...Or to a nice looking mountain side! That simple the think could be. A simple horizontal minning machine (such a minning drill), in order to start on some sort of vertical mine wall.

The possible machines that come to my mind are: minning drills, shovels, chain scrapers, hidraulic claws, bacheling rams (why not?), or even some sort of complex pickaxe. The only problem comes when you aren't compiting to make the biggest mess, so we can make them load the material into a container (preferibly not attached). No matter how, the team members must NOT touch the materials, so they must use attached tools or mechanisms. They can have a little attached container, but it must be unloaded before time's up. And before anyone ask why not totally mechanic extraction and loading: Have you ever seen someone trying to work a scoop attached to an axle? It looks very funny, and is totally inefficient.

The perfect objetive, as far as I can see, is to let the teams work on a given quote of time (no less than one hour and no more than 2), or until one has outfilled their container; after that they should have the biggest quantity of material inside the given container to win, and because the size of the rocks would be different for each machine, the measurement must be made by weigth.

If anyone is asking why not to compite for the longest tunnel? In first place, that wouldn't be very safe; and in second place because one team can try to cheat using a dragster like nose, while the rest of the machine is safely outside.

-- Nachoman (iaramire@hotmail.com), January 15, 2001

Answers

Sorry. I have just gone for my dictionary, and I confirmed. Mining is written with just one "N".

Anyway, I think my proyect can be done without trouble with the time, because the teams can choose between some solutions, and must have in mind that making more complex A will take a lot of time, resoulting on a very simple B; or like "making C will make unnecesary A and B, but would need to be very complex"...

Actually, there are so many ways to make this that this could be the best challenge for a "Battle Royale", or a new way to make all the eliminatories with just one challenge for all the 2 or 4 programs.

-- Nachoman (iaramire@hotmail.com), January 15, 2001.

Hey if that was the only spellin error we could have forgave ya' but proyect ? It's spelled with a J not a Y LOL

-- Rick Lawrence (hoodoo2@povn.com), January 15, 2001.

I'm guessing that this guy "ain't from around these parts," so don't kick him in the syntax. He has ideas and wants to share them with all of us. Maybe he would make a good co-host? To do this on the US version of the show, they would have to get an environmental impact study, an engineering study, a geologist's ok, disposal permits and plans for the loose rock, cut thru all the state and local red tape, comply with noise and air pollution ordinances, wear full level 1 MSHA (the mine operations version of OSHA) outfits with breathing apparatus, and have a partrige in a pear tree. It would be a tough challenge, but the big trencher and the backhoe in the back fourty at the set would be a good starting point for this challenge. I don't think either could be revived in ten hours though.

-- Waddy Thompson (cthomp3851@aol.com), January 15, 2001.

First of all: Yes, Waddy. I'm not from these countries, and I've been studying English for about 5 months, from minus-ZERO level of English, in Toronto. Anyway I understood the joke, and my second message itself is a joke in it first pharagraph, in order to make me a nice (and humorous) escuse to keep writting. (^_^) Please remark me my mistakes.

To the theme: I know how "special" (if omiting a better word) the American goverment can be about all those regulations, so my idea should be using an existing mine, or against a "prepared" 2-2.5m-high stone or concrete wall somewhere about to be demolished. In this last case even a multi-layer brick wall could make it, except that the machines (and teams)would finish covered on a thick layer of brick dust. About the time, I don't think it would be a big problem, except if you follow the series of mistakes of "The navy Blues", let the things to the God's Will as the "Brothers in Arms" when making the mower, or try to make an actual bulldozer. As an example, you can use a non-permanent 4X4 vehicle for the base, using the rear differential as an extremely simple (but big headed) drill, and the front as a wrinch to pull a rail-based cart to the cointainer. In this case, the team should feed the little cart until it has been filled, and then, changing the mode to 4X4, pulling the cart by a not very steep rail or metal plate, and unloading it rolling it by hand. Then putting back in place the cart (using the reverse, or just reverting to 2X4 and pulling the wrinch), and start loading it again. Ingredients list: - A Land Rover, with both forward and reverse gears working. - Heavy-duty cable, that is provided by the program's crew. As wrinch the team can use a tyre's rim. - a ligth metal canister, that can be made from the truck's roof. It doesn't need wheels, but it must be ligthly reinforced - lots of assorted shapped metal rubbish (for the drill's head). - The rails, made from any rusty long thing. - The truck's removed axle and another one, to put the complete machine on. Because it wouldn't need great precision (as every other rusty moving base made in the show), it wouldn't be a great problem. - "The Megalomaniacs", "D.A.M.M.A.G.E.","The Chaos Crew" or "The New England Rubbish Deconstruction Society" above, around and/or behind it. - Aproximately the same amount of fat-men-puffs it took for the mowers...

Another example could be a little changed "Chaos Crew" demolition machine, except that using scoops instead of claws.

And about the special outfit, it wouldn't be any trouble, as far as it can be made in the teams' colors... And about the actual productivity of the machine, it wouldn't be great, so about half metric ton per hour of soft material or 40 kg of hard would be a nice result.

-- Nachoman (iaramire@hotmai.com), January 16, 2001.