[MUSIC PLAYING]
It's just getting harder and harder to find good ground that
has gold on it.
And it's getting frustrating because I've never
had to compete with this many people for the little bit
of ground that's out there.
NARRATOR: To help him win the race for gold rich ground,
master prospector Dave Turin needs a secret weapon.
The longer we take prospecting a piece
of ground that doesn't have gold on it,
you know, it costs money.
It costs valuable time.
So it's really imperative that we get in and get out quickly.
If we don't innovate, we're not going to have that edge.
So I'm going to go meet with Juan.
I've got an idea.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey!
What's going on, buddy?
I found it.
It's a work in progress, huh?
Not bad. - This is awesome.
Good to see you.
- Thanks for having me. - No problem.
Well, I got your trailer.
What-- what do you want to do with it?
Everywhere I go prospecting, Juan,
it takes me so long to hand test.
So what I was thinking is if we could put a portable plant
together that's easy to move.
Oh, I love the idea.
How much time do we have for this build?
I'm supposed to be in Arizona in a week.
I hate to do it, but I've got to get out
there and start prospecting.
- Really? - Can you do it?
Well, I'm going to try my best.
You know, Dave is asking a lot.
Honestly, there's probably three weeks' worth of work here.
I've been with Juan before where we're in trouble
and we need to get something done immediately,
and Juan is the guy.
NARRATOR: The portable plant will be
built onto a 20 foot trailer.
You know, it looks like a really big trailer right now,
but it's not.
We've got to make sure that we maximize our area that we
have there and use it wisely.
So what I was thinking is a 10 or 11 foot trommel.
From here, Juan, I was thinking the conveyor
right there at 10 foot exactly.
10 foot conveyor would work?
- Yeah. - Let's do it.
OK.
NARRATOR: Dave's plan, build a portable wash
plant capable of completing a yard
bulk sample in six minutes.
All contained within the footprint of the trailer.
A 10 foot hopper mounted conveyor will feed pay
into a 10 foot trommel, allowing a detachable tailings conveyor
to hang out over the back while a 10 foot removable
sluice run catches the gold.
All right, let's go.
What we're going to do is build a channel iron conveyor.
It's one of the most basic conveyor designs.
It's very easy, very simple.
Your idlers sit on here, and your conveyor belt is here.
It allows us to prospect quick and hopefully,
find some good ground.
This is a game changer.
It's revolutionary for us.
I truly like the idea that Dave has
with this portable wash plant.
His timelines are a little crazy.
But we're going to try like hell.
Wait.
All the welds are good and stuff like that.
I mean, the sprocket actually looks, you know,
pretty to shape, too.
Does it move?
Yeah, it moves.
This is just what I'm looking for,
some type of a little trommel, but it looks too long to me.
What do you think?
I-- I think we can do it, Dave.
There's only one way to find out.
Let's get it in there, put it on there,
see if those conveyors are going to work.
Great.
I'll pull the trailer out and get it set up on there.
All right, OK, cool.
NARRATOR: The mini trommel can run 12 yards an hour
and comes with a ready made pre-wash box.
Go ahead.
NARRATOR: But it's two feet longer
than Dave's original design.
Up one more, Dave.
What do you think?
Is that going to work, Nate?
It's gonna be close, Juan.
Well.
See, we're on the back edge of this.
It's going to be tight.
Let's lift that conveyor and put it on here,
just see if it's all going to fit on there.
We're trying to get all these different pieces together.
You know, this is Dave's design.
I'm hoping that he knows what he's doing.
There you go.
Now, swing.
OK, now, down.
I think it's too steep.
I think it's got to come down.
We're losing part of our pre-wash box if you look.
We're hitting all there already.
NARRATOR: With space on the trailer at a premium,
Dave can't get the trommel's pre-wash box to line
up with his feed conveyor.
We've got a 20 foot trailer.
I've got a 10 foot conveyor.
I wanted a 10 foot trommel.
Now, we've got a 12 foot trommel.
We've got two feet that we've got to make up.
I don't know what to do.
Can we push this forward a little more?
We can always adjust those legs further back.
So even if we do stick out a little further here--
Yeah.
I think that would be the best solution.
What we're going to do is take these jack stands off, build
some new stands, move this back, and then we
cheat a foot up there.
And now, we've made up for the two extra feet in this.
And what that allows us to do is we're saving a lot of time
because I don't have to rebuild all this.
NARRATOR: The crew will reposition the legs,
allowing the extra length of the trommel
to hang over the trailer.
Where do you want it, Dave?
Let's see.
How far back do we want it?
Get it back about a foot.
I like that.
I think it looks good there.
That's it, sunshine.
You happy with it, Dave?
I'm happy.
We just had to move that trommel back, which then dumps
our conveyor in there at the right spot,
and it's going to work, save us a lot of time.
So right now, we're in a good spot.
I think we're going to make it.
I like it, Dave.
Let's just hope it works well.
It looks good.
Now, we're going to find out if it actually runs.
So we're hooking up water.
We're going to run a little bit of dirt and rocks
through there.
We don't have a lot of time.
I'm happy it came together.
Honestly, I was doubting that we were going to be able to get it
done in time, but here it is.
We're going to give it a shot.
We're going to run it and see what it does.
I'm hoping that it runs as good as it looks.
OK, maiden voyage.
Think it will work?
We'll find out.
Oh, boy, they've got water.
Let's put some rocks in there and see what happens.
Go, Dave. Let's go.
You ready?
Yeah!
All right, here we go.
First bucket.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It's working!
It looks good.
I like it.
It's our future.
I mean, this can help us get more gold.
You know, this could be the difference
in a successful season or not.
You know, this isn't production, but it
really makes a difference when we've got to find ground.
And this is going to give us the edge.
What are you going to name this thing?
I like the Beetle.
We had the Roach, right?
It's a survivor.
It eats what's left over.
Well, the Beetle is kind of the same thing.
It's just smaller.
I like the Beetle.
Yeah.
I like it.
NARRATOR: The Beetle is ready for the open road,
able to run 12 yards of dirt an hour
and travel long distances, giving Dave
an edge at testing more ground faster
than any other prospecter.
You know what?
That's a lot of hard work.
But you guys did a hell of a job.
The welding looks good.
The design works.
[BLEEP] Everything's working.
Thank you so much, guys.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
No problem.
And if you guys need anything, let us know.
We're always here to help. - OK.
- Always. - Thank you.
Let's go find some gold.
Let's go get some gold.
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