gold-rush-crew-faces-equipment-troubles-preview-fridays-episode

‘Gold Rush’: The Crew Faces Equipment Troubles in Preview of Friday’s Episode

There’s never an easy day in the Yukon when it comes to gold mining. If the weather isn’t something “Gold Rush” stars have to fight against, it’s their equipment. Such is the case for Rick Ness Sr. and crew as he realizes a valuable tool needs some serious work.

In a preview for Friday’s upcoming episode, the official “Gold Rush” Twitter shared a clip of what looks like one giant headache. Rick Sr. and the crew have a boom arm that’s malfunctioning. This is due to a crack in one of the T-joints.

If you’re unfamiliar, the clip explains that a boom arm is operated by hydraulics which are powered by pressurized fluid which gets to the hydraulic cylinders through hoses that are connected through the T-joints.

A crack in this small piece of machinery means that the boom is not operating at the proper speed. Further, if the crack persists, it could leak dangerous grease and oil and potentially start a fire.

Seeing that this crack is fairly small, Rick decides to see if he can’t weld it together. This part is tricky for the “Gold Rush” star, however, because he doesn’t want to make the problem worse.

Carefully utilizing his welding equipment, Rick attempts to fill the crack in the T-joint. Unfortunately, however, this isn’t the case.

“The material is so light I blew a hole in it, now it’s worse,” Rick Sr. says, clearly frustrated.

The setback means delaying another day. That means a delay in mining, which ultimately means a loss of money. The clip ends before we learn what happens to the “Gold Rush” crew. So be sure to tune in to Discovery and Discovery+ on Friday!

How Did Rick Ness Get His Start?

While Rick Ness of “Gold Rush” is a fan favorite now, he was working in a completely unrelated industry prior to becoming a gold miner. In fact, Rick was a musician with no experience in the mining business.

But thanks to Parker Schnabel, Rick was able to find love in gold mining and has taken a leading charge ever since.

The “Gold Rush” star discussed how he got his start on the Discovery series.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “My first year up there, I don’t think my dad believed in it at all. He just didn’t get it. And I understand that. When I meet people and they ask what I do and I say I’m a gold miner, they’re usually like, ‘People still do that?’”

Rick also says:

“When I met [Schnabel] it was, it was kind of a pivotal spot in my life where I was just coming off of a decade of playing music,” he said previously in an interview with Looper. “My life was traveling the world, you know, playing music eight months a year, and I was dead set on being done with that — I didn’t know if it was going to be permanently, but definitely a long break.”

The “Gold Rush” star continues by adding, “Maybe I would have ended up in Alaska because I was that set again to Alaska to do something for a summer. Maybe I would have been doing something completely different in Alaska that would have only lasted one season,” Ness speculated. “Or on a fishing boat or something.”