Gold Rush - Alaska - The Motherload

[Ben Cartwright SASS]

I was trying to edit the post and messed it all up.

My original post was that I see that someone hits the motherload. I am saying I hope it is Parker or the Hoffmans and not Dakota Fred.

The show based on the how they edit it has Dakota Fred rubbing me the wrong way. Fred told the producer that the show makes him look like someone who is only out for himself but he is really a nice guy. My idea of a nice guy would have lent parker the electrical panel. However he did claim it was his "partner" who wanted $10k for the panel (or was it Fred?)

The Hoffmans seem to make all kinds of mistakes and bad decisions, and Parker is impulsive, but he is only 17!

Still I hope it is either of them, but at the same time if it is Fred, well good for him, I wish it where me! Maybe the next time on the river I will hit a pocket for a hundred ounces!

 

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[Peyton Manning]

I think it's time for Dave to fire the Hoffmans

 

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[mellowyellow]

because todd is a moron as a business man...

Now how do you really feel

 

[Goodyguy]

I've never done prospecting nor mining, just been watching all these tv shows, but why couldn't they have been shoveling the tailings from hoffmans' trommel/wash plant into a high banker or other sluicing system, instead of standing around playing pocket pool for days/weeks at a time? Anyone? And never ever saw a metal detector on this show---what's up with that.

Good point Ray

Like I said before... Todd could also have easily used his Quartz Creek crew to truck their so called super dirt the two miles over to the Indian River site to run a second shift.

Which is what they will be forced to do next, if my hunch is correct. Or else they just leave their dirt at Quartz Creek and go to Indian River to work that ground.

GG~

 

[jeff of pa]

Originally Posted by ray in ny

I've never done prospecting nor mining, just been watching all these tv shows, but why couldn't they have been shoveling the tailings from hoffmans' trommel/wash plant into a high banker or other sluicing system, instead of standing around playing pocket pool for days/weeks at a time? Anyone? And never ever saw a metal detector on this show---what's up with that.

yea I'd swear I saw the Hoffmans with Garrett caps on at times.
Not sure if they were given to the crew for advertising of if they detect

 

[Tigue710]

The Hoffman's have a promo deal with garret, "The Hoffman's use garret pans".... Polaris also gave every body sweet new machines to run around on...

I've been wondering myself why they haven't trucked the dirt over to Indian River yet, I would of done that two months ago, or set the old plant back up... Me thinks it has something to do with Drama and production, if the film crews are not sabotaging their equipment I'd be surprised too... The show has gone down hill from last season, its all drama and no gold, 40 minutes of show that could have done in 5 minutes and 20 minutes of the highest grossing ad space on tv right now...

Its starting to suck

I'm feeling bad for Tod, but its times to get the act together... Why didn't he know he needed a better sluice for that trommel anyway?

 

[Goodyguy]

The Hoffman's have a promo deal with garret, "The Hoffman's use garret pans".... Polaris also gave every body sweet new machines to run around on...

I've been wondering myself why they haven't trucked the dirt over to Indian River yet, I would of done that two months ago, or set the old plant back up... Me thinks it has something to do with Drama and production, if the film crews are not sabotaging their equipment I'd be surprised too... The show has gone down hill from last season, its all drama and no gold, 40 minutes of show that could have done in 5 minutes and 20 minutes of the highest grossing ad space on tv right now...

Its starting to suck

I'm feeling bad for Tod, but its times to get the act together... Why didn't he know he needed a better sluice for that trommel anyway?

Supposedly the camera crew shoots thousands of hours of video that gets edited down to 30 min. per episode. And that 30 min. gets divided up between Fred's claim, Parker's Claim, and Todd's claims. The other few minutes of show time is just flash back filler, and the rest is commercials.

Hard to believe that out of all the footage that gets shot that the best the editors can do is the 30 min of tripe that gets broadcast each week

But then placer mining is just digging and washing dirt. It's the personalities and drama that make the show interesting for the masses.
Personally I'd rather watch it in a documentary format but then the whole thing would only have been at most a two hour special.

GG~

 

[KevinInColorado]

Totally with you guys on what a big mess Todd has made of it all. One thing: he says on his Facebook page that he is frustrated by the network for not showing any of the reclamation. Apparently they are very good on that front. .

Mine it and recycle it!

 

[rocamadour]

The turbo trommel is a very good trommel. In fact, it acts as a trommel (inside) and as a self cleaning sluice (outside). The problem with Todd's trommel is that it is a prototype which must be thoroughly tested before it is used in mining operation. All that take time. After upgrading the machine motor, came the problem with the helicoïdal riffle. This must have been fixed in preliminaries tests. One reason of this failure could have been the excessive speed of the trommel due to the new motor. So, all we have seen about this trommel are just preliminary tests, more of the time without the manufacturer on spot. That's completely irrealistic. That's why we saw these failures. The trommel tests must go on and it must be delivered to the customer when fine tuning is completed. Who is responsible? Todd is the one. The manufacturer is the other.

 

[jeff of pa]

The turbo trommel is a very good trommel. In fact, it acts as a trommel (inside) and as a self cleaning sluice (outside). The problem with Todd's trommel is that it is a prototype which must be thoroughly tested before it is used in mining operation. All that take time. After upgrading the machine motor, came the problem with the helicoïdal riffle. This must have been fixed in preliminaries tests. One reason of this failure could have been the excessive speed of the trommel due to the new motor. So, all we have seen about this trommel are just preliminary tests, more of the time without the manufacturer on spot. That's completely irrealistic. That's why we saw these failures. The trommel tests must go on and it must be delivered to the customer when fine tuning is completed. Who is responsible? Todd is the one. The manufacturer is the other.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was pretty much given to them for a song,
so they could figure the bugs out.
and since Todd rushed them, they cut corners to get it done & there.

of course considering all the problems on air, I bet he's regretting letting Todd do the test run

 

[pong12211]

Watching the Hoffmans is seriously a challenge.. I know this is not an easy way to make a living but seriously Todd is no leader and certainly cannot make a plan and follow through with it. The guy had that huge trommel built and has had nothing but problems with it and it seems like it's due to poor planning in my opinion.. Todd always has these big ideas and never is able to make them work due to his own imcompitance.. Sure the guy that built their trommel should have done better but Todd should have been there making sure the job was being done correctly.. If anybody should be running that outfit in my opinion it should be Dave.. That guy is a leader a problem solver and a hard worker he is very impressive in what he can accomplish..

 

[Goodyguy]

I can picture Dave Turin striking out on his own with his own crew.
He's definitely got the fever and I doubt he will ever go back to sand and gravel, plus he's too smart to be following Todd.

Hopefully by now he's learned to correctly read a GPS

GG~

 

[UncleMatt]

Well welcome to the liberal agenda.... trying to make kids who watch the show think it's normal behavior.
What will Cristo's next reality show be?...... "Brokeback Miners"

GG~

So talk of a bromance on the air was promoting a liberal agenda? Not really, no. Check out wikipedia's definition of "bromance" . It merely refers to men who are good friends and spend a lot of time with each other. The term was coined by skateboarders who hung out a lot together. Not everything in this world is about politics...

 

[UncleMatt]

Here is a questiom: why isn't the builder of the turbo trommel FIXING IT? Under warranty? If you pay a lot for a good, and that good does not work (or is defective), shouldn't the manufacturer FIX IT? Or give a refund? The builder already had to replace the engine with an electric motor! Sounds like fraud has been perpetrated to me...

 

[Goodyguy]

So talk of a bromance on the air was promoting a liberal agenda? Not really, no. Check out wikipedia's definition of "bromance" . It merely refers to men who are good friends and spend a lot of time with each other. The term was coined by skateboarders who hung out a lot together. Not everything in this world is about politics...

And we all know how conservative skateboarders are..... not!

Ok I may have been off topic about the liberal agenda.....sorry

Politics aside, that whole man-crush segment was very creepy and then when Cristo suggested that Parker and Tony should begin hugging each other it really made them uncomfortable. Especially after Cristo had repeatedly stated how he and parker had such a man-crush on Tony. Not to mention the comments Cristo had made earlier in the segment about Tonys chest hair and wanting to see Parkers chest.

 

[Hoser John]

British photogs/producer suck almost as bad as Todd-which is horrendous-that thang purt near makes a mans eyes bleed,can't handle but a few minutes here and there just trying to keep up on kid Parker/Gpa and insane Freds mess-John

 

[Fullpan]

I used to laugh at Conspiricy Nuts - After watching these shows, I think I are one. Is it just me? What I keep seeing is big picture stuff. All these manly
movers and shakers, industrial, builders, mineral resource users - are bumbling idiots. Forget us, watching to see gold and mining methods - all those
urban greenies that must make up majority of the audience, are seeing human mistakes, wastelands(quartz creek area shots), "precious" trees getting bulldozed,
massive industrial machines breaking down every two minutes. At least in Ca., youngsters in school have been taught very little about engineering marvels like
Hoover Dam, the Panama Canal, the interstate highway system, etc. Instead, teachers focus on how valuable the bow-legged frog is, the desert tortoise
is more important than mining, etc. The parents on this forum, i'm sure, have tried to balance their kids learning, but what are others saying when they
see this totally lopsided view. These shows are anti-everthing that made this country strong. Is it just me? P.S. I want to see more of the dog catching a stick!

 

[oldbrundogg]

I haven't watched the show in a couple years Mr. Pan but yes I think you have it right. You change people's perception just a little bit at a time no large quick movements. We don't even notice, this is a long game. "They" are looking way down the road our kids kids pay the price and unless they pay attention to "real" history which I guess comes the old fashioned way, by word of mouth from those that were there. We except it. Let the young ones here your "real"experiences.

Just my 2 cent
OBD

 

[rocamadour]

Here is a questiom: why isn't the builder of the turbo trommel FIXING IT? Under warranty? If you pay a lot for a good, and that good does not work (or is defective), shouldn't the manufacturer FIX IT? Or give a refund? The builder already had to replace the engine with an electric motor! Sounds like fraud has been perpetrated to me...

We don't know what was the deal between the manufacturer Ray and Todd. I'll bet my 2 cents that Todd didn't ask for a written contract. In that case, when the trommel was delivered and worked, even for a short time, we can consider that all is OK. Any further repairing would be paid by Todd. That's the problem when there is no contract and no guarantee. Only one judgement could maybe save Todd some money. The right way for Todd would have been to make a contract with guarantee for this prototype trommel as soon as they stopped mining last season. The manufacturer would had time to build the trommel and made all necessary tests durings many hours. He would have seen that the trommel was under-powered, that the silicone associated with the helicoidal riffle is not good enough. He would have discovered the best parameters for the trommel angle, RPM/minute trommel speed, height of riffle, water parameters (speed, height), yards/minute to load. You cannot just guess those parameters, calculus is not enough. Only field tests will show you the best parameters. For these reasons, I'm very surprised that the manufacturer accepted to go directly on spot to make preliminaries tests. Manufacturers never show this step because machines can break and this is very bad for his product publicity. I think he was too confident on the quality of his trommel. That's a fault. Zero default theory ended when Nasa Shuttle exploded in Florida. There is no zero default. Testings are mandatory. Now, as Todd was hurrying him, he finally accepted, probably because he knew that would be a problem for the series id Todd stood still too long. He was wrong. Reality has shown that the result was even worse and Gold Machine turbo trommel got a very bad image to maybe hundreds of would be buyers. Now, I do think that the manufacturer will pay for all repairings. Ray seems a good guy, maybe too confident.

 

[GrayCloud]

Back to Mining. Todd and crew lost all their gold in their washplant operation. Why and how does a commercial operation wash that much material and not know their recovery/lost percentages to material worked. Most all of us here, would have constantly check the material going in and out of the plant throughout the day.

Just my guess buy I would say Ole Fred has the best chance of making big strike. Lots of big ole river rocks in his diggins. Dave may pull Todds butt out of a jam with the new cut on the high bench. Lots of wasted time, energy and bad decisions in Todds operation.

 

[KevinInColorado]

You said it right Greycloud!

I am amazed at the apparent lack of testing/monitoring in Todd's operation. Absolutely immoral!

Mine it and recycle it!