For these teams (Barley Pickers and Hammerlocks)
the earth will definitely move, oh yeah!! The teams will be building digging
machines in just ten hours. Once completed, they will compete in three
"races" worth 1, 1 and 2 points respectively. The first race is to move
sand from one area and dump it into a scale. First team to fill it with
a half-a-tonne of sand, wins. Secondly, they're digging cars out from under
10 tonnes of sand. The first team to remove enough sand to open a door
and blow an air horn is the winner. Finally, they must fill a ditch that
is about 2 feet deep with enough sand to drive their vehicle over it and
across the finish line.
The Barley Pickers are going for the machine you
and I are most used to seeing, an excavator. A beefy truck will support
an arm that pivots in 3 locations (at the base, in the middle and at the
bucket) with a bucket on the end. It's a straightforward design that will
be easy to operate once it's built. However, to power these pivot points
they plan on using...wait for it...hydraulic rams. Their biggest problem
is going to be facing the curse of hydraulics. A hydraulic machine has
NEVER won a race in any series in any version of the show.
The Hammerlocks, featuring Conscience
(Vigilante had to defend his belt), are going with a design only the biggest
of diggers use...a dragline. Essentially, a drag line has a bucket in the
end that is dragged across and through the dirt into a large bucket. It
will require two chain and pulley systems...one to pull the bucket through
the dirt and one to raise the bucket into the air. Finding motors to raise/drag
the bucket will be tough as will finding chain and pulleys. This might
be a back-breaking test day for the team.
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