On tonight’s Gold Rush, we get a real glimpse into the creativity and problem-solving skills of Rick Ness’s inexperienced team — as they attempt to fix a dozer’s leaking radiator with scrambled eggs!
As Monsters and Critics’ exclusive clip shows below, Ness has a problem and he is trying to work it out with his crew.
This is Ness’s first foray as a mine boss and he has used guys from his home turf to help me. The Ness crew includes Karla Ann, plus Carl, Terry and Zee Zaremba
Rick is talking to his guys and gives them the lowdown on what’s happening. He says: “Nobody that wants to make money rips gravel…it’s f****** expensive.”
The guys have been scratching at the surface dirt and have not made much headway and Rick is clearly frustrated about their lack of progress, as they are too.
Rick says: “But we’re there…that’s where we’re at. We’ve got nothing thawed, let’s start ripping some of it. Hopefully we don’t grenade our dozer.”
The paydirt is frozen, compacted gravel. Ripping it will put a huge strain on Rick’s only dozer, and a breakdown now could cost him this season.
The dozer is working overtime and the strain on the engine is audibly loud. It’s not looking good as we start to see smoke coming from the front of the dozer.
Rick is called and he is told the dozer has a leak in the radiator. His response? “What the f***!?”
It is confirmed that the radiator has several small holes and tears in the screen, and the guys really need a replacement radiator.
It will take two days to get there, except…Carl has a plan up his sleeve, and tells Zee to get some anti-freeze and a dozen eggs.
In what is described as a “bush fix,” Carl will pour the raw eggs into the radiator and as the engine warms up, the eggs will congeal and if all goes well, once scrambled will fill in the holes of the busted radiator.
This egg fix that Carl has cooked up is a total MacGuyver move, but if it buys the Ness crew a few days, that means gold can be recovered and the cost of the dozer being out of commission will be mitigated.
Ahead of this season, we spoke to Rick at length about this new venture after working for Parker Schnabel for several years. We asked him if luck was as important as hard work.
In our exclusive interview, Rick Ness said: “Yes, I mean hard work is key. That’s part of why I think I’ve been successful up there, is that I’m no stranger to hard work.
“A lot of people say sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. But, yes, at the end of the day, I just think it comes down to hard work.
“Unfortunately, as far as gold mining goes, it’s one of those businesses where no matter how hard you work, sometimes you can still come up short. And that’s a painful part of it.”
Will Carl’s egg trick keep Rick and and his team going for a few days? Tune in tonight to find out!
Gold Rush airs Friday at 9/8c on Discovery.