“Time is not on our side” — Gold Rush star Ryan talks about the shaker deck mishap

With winter closing fast, the Gold Rush cast members are under increasing pressure to keep their operations running properly. Ryan and his team suffer a huge setback in season 15 episode 23, when the shaker deck at their wash plant unexpectedly goes down in the middle of a run.

What appears to be a small hitch quickly becomes a full-blown crisis when they discover that the primary belt that powers the shaker has snapped. Without it, the entire deck comes to a halt, placing their payoff and timeframe in considerable danger.

As Ryan points out, the stakes could not be higher. With cold temperatures already setting in, every hour of downtime raises the possibility of their material freezing solid. Water pipes and machinery are susceptible, and resuming operations becomes increasingly difficult with each passing minute.

"All that material that we just piled up in there freezes up. Water lines start to freeze up. So really right now, time is not on our side and neither is mother nature," Ryan acknowledges, frustrated.

The crew scrambles to devise a quick fix using whatever spare parts they can find. On their journey to find as much gold as possible in the remaining time, they race against the clock to fight to get the shaker deck back up before winter shuts them down for good.

Difficult climate sets back the Gold Rush crew: Shaken deck mishap and its temporary fix

As the Gold Rush teams enter the last weeks of digging, the hard environment continues to test their mettle. The frigid temperatures and persistent dampness have started to take their toll on the machinery, and Rick Ness' operation is no exception.

Monster Red, one of his most reliable wash plants, comes to a sudden halt due to a broken shaker deck belt, a vital component that allows the deck to vibrate and separate gold from pebbles and dirt. Without this vibration, the entire gold recovery process stops. Ryan, the crew's go-to mechanic, enters to inspect the damage and sees how serious the situation is.

Ryan explains, "This is our main belt that drives the shaker deck to move back and forth and without this belt, this deck doesn't shake."

With no spare belt available in hand and little time to wait for a replacement, Ryan must devise a solution on the fly. The aim is to drill pilot holes in both damaged ends of the belt and use conveyor clamps to reconnect them.

Gold Rush's Ryan carefully drills and installs the clips, then polishes down the nuts to avoid snagging or tearing when the belt is reassembled. Despite the cold, the squad works quickly, aware that every hour of downtime costs them gold.

When the belt is eventually attached and the shaker deck starts moving again, the team breathes a sigh of relief. It's not a permanent fix, but it gets Monster Red back to work, just in time for a good weekly gold cleanup.

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