa. - Okay.
Air.
[engine thundering] [engine whirring]
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] To g*n for speed,
Doyle cranks the throttle dumping massive amounts
of fuel into the chamber.
But instead of creating more thrust,
he's creating liquid fire.
[upbeat rock music]
At the site of this fireball,
some art guys would wuss out,
but Doyle gets right back up on that steel horse.
- Alright, let's try it again
and I won't turn the gas up as much.
- [Host] The heat melted the welds on the augmenters
so they rip it off and start her up again.
[upbeat rock music]
[flames whooshing] [engine whirring]
The buzz b*mb jet bike,
lights up the New York night.
- That was fun.
- [Host] A 50% improvement
and Doyle still has all his limbs.
- There's a little sketchy kind of ka boom moments where-
- What? - The whole ride
like here jetting burning gasoline out over there.
My big plan to k*ll Doyle failed again.
- Awesome man.
[upbeat rock music]
- Now the Madagascar maniac celebrate with a surprise.
A $2,000 set of Milwaukee electric power tools.
- Wow. Thank you TV show people.
[tools clanking]
- Yay! - Yay!
- [Host] And like all demented children,
they know just what to do with that.
- Let's break 'em.
- Yeah.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] In the final chapter
of Backyard monsters,
little children use fruit to destroy cars.
[car crashing]
You gotta see it to believe it.
[water bubbling] [upbeat rock music]
♪ Monster, monster garage
[upbeat music]
- Next stop. The Mitten State.
[upbeat music]
Hey monster fans. It's the Big Schwag here.
Deep in the Michigan heartland.
We are in All American Fowler Field where the meat is red,
the vests are black leather
and the men exercise their right to bear arms.
And speaking of the second amendment, here it comes now.
Hey, what the heck is it?
- I'm here with my g*n.
The second amendment, baddest ear cannon on the planet.
- [Host] That's right folks.
It's a monster cannon,
capable of sh**ting three quarters of a mile.
And what's the a*mo? Pumpkins.
- We usually sh**t pumpkins, but they're not in season.
So we're gonna use melons for a*mo.
No chickens, no turkeys, no cats.
[cat meowing] [parade music]
- [Host] So today this ain't any ordinary cornfield.
It's a battleground
and it takes an army of mechanics
to get this fruit flinger fiery.
But the real brains behind this beast is Bruce Bradford.
He's an amateur munitions expert and champion chunker
of pumpkins.
- These are championship rings, world championship rings
that we won in 2002 and 2003.
Yeah, in 2003 we shot the world record 4,434 feet.
Longest pumpkin's ever been shot
out at the championships.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] But first the team has
to assemble this 20,000 pound monster g*n.
The big challenge is
to attach the massive barrel extension adding 75 feet
for a total of 100.
But what makes this cannon really cool is not its size,
it's the power.
The force behind the melon b*ll*ts
is not gunpowder, folks, it's air.
- What we got here is a two stage pumpkin g*n.
It's fired by compressed air.
We fire the low pressure first.
Start the pumpkin out the barrel or melon
and then kick it in the butt with the high pressure
to get distance out of it.
This is our air compressor here
that we charge the g*n up with
and control panel over there
to fire the g*n with.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] There's a hundred pounds
of air pressure behind one little melon.
- Should be ready to rock.
- [Host] Let's warm her up folks,
and show how far she can toss one.
[upbeat rock music]
They sound the get-the-heck-outta-the-way horn.
[horn honking]
And fire one. [g*n whooshing]
Whoa. I have never seen a melon move so fast.
[g*n whooshing]
How far did she go boys?
Word from out in the field, she hit her mark.
Exactly, three quarters of a mile.
- Ah, Bruce, you're awesome.
Hey. [laughs] - Hey, hey. All right.
- [Host] That's cool.
But we're not here to go for distance.
We're here to see a real monster challenge.
Here's the dealio. Everything is worth 10 points.
They have 12 melons to inflict some serious damage.
If they make a hundred points,
we got a little present for 'em,
[upbeat rock music]
[spray paint hissing]
- I think we can do it.
- [Host] Ron the gunner has his own goals.
I'm gonna try to do damage.
- Oh, okay. That's all I'm after.
- Yeah.
[upbeat music]
- [Host] Now to get this competition heated up,
gunner run lines up the target.
The crowd goes quiet now let it rip.
[horn honks]
[g*n whooshing]
[crowd cheering]
- Ten points. - Yeah.
- Exactly what we aimed at.
- [Host] Boom! The porta-potty takes a direct hit.
What a food fight!
- The little green guy next man.
- [Host] The guys reload and aim again.
[horn honks] [g*n whooshing]
[melon bangs]
- [Host] Whoa. It's a miss.
- Cut slow, man.
It went right between there. I can't believe it.
[g*n whooshing] [melon bangs]
Bring it up about that far.
- This is the controls for the g*n, for the turret.
We can move it right and left and up and down.
- [Camera Person] Okay.
- Right now I'm just wanna get it just a little bit higher.
- [Bruce] Hold on, hold on.
- Hopefully this would be the shot that does it.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] Only 10 melons left to make their goal.
No, the guys load two melons for double the damage.
[horn honks]
[g*n whooshing] [melon bangs]
- Three high.
- [Host] You gotta be kidding me. Two at once.
Gimme that in Monster replay.
[melon banging]
- [Bruce] So we get 40 points for that.
- [Host] Bring on Melon number five.
- One more time and lower her down. Just a touch man.
We'll knock her off. Go ahead and do it.
[horn honks]
[g*n whooshing] [melon bangs]
[crowd cheering]
- Oh.
- [Host] That fruit blew through metal
like it was paper.
[horn honks]
[g*n whooshing] [glass clattering]
- Oh, same spot.
- [Host] They're rocking a point
and the crowd is getting a taste for destruction.
- One.
[g*n whooshing] [melon bangs]
- Oh. Still hanging.
- [Host] Lucky melon number seven scores the 60th point.
Who knew the fruit could cause so much damage?
- Okay, one more time.
[country music]
- [Host] The battle of the melons is not over,
but now it's break time.
Let's sample the spoils of w*r.
- Tasting good to you? - Yes.
- Oh! - Maybe that thing-
[country music]
[kids laughing]
[upbeat rock music]
- [Host] Destruction is so much fun.
Let's watch what the kids have a crack at it.
- Again. [horn honks]
One more. [horn honks]
All right, push the button.
[g*n whooshing] [melon bangs]
- [Bruce] All right!
- [Host] Oh yeah. 70 points.
- Good shot. Good shot.
[g*n whooshing] [melon bangs]
- Oh yeah. - [Host] 80 Points.
[g*n whooshing] [melon bangs]
Only two melons left to make their goal
of 100 points.
Happiness is a warm g*n, ain't it Junior?
Now we have a special challenge for young Tara.
For the final 10 points.
This little lady is going to try to take out Santy claus.
[horn honks]
- Alright, now push that one down.
- [Tara] This one? - [Gunner] Yep. Push it.
[g*n whooshing] [melon bangs]
- [Bruce] Woah. [crowd cheering]
- [Host] That melon bounced off father Christmas
and the team made their 100 points.
Way to go.
Enough messing around folks.
The Second Amendment team has earned their loot
and it's time to pay up suckers.
- All right!
- Oh. - Excellent.
- Thank you. Thank You.
[everyone applauding]
- Oh my God.
- We all get new set of tools.
- That's mine.
- There's mine, that's mine, that's mine.
- That's a new tool crib, buddy.
- That's mine-
- Okay. I'd just like to say great time we had today.
You're all fired. These are my tools.
[everyone laughs]
[everyone applauding]
Thank you Milwaukee.
[everyone applauding]
- You know that thing can sure sling some melon,
but so can the schwag.
[upbeat rock music]
[watermelon splashing]
[logo whooshing]
Welcome to our World! Where we serve you cookies to ensure you get the best viewing experience on our site.
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
05x08 - Backyard Monsters (Pt. 1)
Watch/Buy Amazon
A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise was assembled to modify a vehicle into a "monster machine."
A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise was assembled to modify a vehicle into a "monster machine."