[WIND NOISES]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: In the frozen Yukon, King of the Klondike,
Tony Beets, is preparing for a record-breaking $16.2 million
season.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: But Tony's plumbing career will have to wait.
[HORN HONKING]
NARRATOR: He's expanding his operation,
planning to mine both the Indian River and Paradise Hill
in the hopes of hitting an ambitious season target.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Tony recently took delivery of a 950 excavator.
It's the biggest in the Klondike with a massive 10 yard bucket.
NARRATOR: But to keep up with this enormous excavator,
he now wants to upgrade his dozer.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: At a neighboring claim,
Tony checks out used D11 Dozers to see if they fit the bill.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(HUMMING)
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[ENGINE REVVING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[WIND BLOWING]
How many hours are on those?
Yeah.
[SYMBOL SOUNDS]
That costs a lot of moola.
So.
No, I don't think that's the answer.
No.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Anyways for years we've been buying old stuff, and--
TONY BEETS: Absolutely. - --they needed work.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Yeah.
I know.
[LAUGHS]
Well, our rules are made to be broken.
That's just [LAUGHTER]
meant to be blown.
And there you go.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I guess so.
No.
I'm fine where I live in the winter.
NARRATOR: Determined to hit their 9,000 ounce goal,
Tony and Minnie Beets are breaking with their tradition
of buying used equipment and shopping
for a brand new D11 Dozer.
Well, and it's going to cost you an arm
and a leg so, I mean, you might as well have a look at one.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: They traveled 400 miles
to meet sales rep Derek Funk.
This is an older model, for sure,
but you're going to get a good idea
of what these things can push.
It'll be a little bit bigger, more
horsepower, better visibility.
Mhm.
Safer-- uh but this will give you a good idea.
NARRATOR: With no testing grounds within 1,000 miles,
Derek has set up a test drive of a working
D11, owned by Keith Byron.
KEITH BYRON: I highly recommend it.
With the difficult ground here, it was frozen way
beyond what everybody thought.
You couldn't touch it with anything but the D11.
If you're going to get this kind of gold--
[LAUGHTER]
--you've got to have horsepower.
TONY BEETS: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
KEITH BYRON: I've got another one we call the hamburger.
Oh
That is like a hamburger.
MINNIE BEETS: It's stinkin cool.
[LAUGHTER]
KEITH BYRON: They're 27 ounces each.
Holy smokes.
[LAUGHTER]
Wow.
Tony called me said he wanted to talk about D 11s.
I was assuming something used from 1990 or 80.
They said, no I want to look at new ones.
I'm like, whoa ho, what?
Cause that's not like Tony.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Tony is counting on this machine
to play a vital role in hitting his 16.2 million season target.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[ENGINE REVVING]
NARRATOR: Tony takes the D11 for a spin--
Yukon style.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: This 125 ton machine can
drive the 2,700 pound Ripper Shank
deep into the Yukon permafrost.
NARRATOR: This raw power will give Tony a jump on the season,
allowing him to start way before the Yukon thaws.
If we want to do something we're
going to have to do it quick just so we can get
it here for the spring season.
NARRATOR: If Tony has any chance of getting a new D11 shipped
to the Klondike in time for his upcoming season,
he will need to decide now, but it's a huge gamble.
He still doesn't have a license for his Indian River claim
where he wants to use the dozer.
We'll probably have to make up our mind
before we know if the wild license comes in,
you know what I mean?
The only thing is the price tag is really, pretty high.
[REVVING]
DEREK FUNK: Uh, you know what?
We can negotiate on that as well.
We will.
DEREK FUNK: Yeah?
NARRATOR: With a second hand dozer tested,
Tony and Minnie are on the brink of ordering a brand
new D11 that could supersize their mining
operation and gold total.
Depending on the options and what you're getting--
We're probably looking around $3.5 million-ish.
And you get a new hat.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MINNIE BEETS: You know what?
How about a jacket?
I'm going to get you a jacket, with the jacket
comes a new dozer.
Do I have to pay for the dozer too?
Yeah. [LAUGHTER]
OK. Let's do it.
Good.
Deal.
You can't shake hands these days.
Oh yeah.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: The new purchase puts Tony $1 million
over his $4 million equipment budget.
[LAUGHTER]
And send us-- yeah, send us all the paperwork, will you?
I will.
Thank you.
[SHUTTER NOISES]