Gold Rush - General Discussion

[Rock knocker]

I forgot that Dave was a CE.  Amazing how stupid people will allow themselves to look for the camera

[clod]

40 minutes ago, Rock knocker said:

Amazing how stupid people will allow themselves to look for the camera

 

sounds exactly like ABP.

[Rock knocker]

17 hours ago, clod said:

 

sounds exactly like ABP.

Dave is a smart person who looks dumb.  ABP is a bunch of lazy idiots who look like lazy idiots.

Edited November 28, 2016 by Rock knocker

[TheLastKidPicked]

Its funny how the producers forget that we have access to the internet and can easily verify what's going on behind the scenes.

Todd has said flat out,  "The money is in the show, not in the gold."

He gets paid to be on the show no matter what.  All of this drama of Todd losing everything and having to start over with only the clothes on his back is just made up, and it is so easy to check it out that its insulting they even try to put this over on us.

[Liberty]

In Episode 8 it looked like Todd's major accomplishment was naming something.  Todd is putting on so much weight even his beard does not hide his double chin, in spite of the wilting gold count he is eating well.  His major talent may be pitching new ideas for next season to Disco.

Of course no viewers picked up the fact that the new mine is owned by the same Wirtz as the mine they just left.

Usual stupidity and shallow plot.

Management certainly like making motions in the air to direct the workers, and coaxing them on with inspirational motivation.

As the LastKidPicked said, it is insulting to me as a viewer.

Edited December 4, 2016 by Liberty

[Medicine Crow]

I'm totally done with Todd & his "Band of Losers" so I ff through to something more palatable. 

[Lonesome Rhodes]

It's ridiculous, by Tony's quest to move and establish the second dredge is a fascinating engineering problem.  They could, and should, devote most of the show to that effort.  We saw none of Gene tearing the dredge apart into thirds.  That sounds like a phenomenal effort!  There simply had to be several dramatic inflection points where that effort could have resulted in failure or catastrophe.

We get phony baloney mining in Oregon.

I really want to hear more from Parker about the brand new sluicer he engineered failing structurally.  That is an enormous deal.  It's his failure, too.  Here again - we could have seen him imagining this machine, observe as it was engineered and drawn.  Then we could have watched as it was fabricated.  All of that is great stuff!  Nothing.

Is there no talk show this season?  I would enjoy watching them trying to create some cogent timeline with any and all of these guys.  It can't be done honestly.  Dozer would give answers at least as understandable as Toad.

[TheLastKidPicked]

14 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

 

I really want to hear more from Parker about the brand new sluicer he engineered failing structurally.  That is an enormous deal.  It's his failure, too.  Here again - we could have seen him imagining this machine, observe as it was engineered and drawn.  Then we could have watched as it was fabricated.  All of that is great stuff!  

 

I agree with Lonesome Rhodes on this.

The early seasons started out allowing us to be a fly on the wall, watching the miners as they figured out problems.  It was interesting and educational to watch some of the fixes that they had to come up with in the early episodes.

Then they had to pump things up by injecting all the artificial drama into it.  It's too bad, because there is still a lot of interesting things going on and the extra drama is just not needed.

[pastafarian]

I keep watching for the LULZ.  I'd really like to know what the Hoffmans acquisition cost is per ounce?  Two ounces?  Five?  Because everyone knows that digging a huge 100 ft deep hole and having to move an astounding amount of 'overburden' is a walk in the park?  Also, didn't they have severe water issues at the site requiring costly pond lining?  So I'm sure adding an additional water wash to the plant was no problem whatsoever?   I also got a chuckle with Mitch's visit to the Hoffmans and their offer....he does realize no one is getting paid there?  "It's halfway through the season and they only have none of their ambitious 5000oz, time is running short"!!!  WTF?????  Either they always intended to loaf around for many weeks or someone at Discovery's really bad at math.  Why wouldn't Tony do the stability test on the tug before moving and renovating it?   Did anyone else notice that the working dredges best cleanups seem to occur when Tony takes his son away from the dredge?  While watching the last episode with my son, I commented that it looked like Parker intended to place that heavy machine on a relatively narrow berm made of loose ground and how that appeared to be a really bad strategy.  That was before the rain.   But I guess anyone sitting on a sofa watching TV has an engineering advantage over someone who actually does these things for a living?  It's not reality, it's a sitcom.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I'm glad we got to see at least the beginning of the tear down of the dredge.  It was fun to see at least some Canadian safety enforcement (the tug).  Didja notice Tony had nothing bad to say directly to those engineers?  Sure, he groused, but not one word as to the legitimacy of the testing, nor how it was carried out.  We have never seen him like that.  He was the powerless one.  He took orders.  

Parker is becoming noticeably more reckless.  He's entrusting too much powerful equipment to relative neophytes, for one.  He also failed to adequately plan the move of Sluicifer.  Sure enough, a near catastrophe occurs.

Rick is reverting to the dick we first met on this show.  He's also a bad influence on Parker.  Where the hell was Parker when the tailings belt was being moved?   There's designating tasks and authority, and there's stupidity.  The few minutes he would have taken to ensure a safe and proper hook-up, with the newbie driver, were a super cheap price to pay.   He just delegated.  Fool.

[Rock knocker]

On 12/10/2016 at 6:09 AM, pastafarian said:

  Why wouldn't Tony do the stability test on the tug before moving and renovating it?  

A stability test is required after major work and repairs.  The vessel also changed to an Canadian flag boat.

I'm also guessing that Tony is going to have to hire a Canadian licensed skipper, but I bet they make it look like Tony and Gene are winging the affair.

[SRTouch]

Another so so week which left me wondering why I still watch. Well, guess it's to see who will fight who at the Buckland mine, and what kind of manufactured drama will be next in the Yukon. Week after week we see the Hoffman's fail to find that mythical paystreak. I don't pretend to be a miner, but I just don't get these fools as anything but phoney TV miners. Way, way, back, after the Hoffman's disastrous first season, they went to the Yukon with very little idea about how to mine - but at least back then they went around asking for advice. One of the tidbits I remember is someone (I want to say it was Tony) telling them they need to drill, drill, drill to find where the gold is before starting to mine. Later on, when they had their successful seasons in the Yukon, they were basing their mining plans on drill results their mine owners on done before they took over the mine. So, why the HELL are they spending a fortune moving overburden and then digging down with an excavator like they did that first season when Jack was on his quest for the "Glory Hole" instead of bringing in a drilling rig to see if it makes sense. Instead of drilling, they keep trusting these Oregon mine owners to tell them where they should mine. Then after moving lots and lots of overburden, they are told they need to go twice as deep. Geez, it makes no sense to me, but as I said, I'm not a miner. Oh, and after this week they've lost their only real miner in Freddy Dodge, and as he's leaving Todd is moaning about how a real friend would have stayed and gone bankrupt with the Hoffmans. My only question is how does Todd keep convincing his crew to stay.

More TV drama with Parker and Rick. They had a bad cleanup and Sluicifer had a hiccup, but really aren't doing so bad when you remember that they started the season looking to get 75% of their current goal. I will say that Parker getting down over the bad cleanup and probably his first birthday in his memory without Grandpa John is understandable. Oh, and remember his disappointing cleanup would have overjoyed those down south in Oregon.

Tony and his dredge project is more of the same. His original attempt to go cheap ended up backfiring. I'm not anymore an engineer than I am a miner, but I wish they'd stop pretending Tony and Gene are winging this and show them bringing in a marine engineer... hmm or at least someone to pretend they've worked on a boat or river barge. I'm sure they have someone off camera telling them what they need to do, so why pretend otherwise?

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Totally ginned up draaaaama with Parker and Rick again.  Rick full well understands he is responsible for whatever tasks he is assigned and those who work under him.  Notice we rarely even get a glimpse of the secondary cut?  

It was nice to see Parker's Aussie friend again.  No shock that she didn't prepare any of the birthday feast.  It was such a ridiculous deal for everyone to pretend they had no clue where Parker was.  It's fine that he wanted to be alone.  But, that comes at a price, too.  I'll bet anything we get more angsty draaaaaama from his decision.  Well, if that even was a real choice and not a manufactured-by-Disco one.

It was good to see Parker paying another price for trying to go cheap with set-up/planning.  Now I can't get the tune Needles and Pins out of my head!

I love all the engineering problems Tony is dealing with.  I don't for a second believe the smelted gold came from the dredge.  A big part of it came from Parker.  I also question if that happened only 1/3 of the way into the season.

[Chaz]

Has anyone else noticed that the Beets' cleanups always seem to be really dirty? 

[Rock knocker]

2 hours ago, Chaz said:

Has anyone else noticed that the Beets' cleanups always seem to be really dirty? 

They do, but there isn't that much volume, and the density of hematite is less than 1/3 that of gold.  So I bet there is less than 5 weight percent other metal.

[Chaz]

35 minutes ago, Rock knocker said:

They do, but there isn't that much volume, and the density of hematite is less than 1/3 that of gold.  So I bet there is less than 5 weight percent other metal.

True, but it does seem that Tony doesn't take the same care as others, that's  all.

[Chaz]

Like others have pointed out thw Hoffmans seem to not prepare at all. Some guy waves a jar full of nuggests at them, supposedly from the High Bar claim, they head up there and start digging.  No exploratory drilling or testing, and of course they come up empty.  They switch to the Buckland and the same thing.  It's. Gone on like that for years.  Waste time and money.  In the end the whole damned crew looks like a bunch of idiots.

[Jenkins]

I am starting to think the Hoffmans fail on purpose.

I used to watch professional wrestling back in the 80's and one thing that was very important was to have a "bad guy". People tuned in to see a guy get beat up/fail.

You look at Gold Rushes Facebook page and people do NOT like Todd at all.

So just makes me wonder if it is all on purpose. They know people will tune in to see Todd fail once again!

And it isn't like Todd cares. It has been discussed multiple times his operating costs have to be EXTREMELY high, so even when he finds gold, it isn't like he is getting rich off it.

And I remember reading that they pay Todd a LOT of money just for his appearance on the show. I have read as much as a half million per season.

Or, I dunno...maybe Todd just sucks at mining. :)

[Chaz]

There's  rumors that clown shoes Hoffman may be heading for Colorado next season.

http://starcasm.net/archives/359620

Back in September, I was having dinner in Buena Vista, CO.  We got to talking with our waitress, who started talking about Jack Hoffman being a regular customer.  He had been doing some kind of mining-related work in the area.  

BV, as we call it, is on the Arkansas River, downstream from the workings around Leadville. Its also about 40 miles from the old goldfields around Fairplay.  The placer deposits there were pretty much played out before WW1.  They used big bucket line dredges.  You can see the tailing piles at Fairplay using Google Earth.  

If Clown Shoes maintains his ambitions, I don't know where they would go.  Any claim worth working using the Hoffmans methods would have been plyed out decades ago.

[Chaz]

43 minutes ago, Jenkins said:

I am starting to think the Hoffmans fail on purpose.

I used to watch professional wrestling back in the 80's and one thing that was very important was to have a "bad guy". People tuned in to see a guy get beat up/fail.

You look at Gold Rushes Facebook page and people do NOT like Todd at all.

So just makes me wonder if it is all on purpose. They know people will tune in to see Todd fail once again!

And it isn't like Todd cares. It has been discussed multiple times his operating costs have to be EXTREMELY high, so even when he finds gold, it isn't like he is getting rich off it.

And I remember reading that they pay Todd a LOT of money just for his appearance on the show. I have read as much as a half million per season.

Or, I dunno...maybe Todd just sucks at mining. :)

I think you're right.  Todd's role is to wear the clown shoes.

Last week, things were looking up.  This week it's bust again, after using ridiculous methods to get to a predictably absent pay layer.  

A first year student at the CO School of Mines could have done better.

Of course this is contrasted by Beets and Schnabel who run more sensible operations.  Both are doing well on the gold count and are having engaging seasons.  Tony's old dredge projects are really cool, and Parker's personal and professional growing pains make for a good story arc.

Edited December 18, 2016 by Chaz

[Rock knocker]

8 hours ago, Chaz said:

True, but it does seem that Tony doesn't take the same care as others, that's  all.

Maybe Tony rather err on the side of caution.  It's better to have more accessory minerals that will be caught at the smelting process than to have perfect fine gold at the cost of losing some during processing.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Rock knocker

[SRTouch]

8 hours ago, Chaz said:

True, but it does seem that Tony doesn't take the same care as others, that's  all.

No doubt, when Tony weighs his gold it isn't as golden as the others. Maybe the Beets cleanup skips a step or two because he doesn't need it cleaned up to make his royalty payment in raw gold to his mine owner.

[Liberty]

Clown Shoes Toed had a good quote "Friends don't leave friends when they are down".

Chris Doummit says "Looks like a Hoffman cleanout".  (IIRC Doummit was one of the originals from Oregon)

Sure like Gene Cheeseman.

Funny to see the hodge-podge of equipment the Beets clan has compared the the Caterpillar and Volvo equipment the others "crews" use.  Thinking I will boycott both Car & Volvo products for promoting their products on this show. 

I also got a chuckle with Mitch's visit to the Hoffmans and their offer....he does realize no one is getting paid there?

That was funny.

Thurber certainly has a lower profile this season, he goes back to the 1st season with Todd.

[TheLastKidPicked]

7 hours ago, Liberty said:

Thurber certainly has a lower profile this season, he goes back to the 1st season with Todd.

They even interviewed his wife back in the day.  She talked about the one time he shaved off his mustache.

I think that some of the guys, like Thurber and Fred Dodge, are more interested in running the equipment than inverviewing for the cameras.  I like that about them.

[SRTouch]

Ok, more of the same old same old nonsense. Looks pretty bleak for Hoffman crew, so maybe the earlier Colorado report has some truth to it. Pretend for half a second that there are no Discovery paychecks rolling in... how many of the crew would have spend months working for no pay. Think about Logan and the rest complaining about no pay with a house mortgage to make, then check out those high dollar trucks and RVs they were hooking up to as they were heading home. Even assuming they owe big money on those rigs, to me yet another example of how unreal the Hoffman operation is. At least Tony and Parker drive around trucks that look like they drive on dirt roads. The Hoffman crew vehicles all look like they were just detailed before pulling onto the set, hooked to the 5th wheelers, and driven away.

Tony and crew used to be a high point, watching actual miners come up with solutions to real problems. Not anymore, now it's more half ass fly by the seat of the pants stuff which leaves me scratching my head. First, Tony goes and hires a bunch of welders to make a $10,000 trailer ... only to have Gene say (after the thing is built) we better go measure the bridge. Seems like I say this regularly, but here goes again, "Hey, I'm no engineer, but how about..." This time I'm reminded of the old story about a kid watching a crew of men trying to figure out how to get a truck and trailer under an overpass that is a couple inches too low. Men are standing around scratching their heads, and little kid pipes up and asks why not let some air out of the tires? I mean, let air out, go under the bridge, then air up as soon as they get to the other side. Ok, maybe they can't do it with those tires and that amount a weight, but if not, I wish they had told us why they couldn't. 

Not impressed with Parker at all this season. I get that he has all kinds of other things to take care of besides the day to day operation of the mine, but this year the operation is hurting for leadership (nothing new since Gene left). Rick is new to this whole mine boss job, and just not up to running two operations. Seems like someone, either Rick or Parker, should have been supervising moving pay to the plant, not wait and act all surprised when it isn't being done to Parker's satisfaction. I mean, once a day, or even once a shift, go down into the cut and make sure the dude loading pay is getting what he's supposed to. But, then, communication with the men has never been Parker's strong suit.

Edited December 31, 2016 by SRTouch
Spelling

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Letting air out of the tire was the first thing I thought of, as well.

Parker insisted on a smaller crew, which meant bigger paydays for those who stayed.  How did he not get assurances that they would not leave the site for the 18 weeks in return?  He never checked to ensure they were stripping the new cut completely?  Knowing he had an inexperienced crane operator?  The 4K ounce thing is a joke, too.  A 3K oz season with no additional expenses for opening a second cut, and the savings from his reduced crew, would have netted Parker some serious cash.  He's well over 1,800 oz with at least 8 weeks remaining, per the info we were given tonight.  It would be very bad luck if they didn't make the 3K max.

Tony becoming a joke is really killing the show.  The one guy who was bottom-line all the way is now spending money like a drunken sailor on leave and is all about exotic solutions and schemes.  It is all but impossible to me that Gene never brought up the height issue.  They already had barely made it on a previous trip.  They would all have been hyper-sensitive to that issue.  Disco shenanigans, for sure.

[pastafarian]

There's so little reality here, I don't know where to start.  The tug needed inspection, but the barge was set to go when it entered the water?  There's no way you're going to be allowed to transport anything that wide on a public roadway without an official (police) escort and there's no way the police are going to allow Tony to drive up front playing chicken with oncoming traffic.  If officials weren't aware of Tony hitting that bridge more than once when it happened, then he is in for a world of hurt after the video aired.  Todd appears to be a moron who loses it all, but comes back the next season like it never happened and from all indication will ddo it again in Colorado next season?  The remote on the "gorilla" bars doesnt work, so you don't figure out a way to move them manually?  Just leave them open and tear up the machinery?  None of this shows reality seems real, but I'm still watching.  Maybe Game of Thrones is a documentry?

[Rock knocker]

1 hour ago, pastafarian said:

.  If officials weren't aware of Tony hitting that bridge more than once when it happened, then he is in for a world of hurt after the video aired.  

I think the Go-pro hit the bridge

[SRTouch]

11 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Tony becoming a joke is really killing the show.  The one guy who was bottom-line all the way is now spending money like a drunken sailor on leave and is all about exotic solutions and schemes.  It is all but impossible to me that Gene never brought up the height issue.  They already had barely made it on a previous trip.  They would all have been hyper-sensitive to that issue.  Disco shenanigans, for sure.

Tony was the breath of reality in the old days. Todd would be totally bamboozled with something, and voice of experience Tony would solve the problem. Now, we need a new problem solver to fix Tony's problems. I think the problem is that the whole Beets family have fallen in love with the thought of being reality stars instead of being miners who get some screen time.

[Jenkins]

That pretty much describes the entire cast now (wanting to be reality stars rather than miners).

Remember when Parkers mother actually had to threaten to remove him from the mine because he was working too much? Yeah, now you hardly ever see him actually working...

[TheLastKidPicked]

You all have made some very good points.  And by the way, I like your screen name, Pastafarian.

I can't believe I'm coming in here to defend one of the groups, but I did pick up on one thing that made me happy with the last episode.

When Chris Doumitt allowed the pump to run out of fuel, notice that Rick and Parker didn't want to disrespect him.  Rick even waited a little while because "I'm mad at him right now" but he didn't want to say something stupid and hurt the friendship.  

I'll be back to my snarky ways in no time, but I had to admit that I liked that.

Edited January 3, 2017 by TheLastKidPicked

[SRTouch]

Not much to say. Tony being Tony, he finds a problem with the dredge and tells Kevin to "fix it!" Kevin and a couple guys put their heads together, go to the Beets junkyard with a torch, and next thing you know they catch, in the little cobbled together junkyard sluice run, almost double the Hoffman cleanup - which doesn't count the other 200+ from the rest of the cleanup. Meanwhile, Parker's Scribner Creek operation continues to disappoint (though their disappointing clean out would thrill Todd), so the push is on for Rick to start washing dirt at Indian River. Pretty clear this is another bankrupt year for the Hoffmans. After everybody else heads home, only 4 miners (?) remain at the Buckland, and their clean out would hardly buy gas to drive their sorry asses to Sandy Oregon - much less break even on costs of the operation. Anybody who reads my posts know how little I think of Todd. Well, tonight he gives another no-class dig towards Parker when he's crying about how bad things are going, and says he wouldn't wish his disastrous season on anyone - not even Parker. Ugh, what a class act!

After the regular episode, we were treated to a second hour of recaps of by gone washplants, with a claim that they've mined 18 million during the past six years... yeah sure! Worth a watch if you want to laugh at Todd's annual latest and greatest boasts, which more often than not turns into a flop, or ends up second hand in Parker's operation making more money than it ever did for the Hoffmans. Another reason to watch is you might catch a few of the folks who have appeared in past seasons, the Dakota Boys, first mechanic James Arness and others. And, it's kind of interesting to hear how things are supposed to work without the manufactured drama BS which we get so much of every week. Actually enjoyed this semi-rerun more than any of the regular season episodes in quite a while.

Edited January 7, 2017 by SRTouch
Wording changed

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Another example of the new Tony.  The old Tony would have gone apeshit over losing gold out of a sluice.  What I'd like to know is how much did the fix cost on material, welding, and reduced operating time for the dredge.   But, $50K a year certainly made it worth it!  Of course, this begs the question I have had all along:  Just how much typically does float right on through and not catch in a sluice?  I've wondered for years.

I know I can be silly, yet I was imagining while watching Tony's plane come barreling past the dredge site the flying monkeys cavorting outside the Wicked Witch's window.   No good was going to come when it landed!  :)

I liked Parker's maturity in not lashing out at the fates, or worse, Rick or the crew, when he busted the lines on the truck.  He was plenty angry, but he went about the fix without pissing and moaning and he showed a little appreciation.  There's hope for him, yet. 

[pastafarian]

My guess is the only reason the Hoffman's remain is their obligation to (and pay from) Discovery.  The cost of recovery which always seemed significantly higher for them than the other mines is now off the charts.  Without the Discovery thing, they would be idiots to not walk away....oh, right, they are idiots!  They always went on about praisingJesus for the gold they received?  Shouldn't they be blaming him for abandoning them now?  

I'm assuming that Parker is actively searching out new ground for next season?   Because his current 'cuts' seem to be just about played out.  

Tony may be a bit contrite because his second dredge idea is floundering and costing a small fortune? It would seem to me that it might be cheaper to harvest the bucket line from a defunct dredge and build a new one in place than to move and repair 70+-year-old machinery.   It's basically a barge, a wash plant and a bucket line, though I'm sure I'm missing something.  I wonder how something like the Christina Rose from Bering Sea Gold would compare in that scenario too?   Once it's in place, It's going to take quite a while for #2 to pay off, significantly longer than #1.  The big question?  Will the pay hold out to make it profitable? 

 I've wondered about these 'cuts' too?  Are the miners obligated to restore them, or do they just leave a hellscape of piles of overburden, tailings, and toxic ponds when the gold runs out like in the olden days?

[SRTouch]

3 hours ago, pastafarian said:

 I've wondered about these 'cuts' too?  Are the miners obligated to restore them, or do they just leave a hellscape of piles of overburden, tailings, and toxic ponds when the gold runs out like in the olden days?

Well, first remember that we're talking two different countries (three if you throw in the South American fiasco), each having their own safety, mining and reclamation laws. That said, we've had at least one show where someone, I believe Dave, who went back and showed one of their cuts after they restored it. As I recall, they put a lot of thought into it, re-contouring the creek, tailings, etc, making the old cut into a pond, etc. Can't recall if they replanted vegataion, or if it came back on its own, but the scene I recall looked nice, with wildlife returning. Then, reaching far back, didn't we see the Dakota Boys crew (and what was the woman miner who worked with them) working on restoring the Porcupine Mine Glory Hole. Course, the Dawson area will always show scars from the early mining days, as will part of the California from the mid 1800's.

Course, now that you raise the question, I have to wonder if the Hoffmans will just walk away from that 100 foot pit. Seems if they plan to do any reclamation, the time is as soon as they decide to pull the plug - after all, as Todd whined about, he's already committed to leasing a dozen pieces of heavy machinery. I don't know enough about the mining contracts. They are all, except Tony, paying their owners' varying percentages for the right to mine, so maybe the justification for the higher percentage some pay is to get out of some of the "after mine" phase? Don't know...

Edited January 7, 2017 by SRTouch
Added comment

[Liberty]

Tragic to see how obese Toad reacted when his father radioed that he needed more pay.  Obese Toad talks like that to 'motivate' people all the time, but seemed a bit offended when his father talked to him that way.

Are Thurber and Doumitt the only ones who have been in all 7 seasons? 

[SRTouch]

1 hour ago, Liberty said:

Tragic to see how obese Toad reacted when his father radioed that he needed more pay.  Obese Toad talks like that to 'motivate' people all the time, but seemed a bit offended when his father talked to him that way.

Are Thurber and Doumitt the only ones who have been in all 7 seasons? 

Think so. I seem to remember Dave was off and on as a consultant early on. And, if I remember right, originally Thurber came to help get them started, more as a carpenter to establish the site than as a miner, then ended up staying. Course, that first season none of them, except Jack, had any experience. And, remember, despite Todd's theatrics when the crew abandoned him, it is far from the first time. He makes noises about how his crew is like family and thus far superior to Parker's crew. If you think back he's had a tough time keeping crew members over the years. It's not just his equipment that ends up with Parker.

Everytime Todd starts running down Parker I think back. When they first got to Alaska and couldn't figure how to set up their little wash plant, they went to neighbor Grandpa John for advice. Grandpa sent young Parker to figure out their water flow problem. Yes, Parker came across as an arrogant young punk know it all who laughed at the Hoffmans and made fun of their mine, but he fixed their problem and got them operational. Years later, Todd resents that Parker out produces him every year. Hey, Todd, yes Parker is young but he grew up around heavy equipment. The Big Nugget was his playground from an early age. Face it, he knows way more about the equipment and how to mine than you.

Same thing with Tony. When the owner of the Hoffman mine sold it out from under them after the Hoffmans only dug out a few ounces that first year, Todd scrambled around and went to Tony for advice. Fast forward a couple years, Todd is acting like he wrote the book and 30 year mining operator Tony is a poser. I'd put Todd at the bottom of any comparison - well except for running the most expensive operation. Even Tony and the dredge will cost less in the long run.

Edited January 7, 2017 by SRTouch
Wording changed

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 1/7/2017 at 2:32 PM, SRTouch said:

I'd put Todd at the bottom of any comparison - well except for running the most expensive operation.

To be fair-- he is good at naming things.

Although when ordering lunch, I don't think he ever named "Salad".

[jwc]

If there was any gold in the Oregon claims then why wasn't anyone mining there since who knows how long?  More fakery by Discovery?  SO the two days of shooting they do for that part of the show only requires a 12 hour round trip so Todd and the gang can go sit on their asses.

I think Tony's plan with the dredges is ideal.  The first one is dialed in.  Now with the second one, with the experience gained from the 1st one, will be even more lucrative.

I don't think Parker is going to make the 4000-ounce goal.  which will probably cause some drama with Tony just for the show.

[TheLastKidPicked]

11 hours ago, jwc said:

If there was any gold in the Oregon claims then why wasn't anyone mining there since who knows how long?  More fakery by Discovery?  SO the two days of shooting they do for that part of the show only requires a 12 hour round trip so Todd and the gang can go sit on their asses.

You make a good point.  It's one thing to say that there are claims in Alaska that haven't been played out yet.  But you have to wonder. . . if there was any gold to be found in Oregon, wouldn't somebody have found it by now?

Remember what Todd told Parker in one of the early seasons:

"The real gold isn't in the ground; it's in the show."

[luleetuni]

On 1/11/2017 at 10:52 AM, TheLastKidPicked said:

 But you have to wonder. . . if there was any gold to be found in Oregon, wouldn't somebody have found it by now?

I have a cousin that used to mine eastern oregon and into northern nevada with a lot of sucess, granted he was an individual, not part of a crew, but there is gold to be found.  There are a lot of parts of eastern Oregon that are relatively untouched, majority of the population is in the western 1/4 of the state(where the Hoffman crew all live).  Honestly, once you get past Bend (central Oregon), it is more likely to see empty land than homes or land in use.     Central/eastern Oregon is high Desert, I am shocked they've even been able to break through some of that ground. The western part of the state is very different, green and lush and has many rivers flowing through, some of the terrain in the Valley is similar to some of the mines in California along highway 49, as well as the parts of Alaska we have seen on this show.  The valley has been developed since the 1800s and now, there are less and less sections of mineable land.  Not to mention, there are fairly strict land use laws that would prohibit a lot of hobby mining. I wouldn't be shocked if there is gold underground in some of those areas.  

The possibility of gold exists, but like has been said, testing should happen,  not just "there is visible gold on top of the land" like the Hoffman's found when they were prospecting last season.

Oh, and Todd sucks

[TheLastKidPicked]

3 hours ago, luleetuni said:

 The valley has been developed since the 1800s and now, there are less and less sections of mineable land.  Not to mention, there are fairly strict land use laws that would prohibit a lot of hobby mining. I wouldn't be shocked if there is gold underground in some of those areas.

Very insightful information you have there.  Thank you for sharing it with us.

I think I learned more from that post then the last two episodes put together.

[Rock knocker]

Tony fires the captain, and then makes noise that he'll have Gene run the barge.  Only problem, is that you have to be a licensed captain to do that.  Busted

[pastafarian]

Parker's crew is the only one right now that is even close to 'reality'.  The Hoffmans are playing to the cameras, plain and simple.  Nothing they are doing makes any sense.  Now they are going to miraculously find redemption on colorado?  There are more than a few reports around that their time at the colorado location was all of  2 days.  Jack suggesting that his son should just "trust in god" while wallowing in failure makes me want to punch him in the face even more than before.  As for the dredge? The three stooges would have been more competent.  Tony is not dumb, but I guess the TV money is enough to get him to act the idiot?  I also wonder how much DC paid that guy to be the 'bad captain'?  

I can already see next season's plot being built with Rick going off to do his own thing with huge drama between him and Parker....maybe to replace the Hoffmans who by all indication should be homeless and destitute by now?

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Gene and Tony's excellent adventure was fun.  Of course it was all for show as Canadian law would never have allowed Gene to actually pilot the barge HT: @Rock knocker.

I want to know the odds of Parker being there to observe Big Red when the rock clog occurred.  That was the only time that happened, right?   Disco sure was lucky, huh?

Who is the special snowflake who ripped the water hose and acted like a deserved dressing down was tantamount to an execution?

[SRTouch]

Ah, I was hoping Freddy had escaped the cult.

[SRTouch]

34 minutes ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Gene and Tony's excellent adventure was fun.  Of course it was all for show as Canadian law would never have allowed Gene to actually pilot the barge HT: @Rock knocker.

Disappointed in both of them.  ? Time was they brought the odd sense of realism.

34 minutes ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

I want to know the odds of Parker being there to observe Big Red when the rock clog occurred.  That was the only time that happened, right?   Disco sure was lucky, huh?

Who is the special snowflake who ripped the water hose and acted like a deserved dressing down was tantamount to an execution?

I still wouldn't want to work for him, but Parker's reaction wasn't over the top like I half way expected from Rick's and the snowflake's comments leading up to snowflake running into Parker at the connex. Seemed like they were prepping us for another Parker blow up, but he took it pretty good - not happy but not out of line, either.

[clod]

I liked Parker's reaction, when the guy started telling him the story.  "I don't want to hear anymore"  (or something like that).    

17 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Gene and Tony's excellent adventure was fun.  Of course it was all for show....

 

that trip is so hard to do right, that a large tourist boat makes the trip three times a day.

hey, just have the barge *follow* the other boat!

 

so Freddy Dodge rolls in with some gold.   he already has the means to move 1000 yards and wash the paydirt and get gold out of it.    so why does he need Todd?

who will be in charge of Freddy's operation?

my guess is that disco needed to avoid a total failure for Todd.    how would they explain his operation returning next year?    they couldn't.   so he had to move somewhere else 'this year' and get an encouraging bit of gold so he can convince his crew there will be more gold 'next year'.

 

the gold is there.  I can feel it.

Edited January 15, 2017 by clod

[TheLastKidPicked]

Well, well, well.  Todd sure does get lucky when he needs to.  "We're leaving for Colorado in the morning."

How lucky he is that:

They were able to get semi trucks, with low boy trailers, over to the claim in Oregon in less than 24 hours.

And load up the haul trucks onto those low boy trailers, still within 24 hours.

And find a lead pilot car (The white pickup you saw in the last few minutes, with the beacon, oversize load banners, a pilot driver with room in his log book) within 24 hours

And find a chase pilot car (see above) within 24 hours

And hook their $ 50,000 campers to their $ 70,000 trucks within 24 hours

And find places to park the oversized convoy along the way, and purchase needed permits within 24 hours.

How lucky for them!  (And Disco).

Edited January 16, 2017 by TheLastKidPicked

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 1/14/2017 at 5:35 AM, pastafarian said:

The Hoffmans are playing to the cameras, plain and simple.  Nothing they are doing makes any sense.

Good point.  It only makes sense if you are more than a casual viewer, and know that Todd's business model is to make money from the show, not from the gold.

On 1/13/2017 at 10:46 PM, Rock knocker said:

Tony fires the captain, and then makes noise that he'll have Gene run the barge.  Only problem, is that you have to be a licensed captain to do that.  Busted

And as we saw, a licensed captain is already as busy as can be during the peak season and can't take on any extra work.

On 1/14/2017 at 9:09 PM, Lonesome Rhodes said:

I want to know the odds of Parker being there to observe Big Red when the rock clog occurred.  That was the only time that happened, right?   Disco sure was lucky, huh?

The coincidence of camaras being right where the action is, right at the exact perfect time (such as the rock clog you mention) sure is lucky.

On 1/14/2017 at 9:43 PM, SRTouch said:

Ah, I was hoping Freddy had escaped the cult.

Ha!  Well, Todd's gravitational pull must be very strong.

22 hours ago, clod said:

That trip is so hard to do right, that a large tourist boat makes the trip three times a day.

The way you phrased that just made me laugh out loud.

Edited January 16, 2017 by TheLastKidPicked