Chris: I'm looking for a big ass rock Also Chris: let me grab the smallest machine, just to make it fair to the rock

28:50 Yanmar should be proud of what Strawberry Shortcake achieved there - far beyond what she was intended for.

Pucker-factor be damned! I was sitting here at home watching you pluck that huge boulder out of the ground, and realized that every muscle in my body was tense as you hoisted it over the fence. Once you cleared the fence and started backing away, my entire body relaxed. Damn that's one big pebble.

That was a BIG hunk of quartz! It'd be interesting to see some crushed in a ball/hammer mill then panned, we used to do that in Nova Scotia, Canada, it's all quartz, it's all got gold, just need to mill and pan it.

Who knows there could be jewelry grade quartz there ,Chris is on the Hunt and got Him some big boulders ,He just doesn't give up .Nothing like having the right equipment for the job at Hand

Next year Chris will have this whole area dug 12 feet deep looking for gold and it will turn out to be a new pond !

🔥🔥🔥I NEVER WOULD’VE THOUGHT CHRIS TO BE A GOLD DIGGER…. Snicker snicker

This video reminds me of the gold reclaiming system that I help setup back in 1981. It was used to reclaim all of the tailings that the miners dumped over the side of the mountain in Arizona. While I was there the hard rock miners following the quartz seam through the mountain hit a seem of gold that was over 1 thick. I had a great time on that job, really learned a lot about gold and silver mining. Good luck Chris. The mountain was solid granite that the quartz was running thru.

That was like a baby T-Rex calling to it's Mama!

My brother worked for the Ne. Department of Roads and when they were rebuilding the Interstate they ran into a quartzite erratic. They dug around it and found the top was large enough to park a pickup on. Dug around the sides a little bit but couldn't find a bottom. They went ahead and built the road over it because if it hadn't moved in 12,000 years, it wasn't going to move now.

This was pure fun to watch! You could call your rentals “Quartz Hollow!”

Before the California gold rush there was mining gold in North & South Carolina.

The thing about quartz as you know is that it can hold some gold. I hope you’re able to find it. 🥇

That’s a serious rock. That Volvo 220 is rated to lift 16,400 pounds! It was all she could do. Is this the machine that you replaced some of the ram seals? Certainly tested them!

Hope this don't get deleted or go to spam!! True!! The first authenticated discovery of gold occurred on the Cabarrus County farm of John Reed in 1799, sparking the nation's first gold rush. During its peak years, more than a million dollars of gold was recovered a year, making North Carolina a leader in gold production until 1848. This mill, built by the Mecklenburg Iron Works of Charlotte, North Carolina, is original except for the timber work. Two groups of five 750-pound stamps with 5- to 7-inch lift, rose and fell thirty-five times a minute to yield a finely crushed ore. It is typical of those used in the late nineteenth century, not only in this state but in the western regions as well. Google....

If that bad boy is 6x6x3 it should weigh about 18,900 lbs or 9.45 tons, the Volvo was flexing her muscles.

RIP bucket teeth. The mini did better than I thought it would.

Fire on the Mountain. Lightning in the Air, Gold in them Hills and it's waiting for me there.

I enjoy watching the channel just for the odd stuff you get into. You surpassed that today.

Nice score for the cabins landscape they are going to be awesome and give the cabins a great look 👍😎🇺🇸 6:58pm NY

Never though strawberry shortcake would have gotten that rock out, but she did. 😮

You were rockin', several times. Big chunk going across the fence. I said this could be professional fence demolition!

Interesting melange of rock types there and you are on ground that has a higher than usual chance of hosting gold deposits . First a couple of reality checks : Quartz is no more an indicator of gold , by itself , than trees , grass , or , sand . It is the second most abundant mineral in the continental crust and the most abundant on the surface since it is very resistant to weathering . The quartz deposits in Arkansas are world class . Nary a speck of gold has ever been found there . So , by itself , quartz just means you have silicon dioxide . 2) you mentioned fools gold / pyrite .. This is slightly better , but , also very common . A little pyrite is also nothing to get excited over . 3 ) Should you find quartz that is heavily rust stained and shows pyrite , and , most especially if it also has some green and blue staining , then you just might be on to something . 4 ) If you find any gold you need to ; A ) Keep it to yourself unless you want to be inundated with an endless parade of uninvited visitors . B ) Know if you actually own the mineral rights or not . These can be sold independently and it is very common for mineral rights to have been sold generations ago by a previous owner who retained the surface rights . It will take a specialized title search to establish this . Read expensive and time consuming as a distinct possibility . If you are serious about investigating the possibility , there are several companies who will assay samples for you . The cost is dependent on the sample sizes , what tests you want done , and , to what degree of accuracy . A crude fire assay can tell you if you have anything worth investigating as far as precious metals . Other , more modern tests can give you very accurate results for almost as many elements as you can afford to test for . You may try reaching out to Jason at Mount Baker Mining and Metals , he has a channel on YT and will be able to point you in the right direction . You might even be able to do a collaboration video , where he crushes your ore and assays it . Of course you will want to think long and hard before you potentially cause another gold rush in North Carolina . A couple of last points ; 1) Just because it is white bull quartz with few sulphides , does not rule out the presence of gold . There are low sulphide quartz veins that produce gold . They just are not very common things . 2 ) If you have time , contact the geology department of a local university , and see if they would be willing to examine it . Anyway , if nothing else , you might find some quartz crystals or some accessory minerals in the quartz . My guess is those are quartz veins intruded into schist , the schist later weathering to clay leaving the quartz behind as large blocks and boulders . It could also be what is left of a pegmatite vein . These are composed of a granite mineral assemblage ( quartz , feldspar , mica ) , and upon deep weathering leave behind large blocks of quartz , after the feldspar and mica have weathered to clay . Keep an eye out for any yellow green hexagonal shapes as these might be beryl crystals which are a common accessory mineral . Another would be tourmaline, which will look like long black streaks , and , will look like a rounded triangle in cross section . These are just off the top of my head .

Sure nice to have the right equipment available to you for these projects. Thanks for sharing.

Lol. Shortcake 🍰! I’m looking forward to the 220 in action now. The fence encounter was ingenious

Best part is the quartz is from the appellations mountain building 400 million years ago. The app mountains were once as high and Jagged the Rockies which are a much younger mountain chain. The areas west and east of the mountains is out wash from hundreds of millions of years of erosion. I’m a geologist so i find this stuff cool. How it was deposited could be very complicated and would need some field work and research.

Did he say he was making cabins? Are they rentable? Maybe offer a dinner experience. A country bbq with Chris. That would be very cool.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I was puckering up and I was not even driving the excavator. Cheers from Wisconsin.

I'm wondering if Chris didn't actually strike gold with this video? Send a copy to the Yanmar mini 55 folks because they just might pay gold for the rights to this video! I thought it was a bit sketchy at times and expected a hose to blow or something but nothing happened to the 55 so I'm going to look into getting one for the farm. Thanks Chris, the 220 is awesome!

You need a metal detector where there is Big quartz boulders there is a very good possibility there could be chunky gold

Loved seeing the beast coming through to help the mini, you can noticeably admire the shear power of the 220

Chris, after digging with the 550, your ready for your premier on Gold Rush! 🤣🤣. You, Parker, and Tony can gamble on who will find the most gold this year!

You may be very well surprised! Don't think it would be placer gold, but some molten gold could have squeezed up into the quartz 20 billion years ago! If you do find it there in the quartz it probably will not be in just a bolder! Look for a vein of quartz!!!! Something like a underground ledge!

Always bring the biggest bucket to a rock fight😎

Us landscapers like boulders without the tractor marks. Just saying. The best ones are usually on the surface covered in moss or lichen. Hoisted them with straps to save the look. Not cheap to buy a nice big one and hoist it over a house into the back yard. Pro tip, bury them at least 50% in the garden so they look natural.

Those minis really amaze me at the power they have. 😎

You do stuff many of us can only dream about. Thanks for the ride.

There is very little gold in quartz especially in North carolina but you can find some. Where you find gold in north carolina is in streams trapped around and in bed rock

It's great that you can get the rock off your land to do the landscape work that you want to do around the house. To have to buy the rock would be very expensive. It is also great that you have the equipment to do all the work around the farm. I remember when you did not have your own equipment . I am proud of how hard you have worked to get where you are today. Just goes to show that if you work hard, you can have what you want. Enjoy watching your videos, which you also spend a lot of time working on. Thanks, Chris.

I love this hilarious attitude to looking for a big ol boulder. Need more fun like this as we get older. Pucker factor was extreme as you lifted that big un over the fence. I had to look away and grit my teeth. She's huge!

Reminds me of the Vet Clinic job. But this time you are looking for them.

I wonder if some poor pioneer farmer spent years hauling boulders with his team of horses; dug a bit and buried these rocks. Now Chris digs them all up for decorations 😊 Wonder if this area was glaciated ? We see these large rocks in Eastern Ontario…dragged there by glaciers. Some of these rocks are way bigger than the 220.

We were, of course, fully expecting the 550 to enter the screen from behind the 220 and arrive on the scene to save the day with digging that 12,000 lb. monster rock! We would have jumped up & cheered!!!

Watching the huge Volvo building ponds was great, but digging in the woods with the mini was great fun too.

My stomach is sore from helping get those boulders out. 😂

What a great way to spend a beautiful spring day!

This is one of those few times were you took your mind off work and seem to be enjoying yourself rock hunting on your recent farm so enjoy your day.

Now that's my kind of gardening. Landscaping with the 220

I've been waiting for you to dig those up ever since you mentioned them! Good boulders, can't wait to see them cleaned up.

I have at least three that are as big as the second one. Two above ground and one that I thought was small sticking up in my trail. Once I started digging it was nearly the size of my Mahindra 3215. Couldn't budget it from it's spot. Just covered it back up and added more dirt. The biggest one was about the same size as the one you lifted over the fence.

Totally caught off guard with the "you'll get that gold mining" 🤣🤣

I chuckled when you said you lost the boulder that you found a cpl years ago. It'll eventually show up! I found, then lost for many years a moonshiners still site deep in the woods of Northern Mn.

I’m impressed! That fence trick was cool….😊

It sure is nice to see you doing something you enjoy on your farm Chris!

Great fun dig looking for quartz rock I enjoyed it thanks Chris

35:00 Chris being more precise with the 220 than most people manage with the mini-ex.

Thanks for sharing dear brother and good job👍👍👍, I hope you are healthy and successful always😊🙏🙏🙏

Lol..a prehistoric gopher would be jealous of that Yanmar chris..look at them holes! Gotta love that old quartz! I am just floored at the quartz in that area..lucky you that you have it to use. Don't see that here in North MS. On my land anyway..lol.

Really enjoyed the video. Watching you dig up the big rocks was very cool.

I knew when I saw you digging that kind of material there was a vein on that property.

Gotta love some big landscaping rocks. I have some big blue granite boulders in my front yard I dug up around charlotte,NC.

Most impressive!!! Awesome quartz landscape boulders ..

Gold rush to North Carolina! I think we ought to draw a treasure map with an X and send it Chris! 😉

Definitely something different. Digging for some big quartz. Nice! It'll be all right when you get everything done get them washed off. 👍👍🙂🇨🇦

Jeez Louise....... Chris' idea of a fun Saturday at home. Thumbs up on the Pepsi and nothing stronger while at that kind of play. Can't wait for a revisit when them boulders are washed off and put on display. As I recall there are already some biggins at the front gate, brought home from work (from the vet clinic? ) ?

I’m liking this mining adventure…quarters/gold. They are beautiful boulders, can’t wait to see where you place the on the farm. 👍👍♥️🙏🏻🙏🏻🇺🇸✝️✝️✝️

Yea buddy 👌🤘🤘🤘🤘ur own gold rush show 👌😂that’s some good material for raising that flooded path thru the woods tho 🤷🏼‍♂️

Their Truely is gold their where ur an in nc. Sc. Ga an va. Its small but pure gold. Its in blue quarts aswell. Allot of free mill gold an load gold too depending the area!! Thanks for the video Chris

Well the good thing is you have plenty dirt to fill the holes when you dig the pond brother! That’s something how it was buried and you couldn’t see it! lol 😂, plan B! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👌🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻 I sure appreciate you sharing this with us my friend, exciting!

I enjoy when you work on your own place, sure enjoyed the boulder hunt a lot. Thanks.

You would think Chris would never want to dig or touch another rock after the Veterinarian site excavation job

That big boulder with your logo or farm name etched in it, would be a nice decoration piece.

You are one skilled and determined man. Impressive!!!

Little Red flexes her muscles! 👍👊👊

This is one of the most entertaining & interesting videos of late. Thanks Chris.

I have the exact same Yanmar VIO-55-4. Got it just as the color changed to Red in summer of 2020. Very satisfied.

Next time you want to find big rocks, give me a shout and I'll head over with a post hole digger. I seem to be able to find them with ease in Johnston County and always right where I don't want them.

Giving the mini a workout..!!

That looks like a great place for a gate Chris. Drive the 220 in and find the big ones!

Hi Chris. Maybe a feeder type wagon to set hay on to elevate it to keep cows from walking in and wasting it may keep your pasture looking nice.

Videos mesmerizing, got us moving Boulders in our minds, moving around like we doing something to help, reminded me of the Animal Hospital Boulders, (btw)how is that one you put at your place(front ?). Yep, I remember.

Wow. That was a big rock. I get used to watching how deft you are with the 220 bucket and forget how big that sucker is. You standing next to the rock & bucket was an amazing comparison. Then when you lined them up, especially after you worked the bucket & jaws to where you could safely pick them up, it made me think of the World's Strongest Man Atlas Stones competition. The rocks you've already used look really nice and add a great touch. These are going to look sweet in your landscaping.

Love the farm stuff! Work is one thing. But working on your own stuff is best!

its mind blowing how those machines have that much strength!! great video Chris!

My husband is very fed up as he is waiting for a knee replacement and due to the state of the NHS it won’t be soon. I love your exploits and so I shared them with my husband. When I said today you were digging for gold he couldn’t wait to get the TV on. He worked making London Taxis all his working life and loves automotive work. When the Formula 1 season starts he watches all the races,practices and comments. We live on what was a coal mine so your work intrigues us. 😂😂😂

That Yanmar has a soothing hum. 🤷‍♂️😎

Chris as a kid I used to collect rocks ( as I called them my pet rocks ) that I took home to look at but yours are on another level, that rock clay mixture is great for tracks on the farm , it packs down beautifully and has little dust when dry , mate you are the champion all the best from Tasmania Australia 🇦🇺

Just once in my life I'd like to be able to say, "Let's go get the 220". 😁

Those are going to be some pretty rock , once you get them cleaned up.... Need to get the 220 around the fence and get on in there and get some more down threw there !! Sucks!! You broke the camera again...lolol... You about got it twice before you finally did !! lolol... Greta as always Chris !! , Have a Great Evening Man, And , On too the Next !!

Lol @ you get that gold mining!!! Too funny

Kinda sounds like the animal hospital site. Be you had some nasty flash back ol. Thank you Chris for allowing us all to follow along

I am sure you do this too, Chris...when we ran into boulders and the wife wanted a giant rock wall I got them moved close then fired up the pressure washer and cranked it up...really brought the sparkle out in the rocks before placing them.If ya want to see what you have before you place them might be worth the time.

Hilarious and Awesome video Chris. Thanks for sharing 👍

That was fun watching you "Gold" hunting.... 😂. Those are some nice boulders, "I really like what you did your boulders"! But seriously, I hope you find Gold, with all the broken cameras.... sorry I couldn't help it. 😂See you on the next one. Be safe 👍🇺🇲🙏❤️

Rock pile looks like a perfect place for a veterinarian's office.

I think chris just likes digging holes 😂

It might not seem like a logical place to find gold. But a lot places in the U.S. have had gold rushes, that we don't think of as gold mining ground. I want to see how he separates the ground and rocks from the gold.

Can’t wait for the next venture my friend! Thanks so much for sharing Chris, it’s exciting to watch! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👌🏻👌🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 kirk from Louisiana! Stay safe,warm and healthy brother! Sending prayers for you and your family!🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Dang Chris. This one was like a suspense movie, watching you move those boulders. They will sure look great around the cabins.

Boulders from your own farm, cool! 👌🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻