Ax Men
Encyclopedia
Ax Men is an American documentary
reality television series that premiered on March 9, 2008 on History. The program follows the work of several logging
crews in the second-growth forests
of Northwestern Oregon
, Washington and Montana
. The show highlights the dangers encountered by the loggers
. Following in the footsteps of other shows from Original Productions
, like Deadliest Catch
and Ice Road Truckers
, the series is considered part of a recent "real-men-in-danger" television programming trend.
that allows him to wield a chainsaw. Jay runs his company with a "hire the best in the business and use the best equipment" philosophy. His sons Jesse and Jared work for him; Jesse is scheduled to take over the company one day. Jay Browning started his logging company in 1985. His company has been headquartered in Clatsop County ever since.
. His crew is a fairly young one, using secondhand equipment and willing to take any job to make a living. Melvin goes to work for Pihl Logging (see below) in Season 3, but quits partway through the season.
company based out of Astoria, Oregon
.
The company takes contracts to cut timber in Oregon
's second growth forests. Gustafson Logging is currently owned by three brothers, Clay, Mark and Wade Gustafson, sons of Duane Gustafson. The company was started in 1974 by Duane Gustafson. Darrell Holthusen is the "side rod," or crew foreman.
, S&S recovers sunken old-growth logs from the beds of rivers that were used by earlier generations of loggers to float them downstream. The company motto is "Recovering the forests of yesterday to save the forests of tomorrow," reflecting their commitment to never cut down a live tree. His son James is active in the business, leaving to work for Collins River Logging in Season 3 and returning to S&S in Season 4.
, was founded by Craig Rygaard in 1993. His sons Gabe, Jason and Burt are his business partners.
and begins working with Collins River Logging, run by Joe Collins, to pull logs from the Suwannee River
. One new crew appears alongside these five.
, this company was founded by Mike Papac as an offshoot of his father's Washington-based logging business. For job sites on islands, the Ketchikan, Alaska
-based tugboat company Olson Marine hauls Papac's logs over the water to reach a collection point.
, was founded by Dave Dutcyvich in the mid-1980s and is now owned by his son Eric. They concentrate on harvesting timber from the remote islands off Canada's west coast, hauling in equipment and supplies by barge to allow them to live on the job site when necessary.
Final load counts:
and a winter storm throw Conner's operations into turmoil; Rygaard out-produces Browning as Brad begins to pick up the pace.
Part 1--Browning moves to another job site, but a skyline malfunction hampers production; Austin climbs a tree to rig Rygaard's last skyline, then gets his first practice at cutting one down; Mike pushes the Pihl crew to move loads, but morale sinks rapidly and Dustin loses his temper; Bart lifts off to help Conner finish its last job, but damage to the helicopter sling line slows him down.
Part 2--Dustin quits Pihl, fed up with Mike's haranguing, and Dwayne soon does likewise; Conner scrambles to pull the loads needed to meet its last deadline; a dead head ruptures the S&S barge's hull, forcing Jimmy and James to dock it quickly; Browning stalls when a truck loaded with logs overturns on the site's only access road; a massive winter storm shuts down Browning and Pihl one day early, but Rygaard is spared and can keep moving wood off the mountain.
Final load counts:
s in order to save the rest of the forest; Browning tries a makeshift repair on the damaged skyline to keep production going, but broken chokers slow the crew down; Jimmy and James set out on their own to find logs for Collins, with more success than in previous weeks; Swamp Man makes a nighttime search for a huge log, while the film crew following the company finds itself stranded in the swamp; the fast pace and crowded landing at the Rygaard site touch off an avalanche of logs that nearly crushes Dave.
; Dave gets his first practice on a chainsaw while Gabe hurries to clear a new landing at the Rygaard site; as Swamp Man hauls a load of logs to a meeting with a buyer, a collision with a dock leaves leaves Shelby scrambling to reel his cargo back in.
and stay ahead of both a fierce storm and a buyer's deadline; Josh and Kevin get their first practice at dropping cargo to the Conner ground crew; as Browning pulls in the last loads from its current job, Jay tells the crew that he has no new work lined up and must send them home.
flares up and sends him to the hospital; Josh and Kevin each make an actual heli-logging run, after which Bart evaluates their performance and hires Josh to fly for Conner.
Final load counts:
in Alaska so heavy equipment can move in for the start of its first job; at the height of alligator mating season, Swamp Man hires an assistant to help bring up a huge load of sunken timber from the bayou; after a rough start trying to find logs for Collins in the Suwannee, James gets a surprise visit from Jimmy.
system onto the S&S boat so they can more easily find logs in the Suwannee and keep pace with Collins; Papac faces a tight schedule for moving its equipment off Suemez before the tide goes out; Swamp Man takes a break from logging to hunt snapping turtles for dinner; as Pihl tackles a site filled with damaged timber, the yarder's transmission fails and the skyline carriage knocks down several trees.
back into service in order to start pulling logs again; Browning sets up for quick production at an Oregon job, with Jesse in charge of the crew following the death of his stepdaughter; with Jimmy sidelined due to his shoulder, James hires a temporary deckhand for S&S, then suffers a head injury during a dive; after an overweight turn of logs bends the Rygaard yarder's support tower, the crew works late to straighten it and Dave misses his son's birthday. (First episode of the season to feature J.M. Browning Logging; last to feature Pihl Logging.)
, damage to the yarder carriage forces the crew to resort to grapple logging, a tactic that backfires badly; Browning's quick pace causes a pileup on the landing that sends logs sliding down the hill toward the rigging crew; after Collins' sonar malfunctions, Joe resorts to experience and instinct to find logs in the Suwannee; squabbling among the Papac crew slows down production, forcing Mike to intervene with a tree-cutting challenge. (First episode of the season to feature Lemare Lake Logging.)
Final load counts:
Results of the Collins/S&S contest:
, both as individual volumes and as a three-season box set.
"Ax Men" is currently airing in Australia on Seven Mate. The second season is featured. Airing stopped on Seven Mate now airing on Channel Ten's Sports Channel "One" Tuesday at 8:30
(DNR) seized more than two dozen logs that may have been illegally salvaged by a timber crew featured on the History Channel's reality show Ax Men. DNR officers served a search warrant
on S&S Aqua Logging to retrieve timber the company had pulled from the Hoquiam River
without a permit.
Jimmy Smith, who owns and operates S&S Aqua Logging, said on the show that the logs were worth about $10,000, according to search warrant records.
"These are valuable materials that belong to the public and this looks like theft, plain and simple, They are part of the functioning ecosystem, so removing the log would be like removing part of the bed," state Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark
said.
Logs provide a key function for rivers in trapping sediment, harboring insects and other food for fish, and creating pools and riffles where fish can rest, said Greg Hueckel, fish and wildlife habitat programs director. Hueckel said his agency typically grants permits to remove logs in situations where flooding causes log jams and it's unlikely that a permit would be granted for timber harvest.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
reality television series that premiered on March 9, 2008 on History. The program follows the work of several logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
crews in the second-growth forests
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
of Northwestern Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Washington and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
. The show highlights the dangers encountered by the loggers
Lumberjack
A lumberjack is a worker in the logging industry who performs the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era when hand tools were used in harvesting trees principally from virgin forest...
. Following in the footsteps of other shows from Original Productions
Original Productions
Original Productions is a television production company based in Burbank, CA. It was founded in 1999 by Thom Beers and was acquired by FremantleMedia in 2009 and made into a subsidiary....
, like Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch is a documentary/reality television series produced by Original Productions for the Discovery Channel. It portrays the real life events aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and C. opilio crab fishing seasons.The Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor,...
and Ice Road Truckers
Ice Road Truckers
Ice Road Truckers is a documentary-style reality television series that premiered on History on June 17, 2007.-History:In 2000, History aired a 46-minute episode titled "Ice Road Truckers" as part of the Suicide Missions series...
, the series is considered part of a recent "real-men-in-danger" television programming trend.
J.M. Browning Logging
J.M. Browning Logging is owned by Jay Browning, a 34-year veteran of the logging industry. His left hand was torn off in a logging accident, but he now wears a prosthesisProsthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis, prosthetic, or prosthetic limb is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control...
that allows him to wield a chainsaw. Jay runs his company with a "hire the best in the business and use the best equipment" philosophy. His sons Jesse and Jared work for him; Jesse is scheduled to take over the company one day. Jay Browning started his logging company in 1985. His company has been headquartered in Clatsop County ever since.
Stump-Branch Logging
This company, owned by Melvin Lardy, is based in Buxton, OregonBuxton, Oregon
Buxton is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Oregon, United States, near Oregon Route 47.The Buxton area was settled by Henry T. Buxton in 1884, and the town was named for his family, including his father, also named Henry Buxton, a pioneer of 1841. A post office was established on...
. His crew is a fairly young one, using secondhand equipment and willing to take any job to make a living. Melvin goes to work for Pihl Logging (see below) in Season 3, but quits partway through the season.
Pihl Logging
Pihl Logging is owned by Mike Pihl. Comments by employee Dwayne Dethlefs are often featured in promotional spots for the show; his son Dustin also works for the company. Both of them quit at the end of Season 2, with Dustin moving to Alaska in Season 4 to work for Olson Marine (see below).Gustafson Logging
Gustafson Logging Company is a clearcut loggingLogging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
company based out of Astoria, Oregon
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...
.
The company takes contracts to cut timber in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
's second growth forests. Gustafson Logging is currently owned by three brothers, Clay, Mark and Wade Gustafson, sons of Duane Gustafson. The company was started in 1974 by Duane Gustafson. Darrell Holthusen is the "side rod," or crew foreman.
Season 2
The Pihl and Browning crews are featured in this season, along with three other companies.S&S Aqua Logging
Founded by Jimmy Smith in South Cle Elum, WashingtonSouth Cle Elum, Washington
South Cle Elum is a town in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 457 at the 2000 census.-History:In mid 1909, the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railway chose Cle Elum as a division point between the Coast and Columbia divisions on its future transcontinental line...
, S&S recovers sunken old-growth logs from the beds of rivers that were used by earlier generations of loggers to float them downstream. The company motto is "Recovering the forests of yesterday to save the forests of tomorrow," reflecting their commitment to never cut down a live tree. His son James is active in the business, leaving to work for Collins River Logging in Season 3 and returning to S&S in Season 4.
Rygaard Logging
This company, based in Port Angeles, WashingtonPort Angeles, Washington
Port Angeles is a city in and the county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 19,038 at the 2010 census. The area's harbor was dubbed Puerto de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles by Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza in 1791, but by the mid-19th century the name had...
, was founded by Craig Rygaard in 1993. His sons Gabe, Jason and Burt are his business partners.
R&R Conner Aviation
Ryan and Robin Conner founded this company in 2000 in Conner, Montana. They specialize in "heli-logging": using a helicopter to airlift felled trees from terrain too steep or hostile to reach with an access road. The helicopter was restored at The Pitstop Inc..Season 3
The same companies from Season 2 (Rygaard, Conner, Browning, S&S and Pihl) are featured in Season 3, which takes place during summer rather than fall/winter. Due to trouble with Washington state permits, S&S relocates to White Springs, FloridaWhite Springs, Florida
White Springs is a town in Hamilton County, Florida, on the Suwannee River. The population was 819 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the town had a population of 828...
and begins working with Collins River Logging, run by Joe Collins, to pull logs from the Suwannee River
Suwannee River
The Suwannee River is a major river of southern Georgia and northern Florida in the United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long. The Suwannee River is the site of the prehistoric Suwannee Straits which separated peninsular Florida from the panhandle.-Geography:The river rises in the...
. One new crew appears alongside these five.
Swamp Man Logging
Shelby Stanga has lived in the swamps north of New Orleans since he was nine years old, and he has been logging in the area for 37 years. He recovers abandoned logs from the nearby waterways with an ever-evolving cast of sidekicks—his dog Willy, his friends Earl and Bob, and his cousin Jarvis.Season 4
Pihl, Browning, Rygaard, Collins, S&S, and Swamp Man appear in this season, again working the summer logging season, along with two new crews.Papac Alaska Logging
Headquartered in Craig, AlaskaCraig, Alaska
Craig is a first-class city in the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area in the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 1,397 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, this company was founded by Mike Papac as an offshoot of his father's Washington-based logging business. For job sites on islands, the Ketchikan, Alaska
Ketchikan, Alaska
Ketchikan is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost sizable city in that state. With an estimated population of 7,368 in 2010 within the city limits, it is the fifth most populous city in the state....
-based tugboat company Olson Marine hauls Papac's logs over the water to reach a collection point.
Lemare Lake Logging
This company, based in British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, was founded by Dave Dutcyvich in the mid-1980s and is now owned by his son Eric. They concentrate on harvesting timber from the remote islands off Canada's west coast, hauling in equipment and supplies by barge to allow them to live on the job site when necessary.
"Storm of the Century"
Original air date of May 18, 2008. Addresses December 2007 Pacific Northwest storms. Aired in UK 18 September 2008."The Toughest Season"
Original air date of May 25, 2008. A recap of key events in the previous 11 episodes. This episode will not air in the UK."Picking Up the Pieces"
Original air date of June 1, 2008. Crumbling access roads and flooded homes leave all four companies reeling. Aired in UK 25 September 2008."The Final Haul"
Original air date of June 8, 2008. The crews race to get their last loads to the mills as the season winds down. Aired in UK 2 October 2008.Final load counts:
- Browning-278
- Stump Branch-132
- Pihl-130
- Gustafson-121
Season 2 episodes
Season 2 consists of 11 episodes (the finale, "The Reckoning," is two hours long)."Ax Men Cometh"
Original air date of March 2, 2009. The Pihl, Browning and Rygaard crews set up operations for the beginning of the logging season; S&S goes into the water to start pulling logs from the riverbeds."Initiation Day"
Original air date of March 9, 2009. Equipment problems pose a challenge for S&S and Browning; Brad, the new hire at Rygaard, has trouble keeping up the pace; Dwayne's mounting frustration leads him to walk off the Pihl job."By Air, Land and Sea"
Original air date of March 16, 2009. S&S tries to haul in a gigantic old-growth log; an electrical fire nearly destroys the Rygaard yarder; Conner puts its rebuilt helicopter into service to start moving loads; Dwayne returns to work but finds a cool reception waiting for him."Moby Dick Strikes"
Original air date of March 23, 2009. Father-son arguments threaten to derail the S&S effort to pull in the enormous log; Conner's strategy to speed up production endangers its ground crew; Dwayne is sent to work on the landing after his previous disagreements; Craig and Gabe have different ideas about how to deal with Brad, who continues to struggle on the Rygaard job."The King Crumbles"
Original air date of March 30, 2009. S&S heads into new waters to chase down a big payoff; Jesse runs into trouble while setting the Browning crew up at a new site; motion sicknessMotion sickness
Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement...
and a winter storm throw Conner's operations into turmoil; Rygaard out-produces Browning as Brad begins to pick up the pace.
"Lost in the Fog"
Original air date of April 13, 2009. Bart, Conner's senior pilot, has to face down two storms back to back; Craig and Gabe decide whether or not to keep Brad on at Rygaard as they move to a new site; the Pihl cutters must contend with a dangerous stretch of rotted standing trees; S&S tries to get a load of timber to shore without losing their barge to the river currents."One Weak Link"
Original air date of April 20, 2009. The Pihl crew struggles to bring enormous trees up to the landing; S&S faces mechanical trouble on the barge and near-freezing water temperatures in the river; Conner's business hinges on how quickly Steve, its junior pilot, can get used to flying the helicopter; Brad's inexperience earns Craig's wrath and leads to an injury at the Rygaard site, after which he walks off the job."The Ax Falls"
Original air date of April 27, 2009. Steve's slow pace, rough maneuvering and motion sickness result in his dismissal from Conner; S&S tries to pull in an old dock built from valuable logs; Jesse's nerves fray badly as equipment damage idles the Browning crew; Brad gets one last chance to pull his weight at Rygaard, but quits at the end of the day; Pihl puts an extra cutter on the mountain, only for him to go missing as the weather worsens."Fresh Meat"
Original air date of May 4, 2009. With winter fast approaching, S&S shifts its focus from harvesting logs to processing them into lumber; the missing Pihl cutter emerges safely from the forest after a site-wide manhunt; Austin, Rygaard's new hire, finds his new bosses to be particularly hard taskmasters; Ron, the new junior pilot at Conner, faces rough weather on his first day of work; Browning keeps running into mechanical breakdowns at every turn."Clash of the Titans"
Original air date of May 11, 2009. Jay takes part of the Browning crew to a new site, leaving Jesse to wrap up the current job; rising river levels threaten to swamp the S&S equipment; flaring tempers among the Pihl men force Mike to intervene before they attack a rotted 20-story tree; Ron shows promise during a windy, snowy second day on the job at Conner; Austin barely escapes serious injury as Rygaard sets up at a new site and tries to keep out-producing Browning."The Reckoning"
The two-hour season finale; original air date of May 18, 2009.Part 1--Browning moves to another job site, but a skyline malfunction hampers production; Austin climbs a tree to rig Rygaard's last skyline, then gets his first practice at cutting one down; Mike pushes the Pihl crew to move loads, but morale sinks rapidly and Dustin loses his temper; Bart lifts off to help Conner finish its last job, but damage to the helicopter sling line slows him down.
Part 2--Dustin quits Pihl, fed up with Mike's haranguing, and Dwayne soon does likewise; Conner scrambles to pull the loads needed to meet its last deadline; a dead head ruptures the S&S barge's hull, forcing Jimmy and James to dock it quickly; Browning stalls when a truck loaded with logs overturns on the site's only access road; a massive winter storm shuts down Browning and Pihl one day early, but Rygaard is spared and can keep moving wood off the mountain.
Final load counts:
- Rygaard—690
- Browning—677
- Pihl—442
- Conner—405
- S&S—8
"Ax to Grind"
Original air date of January 10, 2010. Rygaard brings in Travis and Dave, two new crew members, and sets up for its biggest, most ambitious job ever; Stump-Branch owner Melvin Lardy signs on to help Pihl get a fast start; the Browning crew begins its season with Jay supervising the site and Jesse in charge of business operations; Swamp Man heads out onto the Louisiana bayou in search of valuable sunken timber."Deeper into the Swamp"
Original air date of January 17, 2010. A remote sawmill holds the promise of a big payoff for Swamp Man if they can get in and out safely; Craig and Gabe start to lose patience with the Rygaard greenhorns' safety lapses; Browning puts a new man on yarder duty, then brings out an even larger yarder for the next job; high temperatures put the Pihl crew and machinery in danger, while Leland, their previous yarder operator, takes Melvin's place."Diving for Dollars"
Original air date of January 24, 2010. Browning races to set up its skyline and start the new job, but the fast pace may lead to disaster; truck breakdowns leave S&S scrambling for a way to get to Florida so they can start with Collins on time; Melvin faces the ire of the Pihl crew when the yarder breaks down on his watch; Rygaard pushes through a heavy storm to keep moving loads, only for a snapped skyline cable to threaten production."Boiling Point"
Original air date of January 31, 2010. Jimmy and James make their first dives in the Suwannee as part of the Collins crew; Melvin has to prove himself against Leland if he wants to stay on yarder duty at Pihl;Travis and Dave face increased scrutiny from Craig and Gabe as they compete for a full-time spot with Rygaard; the Browning riggers fight both the heat and a log that crashes down toward them after a careless error at the yarder."Surviving the Swarm"
Original air date of February 14, 2010. Sightings of alligators in the Suwannee make Jimmy's next dive for Collins extremely risky; Melvin's drive to finish the current Pihl job leads to an injury; a special order sends Swamp Man into bayou territory choked by hurricane debris; Craig and Gabe put the Rygaard greenhorns to a new test by assigning them to rigging duty; one safety incident at Browning is followed by another when Jay sustains dozens of bee stings and suddenly passes out."Showdown"
Original air date of February 21, 2010. Melvin shows up late for the new Pihl job, then gets into arguments with the crew and storms off the site; Jay checks himself into the emergency room after the bee attack, but soon returns to the Browning job; Joe starts to run out of patience as Jimmy and James struggle to work together and find marketable logs for Collins; at Rygaard, a minor injury to Travis' hand results in Dave being sent home for the day, while Travis tries to work through his injury."Chopping Block"
Original air date of February 28, 2010. Travis fails to show up for work, leading to a heated confrontation with Gabe and his resignation from Rygaard, while Dave must prove himself in the rigging; Shelby ventures into alligator-infested waters in search of prize timber for Swamp Man; Melvin is put on rigging duty to try and settle his differences with the Pihl crew, but gets into more arguments and quits; Jay's frustration boils over when damage to the skyline idles the Browning crew; a rough day at Collins results in Jimmy being sidelined as Joe puts James and one of the younger crew members temporarily in charge. (Final episode of the season to feature Pihl Logging.)"Assault by Air"
Original air date of March 7, 2010. Conner starts clearing a patch of timber infested by bark beetleBark beetle
A bark beetle is one of approximately 220 genera with 6,000 species of beetles in the subfamily Scolytinae. Traditionally, this was considered a distinct family Scolytidae, but now it is understood that bark beetles are in fact very specialized members of the "true weevil" family...
s in order to save the rest of the forest; Browning tries a makeshift repair on the damaged skyline to keep production going, but broken chokers slow the crew down; Jimmy and James set out on their own to find logs for Collins, with more success than in previous weeks; Swamp Man makes a nighttime search for a huge log, while the film crew following the company finds itself stranded in the swamp; the fast pace and crowded landing at the Rygaard site touch off an avalanche of logs that nearly crushes Dave.
"Crash and Burn"
Original air date of March 14, 2010. Conner's ground crew dodges turns of logs as they swing out of control and break loose, damaging the helicopter; a near-collision between the Collins boats and an alligator sighting send everyone home for the day; Jay puts the Browning crew to work placing logs in dry stream beds to improve breeding grounds for salmonSalmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
; Dave gets his first practice on a chainsaw while Gabe hurries to clear a new landing at the Rygaard site; as Swamp Man hauls a load of logs to a meeting with a buyer, a collision with a dock leaves leaves Shelby scrambling to reel his cargo back in.
"Curse of Kalina"
Original air date of March 21, 2010. Collins calls in a professional alligator hunter to bring down the huge gator that has stalled production; Dave's mistakes on the job and failure to report in on time may put his future with Rygaard in jeopardy; a giant submerged cypress could mean a huge payday for Swamp Man, if Shelby can break it loose and outrun an approaching storm; Browning pushes through a swarm of hornets and a tangle of widow-maker debris to finish its current job; in Conner's search for a new junior pilot, Bart takes two candidates, Josh and Kevin, up to evaluate their flying skills."End of the Line"
Original air date of April 4, 2010. Dave persuades Gabe to give him one last chance at Rygaard, but a careless error puts Craig on the verge of firing him; Jimmy's desperate decision to snatch a log already marked by the other Collins crew has Joe questioning his ethics; Swamp Man tries to pull a massive log from Lake PontchartrainLake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest inland saltwater body of water in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana. As an estuary, Pontchartrain is not a true lake.It covers an area of with...
and stay ahead of both a fierce storm and a buyer's deadline; Josh and Kevin get their first practice at dropping cargo to the Conner ground crew; as Browning pulls in the last loads from its current job, Jay tells the crew that he has no new work lined up and must send them home.
"Eleventh Hour"
Original air date of April 11, 2010. Craig storms off the Rygaard site and Dave fails to show up, leaving Gabe to manage a shorthanded crew alone; after Jimmy's log-poaching last week, James goes out on the Suwannee by himself to hunt timber with Collins' other crew; when Jesse secures a new job for Browning, Jay brings in every available crew member to put wood on the ground; as Swamp Man makes a second try for the huge log stuck in Lake Pontchartrain, Shelby's old herniaHernia
A hernia is the protrusion of an organ or the fascia of an organ through the wall of the cavity that normally contains it. A hiatal hernia occurs when the stomach protrudes into the mediastinum through the esophageal opening in the diaphragm....
flares up and sends him to the hospital; Josh and Kevin each make an actual heli-logging run, after which Bart evaluates their performance and hires Josh to fly for Conner.
"King of the Mountain"
The season finale; original air date of April 18, 2010. Shelby sneaks out of the hospital so Swamp Man can try one last time to haul in the log from Lake Pontchartrain; as Browning sprints toward the end of its last job, trouble with the yarder threatens to halt production; Bart and the Conner crew sprint to stay ahead of an incoming thunderstorm; Joe finally loses his patience with Jimmy and fires him, but offers James a chance to go to work for Collins; Craig and Dave return to help Rygaard finish out its season with a risky all-night downhill logging session in the fog.Final load counts:
- Browning - 1185
- Rygaard - 1182
- Pihl - 394 (at end of "Chopping Block")
"Alaska"
Original air date of December 12, 2010. Gabe leads Rygaard into a troublesome mountain site, using a powerful new yarder that poses its own set of challenges; Pihl brings in Leah, its first female greenhorn, in hopes of fostering civility between the crew members; Papac races to build an access road on Suemez IslandSuemez Island
Suemez Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, USA. It lies just off the west-central coast of Prince of Wales Island. The northern tip of Dall Island lies to its southeast, while Baker Island lies to its northwest...
in Alaska so heavy equipment can move in for the start of its first job; at the height of alligator mating season, Swamp Man hires an assistant to help bring up a huge load of sunken timber from the bayou; after a rough start trying to find logs for Collins in the Suwannee, James gets a surprise visit from Jimmy.
"Sink or Swim"
Original air date of December 19, 2010. An accident damages the Rygaard yarder, followed by a second one that leaves Craig and Gabe wondering about their yarder operator's capabilities; Jimmy persuades James to rejoin S&S and challenges Collins to a logging contest; as Papac begins pulling logs, problems with the skyline lead to heated arguments and the hook tender's resignation; after Swamp Man's first attempt to retrieve the huge sunken log fails, Shelby tries to break it loose with explosives."Day from Hell"
Original air date of December 26, 2010. The disappearance of Papac's yarder operator sparks a full-scale manhunt across Suemez; Swamp Man calls in help to rig heavy explosive charges in hopes of loosening the sunken log; with bad weather moving in, Pihl races to keep up production and Leah's skills at setting chokers are put to the test; mechanical problems put S&S out of action as Collins' diver risks being run over by a passing boat; Dave's late arrival on the Rygaard site has Craig and Gabe fuming, and Gabe warns him that he has one last chance to prove that he deserves to keep his job."Manhunt"
Original air date of January 2, 2011. The Papac crews resume their search across Suemez, this time with air support, and eventually find their missing coworker unharmed; alligators and darkness complicate Swamp Man's efforts to pull in logs for quick cash so Shelby can take his dog to a veterinarian; at the new Rygaard site, Gabe's attempt to string the skyline with a helicopter goes wrong and leaves him scrambling in the brush; with the Suwannee lowered by drought, Collins has no trouble finding logs, while S&S's first strike threatens to sink their boat; Leah keeps working to gain the Pihl crew's respect as their rigging slinger gets hurt on the last stretch of the current job."Battle for Survival"
Original air date of January 9, 2011. Tension following the Suemez manhunt drives Papac's site boss to quit, while a boat breakdown strands half the crew on the mainland for the day; at the Rygaard site, Craig takes charge in Gabe's absence and Dave suffers an ankle injury that leaves him out of action for a week; Pihl's rigging slinger is in the hospital due to his injury, so his brother comes over from Browning to help clear a swampy stretch of timber; holiday crowding on the Suwannee leads Collins to suspend its operations, but S&S takes the risk to find more wood; Swamp Man scrambles to keep ahead of an incoming storm and bring up logs to pay the vet bills."Judgment Day"
Original air date of January 16, 2011. Papac's replacement yarder operator puts the equipment and crew at risk, prompting the new site boss to bring the regular man back in; while helping to set up the new Pihl site, Leah unexpectedly quits to resume her previous job as a forest firefighter; an equipment breakdown nearly kills Rygaard's yarder operator as Gabe counsels Dave to stand up for himself; Shelby takes his dog in for a checkup, then gets a special Swamp Man order and runs into a well-armed fellow logger; flaring tempers and invading snakes drive S&S off the Suwannee, while Collins scores a load of logs just in time to avoid a storm that temporarily strands their film crew."Under Fire"
Original air date of January 23, 2011. After Shelby and his cousin play a practical joke on the Swamp Man buyer, he fills the rush order and muscles through a shallow swamp to complete another one; Papac races to finish its current job, forcing the crew to make a series of risky moves that eventually leave them idle for the day; Collins deals with a winch breakdown, while S&S takes its boat in for repairs and Jimmy's temper leads him and James to come to blows; Gabe must saw apart several logs that have fallen off a Rygaard truck, and the crew battles soaring temperatures at a new site."Overboard"
Original air date of January 30, 2011. Dave's mistakes in skyline repair and choker work turn Craig and the entire Rygaard crew against him; Papac's former hook tender returns, demoted to the rigging crew, and butts heads with his replacement; Dustin Dethlefs, formerly of Pihl, joins Olson Marine and faces the challenges of corralling thousands of floating logs for water transport; after the argument with James, Jimmy sets out alone to find logs for S&S, but with much less luck than Collins; Jacob, the new Pihl greenhorn, faces hazing by the crew and helps stop an exhaust leak into the yarder cab that threatens the day's operations."Lock & Load"
Original air date of February 13, 2011. Dustin and the Olson crew hurry to pull in Papac's logs after they start to break loose from the tugboat; hoping to drive Dave out of Rygaard, Craig secretly hires DJ, a former Browning crew member, to Gabe's extreme annoyance; Jimmy and James reconcile and fit a sonarSonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
system onto the S&S boat so they can more easily find logs in the Suwannee and keep pace with Collins; Papac faces a tight schedule for moving its equipment off Suemez before the tide goes out; Swamp Man takes a break from logging to hunt snapping turtles for dinner; as Pihl tackles a site filled with damaged timber, the yarder's transmission fails and the skyline carriage knocks down several trees.
"Fallout Zone"
Original air date of February 20, 2011. Swamp Man makes a night run into an alligator-infested bayou to find sunken logs, then returns during the day to bring up a large one; the S&S sonar system allows Jimmy and James to keep pulling logs at a quick pace; once Collins sets up its own sonar, Joe leaps in to free his diver from a tangle of underwater fishing lines; as DJ and Dave try to outdo each other on the Rygaard landing, Gabe's strategy of cutting trees near the skyline puts the crew in danger; at Papac's new job site on Prince of Wales Island, the weight of the huge trees brings the skyline down on the rigging crew."Tipping Point"
Original air date of February 27, 2011. Jimmy dislocates his shoulder during a weekend shift, then gets into a shouting match with James that ends S&S' day early; a heated confrontation between Dave and DJ leads Craig to walk off the Rygaard job and Gabe to consider firing him; a giant log Shelby first spotted as a child is so heavy and oddly positioned that it overturns Swamp Man's winch barge; the collapse of the tail hold tree at Papac's job sparks a fight between its hook tender and rigging slinger; on the last section of Pihl's job, the skyline frays and breaks, throwing the crew into panic when one man goes missing."King of the Hill"
Original air date of March 6, 2011. Pihl's missing man is found safe after the skyline break, but the carriage has taken enough damage in the fall to end their season; Swamp Man puts a long-disused swamp buggySwamp buggy
The Swamp Buggy is a vehicle used to traverse the vast, boggy swamps of the American South. Invented by Ed Frank[1], in Naples, Florida, the swamp buggy proved valuable during early development of the Everglades in the 1930s and 1940s....
back into service in order to start pulling logs again; Browning sets up for quick production at an Oregon job, with Jesse in charge of the crew following the death of his stepdaughter; with Jimmy sidelined due to his shoulder, James hires a temporary deckhand for S&S, then suffers a head injury during a dive; after an overweight turn of logs bends the Rygaard yarder's support tower, the crew works late to straighten it and Dave misses his son's birthday. (First episode of the season to feature J.M. Browning Logging; last to feature Pihl Logging.)
"Fraying at the Edges"
Original air date of March 6, 2011. Shelby's shallow-water test runs with the swamp buggy put Swamp Man back in business until he runs over his own house trailer; as Lemare sets up on Vancouver IslandVancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
, damage to the yarder carriage forces the crew to resort to grapple logging, a tactic that backfires badly; Browning's quick pace causes a pileup on the landing that sends logs sliding down the hill toward the rigging crew; after Collins' sonar malfunctions, Joe resorts to experience and instinct to find logs in the Suwannee; squabbling among the Papac crew slows down production, forcing Mike to intervene with a tree-cutting challenge. (First episode of the season to feature Lemare Lake Logging.)
"This Means War"
Original air date of March 20, 2011. Lemare's mechanic jury-rigs the skyline carriage, but the repair job fails and sends the crew back to grapple logging; Swamp Man targets a massive log that puts both the buggy and Shelby's safety at risk; Dave's late arrival at the Rygaard site and faulty cable-splicing escalate into a confrontation with Craig that sends him home; Jimmy returns to work at S&S, but James gets caught in some underwater deadwood during a dive; taking his first dive in over a year, Joe soon finds a fresh payload for Collins that needs some creative loosening; a drooping skyline threatens to bring down either Browning's production target or its rigging crew."The Mouth from the South"
Original air date of April 3, 2011. An inexperienced spotter quits Lemare after causing a near-miss accident and arguing with the landing crew; S&S' deckhand quits when a communication problem with Jimmy and James puts his safety at risk; Shelby battles a stubborn log while taking a Swamp Man buyer's talkative girlfriend on a tour of the swamp; Papac pulls logs across an access road, nearly smashing a passing truck in the process; Collins targets a log that cost Joe's friend a finger two years earlier; the ongoing conflict between Craig and Dave drives Gabe to call an emergency Rygaard meeting."Blast Off"
Original air date of April 10, 2011. Shelby takes his wife along to help bring in a special order for Swamp Man; Rygaard starts a big job that requires every available man, including Dave, but a dropped skyline carriage causes a near-miss accident; Lemare's road crew blasts bedrock to make enough gravel to re-pave the storm-damaged roads for its log trucks; S&S struggles to find timber in shallow water as a stuck log sinks Collins' boat; Jay steps in to help the Browning rigging crew bring down a tree that sits too close to the skyline."Man Down"
Original air date of April 17, 2011. While filling in on yarder duty, Papac's rigging slinger pulls out the skyline's tail hold on a heavy turn; Shelby fights equipment malfunctions to retrieve a pile of sunken logs for Swamp Man; Garry, the new hire at Lemare, crushes his chainsaw while cutting trees and has to work in the rigging; Dave's inexperience with the chainsaw ruins a valuable log for Rygaard before the loader knocks Craig down; Collins resumes logging with an old boat that starts to sink almost as soon as it enters the Suwannee; Jimmy re-injures his shoulder but keeps working to help bring up a fresh load for S&S."Final Countdown"
Original air date of April 24, 2011. With both of its boats sunk, Collins is out of action on the Suwannee; Joe accuses S&S of stealing two logs from him, prompting Jimmy to challenge him to a fight; Shelby is bitten by a poisonous water moccasin, but fights the pain to bring in timber for Swamp Man; Garry is called in to saw an enormous log apart as Lemare rushes to finish its job before winter storms move in; Browning's riggers sort out a challenging tangle of logs as Jay starts into the final stretch of the job; Dave is sent down to the Rygaard rigging crew, where a log nearly crushes him."Fever Pitch"
Original air date of May 1, 2011. Papac mounts a brute-force push to haul in massive logs; DJ has an accident on the Rygaard yarder, then walks off the site after an angry face-off with Craig; after making a big sale, Shelby heads out to salvage the overturned Swamp Man barge; Jay learns that he will soon need hip replacement surgery that may end his career in the field with Browning; Joe takes back the two disputed logs as Jimmy and James mark the ones they have pulled in for S&S."Down to the Wire"
The season finale; original air date of May 8, 2011. Mike fires Papac's fill-in yarder operator after a brawl on the last day of the season, then steps in to replace him; Jay and Jesse work side by side to help Browning produce at top speed and finish its season; DJ's departure and a collapsed tail hold tree put pressure on Dave to help Rygaard bring in its final loads; Shelby brings up the Swamp Man barge, but finds that it will need extensive repair in the off-seasion; Jimmy storms off, leaving James to deal with a buyer ready to assess the value of S&S' and Collins' hauls; Lemare wraps up its job and loads the timber onto barges for transport to the mills.Final load counts:
- Papac - 1994
- Rygaard - 1986
- Lemare - 1642
- Browning - 1141
Results of the Collins/S&S contest:
- Collins - 26 logs, $7,800 sale proceeds
- S&S - 23 logs, $22,960 sale proceeds
Logging terms
- Back cut – A saw cut in a tree trunk, on the side away from the direction that the cutter wants it to fall. Usually done after a face cut has been made (see below); wedges can then be driven in to unbalance the tree and break it loose from the stump.
- Barber chair – A situation in which a tree splits along its length/height while being cut and pivots higher than intended as it falls, the split end swinging out like a barber chair footrest. This poses a safety hazard due to the fact that this end can snap up and inflict serious injury.
- Blowdown site – An area in which large amounts of timber have been damaged by storms or high winds. Some trees may have fallen completely over, while others may lean at dangerous angles due to being uprooted.
- Booger wood – A piece of worthless wood, originally said by Joe Collins of Collins River Logging.
- Bucking--Cutting a fallen tree into logs of required lengths. May also refer to limbing (see below).
- Butt rigging--Use of a heavy chain, connected to the skyline, with cables and chokers attached. Logs can be secured directly to this and hauled up to the landing along the ground.
- Choker--A cinching device used to secure cables onto logs so they can be hauled away from where they were cut.
- Dead head--The end of a sunken log that protrudes above the surface of a river. S&S targets these logs, which have been preserved and stained by the water and find use in specialty decorative construction.
- Dead man--A skyline anchor point created by digging a trench, placing several heavy logs in it, cinching a cable around them, and filling in the excavated dirt.
- Downhill logging--A practice in which the landing is at the downhill end of a sloping site. Presents special challenges due to the force of gravity constantly pulling logs down the skyline once they are off the ground.
- Face cut--A notch sawed out of a tree trunk, on the side toward which the cutter wants it to fall.
- Feller buncher – A machine that can take hold of a standing tree, cut through it, and place it in a pile for later pickup. Most easily used when the site is on level ground.
- Grapple – A set of remote-controlled tongs that can be used to clamp onto a log and move it around.
- Grapple logging – A practice in which a grapple is attached to the skyline and reeled down to pick up logs so they can be hauled in. Safety hazards include the unpredictable swinging of the grapple and the fact that the yarder operator typically has no direct line of sight to the logs on the ground.
- Grapple skidder--A machine that picks up piles of fallen trees and carries them to the landing. Most easily used when the site is on level ground.
- Greenhorn--A newly hired member of a logging crew who has little or no experience in the industry.
- Hanger/Hangup--A dangerous situation in which a cut tree gets caught in a standing one and cannot fall to the ground.
- Hook tender--A person who supervises the movement of logs up to the landing.
- Jammer logging--A technique in which the yarder/yoader (see below) swings cables and chokers at high speed, throwing them downhill toward the rigging crew. This method was used a number of times by Stump-Branch in an effort to increase production, but the risk of injury to the crew also increased.
- Landing--Area where logs are piled up to be loaded onto trucks. Usually at the uphill end of a sloping site.
- Leaner--An uprooted tree that topples against a standing one and gets caught, unable to fall to the ground; presents risks similar to those of a hanger/hangup.
- Limbing/Chasing--Cutting limbs off fallen trees. Both bucking and limbing/chasing may be done before or after the logs are brought to the landing.
- Rigging--Securing logs to the skyline carriage using cables and chokers.
- Rigging slinger--A person who decides the order in which logs are to be hauled up to the landing.
- Side rod--Foreman of a logging crew.
- Skyline--A cableCableA cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
strung high above a logging site, with a motorized carriage to which logs can be attached. - Spotter--A crew member who directs the yarder operator to the location of logs when grapple logging is being performed.
- Tail hold--A tree or stump that serves as the anchor point for the far end of the skyline.
- Timber faller/Timber feller--A person whose primary job is to cut down trees.
- Topping--Cutting the topmost section off a standing tree so it can be used as an anchor point for the skyline. Also done if the skyline runs close to the tree and has the potential to become tangled in it.
- Turn--A group of logs being moved by the yarder/yoader (see below); also, one round trip of the skyline carriage.
- Upender--A situation in which chokers are attached to the downhill end of a log instead of the uphill end. When the log is reeled in, it can pivot 180 degrees with enough speed to inflict serious injury.
- Widow maker--Limbs and debris that fall from a standing/leaning tree; so named because it has the potential to kill a man standing underneath it, leaving his wife as a widow.
- Yarder--A machine that moves logs to the landing by reeling in the skyline carriage.
- Yoader--A yarder that is also equipped with clamps to move logs around as needed once they are on the landing. Eliminates the need for a separate piece of loading equipment (yoader = yarder + loader).
DVD sets
The first three seasons have been released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, both as individual volumes and as a three-season box set.
International airing
Ax Men aired in the UK on the local variant of the History Channel, then later aired on the terrestrial channel Five, where the title was changed to Axe Men."Ax Men" is currently airing in Australia on Seven Mate. The second season is featured. Airing stopped on Seven Mate now airing on Channel Ten's Sports Channel "One" Tuesday at 8:30
Legal action against S&S Aqua Logging
On 13 March 2009, Washington Department of Natural ResourcesWashington Department of Natural Resources
The Washington Department of Natural Resources manage over of forest, range, agricultural, and commercial lands for the people of Washington State. DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include shorelines, tidelands, lands under Puget Sound and the coast, and navigable lakes and rivers...
(DNR) seized more than two dozen logs that may have been illegally salvaged by a timber crew featured on the History Channel's reality show Ax Men. DNR officers served a search warrant
Search warrant
A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found....
on S&S Aqua Logging to retrieve timber the company had pulled from the Hoquiam River
Hoquiam River
The Hoquiam River is a stream in the U.S. state of Washington. It has three main tributaries, the East Fork, West Fork, and Middle Fork Hoquiam Rivers. The main stem Hoquiam River is formed by the confluence of the West and East Forks. The Middle Fork is a tributary of the West Fork.Most of the...
without a permit.
Jimmy Smith, who owns and operates S&S Aqua Logging, said on the show that the logs were worth about $10,000, according to search warrant records.
"These are valuable materials that belong to the public and this looks like theft, plain and simple, They are part of the functioning ecosystem, so removing the log would be like removing part of the bed," state Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark
Peter J. Goldmark
Peter James Goldmark is the Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands and heads the Washington Department of Natural Resources. He is a Democrat from a rural part of Okanogan County, Washington, outside of the town of Okanogan....
said.
Logs provide a key function for rivers in trapping sediment, harboring insects and other food for fish, and creating pools and riffles where fish can rest, said Greg Hueckel, fish and wildlife habitat programs director. Hueckel said his agency typically grants permits to remove logs in situations where flooding causes log jams and it's unlikely that a permit would be granted for timber harvest.