Scrapheap Challenge

Thanks Kevin I would have missed that

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

Well done to the steam team for winning

Super effort! Well done the steam team! :)

Indeed, well done all three teams.

Mike

By the way; did someone mention boiler certificates??? ROTFL

Think yourself lucky it wasn't the US version. The Simpsons for presenters and 1hour 10 minutes of adverts.

They did explain in a previous version that used steam that they had to salt the yard with gear that had the correct paperwork.

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

John Stevenson responded .........

I thought it was the Simpsons!

Do you know where is this splendid scrap-yard that always, always, always seems to have just the right bit of kit lying around? I get the impression that some of the piles of 'stuff' are a bit stage-managed perhaps? A bit convenient to find an electric tug, a steam engine (in full working order and worth a few bob), a boiler, and a single (as far as we could see) diesel truck. Did you notice a car balanced between the top of a pile and the side of a yellow container? :)

Not that any of this detracts from the sterling efforts of the three teams, but why dress it up - it was a super effort in its own right.

Mike

Then you obviously haven't seen the US version

Have a look at the background on Channel fours web site. They explain about seeding the yard to keep the playing field level.

If you noticed last night the choices of power unit were all based at around 25 Hp. Would have been a little unfair if they had left a 32 ton tractor unit in the yard. It is a TV show after all and I'm just grateful that they don't dumb it down too much.

When they explain with the 'silly' pictures it is getting it across to the non tech and younger generation. In the US version they cut to adverts at this point so they get no educational value out of it. Even the Yanks say ours is better presented and run.

My wife works at a local school and this program is one the kids talk about a lot................... from little apples..................

If we don't have anyone to follow us who are you going to sell your lathe to when you are in the Happy Valley retirement home ?

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

In message , Mike Whittome wrote

I first suspected they were salting the yard way back in I think the second season when they had a rocketry challenge and the teams found four or five brand new motors. In fact until the incident when one team bashed in the side of the yard owners van I had assumed that the yard was created for the show, this was especially so a couple of seasons ago where they seemed to shoot the UK show in the US.

Mind you the salting doesn't always work out there have been a couple of shows where one team has bagged every example of the critical salted component, trading or theft usually sorted it out though one time I suspect an extra component was slipped into the yard to find.

All that aside it is a great show and far better than the American version, after all even if there is good stuff to find they still have to find it and bodge it together in a very limited time and with very limited tools. See the bit in this show where they were having problems because they only had metric spanners.

Roger Smith mentioned ..........

Did not notice that; but a bit of a bummer on the steam engine then!!!!!

Mike

It was on the 60 yr old tractor not the steam engine

I think you are being optimistic if you think that salting the yard i the only bit of misdirection going on.

I got involved in one of those programmes that was meant to tak 'three' days. Well, they only showed you the three days they filmed and forgot about the month between each day, and a neat bit o 'bodgery' left out the bit where the part was taken to a workshop shaped, milled, jigged and welded. You saw the guy start with the torc in the yard and you saw the guy finish with an angle grinder in the yar and the enthusiastic voiceover encouraged you to think the rest was don in the yard too.

Robi

-- rss

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