New logging show on History Channel

Don K · December 27, 2007, 07:40:15 PM

I saw the preview for a new TV series on the History Channel called Axe Men. It looks like a logging show similar to ice road truckers. I saw a clip that showed a fella clipping the top from what looked like a Douglas Fir. Anyway it might be pretty good. Haven't seen a premeire date yet.

Don

IL Bull · December 27, 2007, 07:46:11 PM

Don
Any times or dates??
Joe

Don K · December 27, 2007, 08:15:38 PM

Not that I can find yet. I'll keep looking.

Furby · December 27, 2007, 08:19:23 PM

Google is drawing a blank on that name, so is The History Channel website.
Some one posted about it here earlier this summer, but no name was given then that I recall.

Don K · December 27, 2007, 08:23:58 PM

I saw it last night and if you go to the History Channel home page they have a video box that has some trailers for some of their shows. I think the last button is a collage of the new shows for 2008.

SwampDonkey · December 27, 2007, 08:29:42 PM

Here is some info, but no air date. Says coming this spring. Has a few pictures posted.

http://frontside.wordpress.com/2007/11/02/history-channel-the-axemen-vernonia-or

Mike_M · December 28, 2007, 08:51:43 PM

One of the places is they are shooting this show is about 100 miles North of my place out here in Oregon. This is some pretty steep country and many of the loggers use a machine called a Yoader. It's just a tracked log loader with two yarding drums mounted on the lower boom. The one drum is spooled with the main line and the other is spooled with the skidding line. Many of these outfits use what's called a slack pulling carriage, it is a small diesel carriage that uses gravity to travel down the hill. The rigging crew in the brush have wirless remotes (talkie tooters) to control the carriage. When the carriage gets to where the logs are they signal the yoader engineer to stop the carriage, it gets clamped on the mainline and then the small motor in the carriage power spools out as much skidding line as needed. Once the turn of logs has been set, the carriage stays clamped to the mainline until the turn is pulled just below the carriage, the brake is released and the carriage is pulled back up to the landing. Many of these outfits are also using radio controled chokers, they can be released by remote control without putting a man on the ground by the yoader operator. This type of operation is very fun to watch.

Tillaway · December 28, 2007, 11:24:30 PM

I spent a day with the producers last summer. They were looking for "characters"... so we introduced them to some. Part of the problem the producers started to have was that the loggers did not want to slow production enough to put up with the film crews.

We had one outfit that let them mount cameras to the carriage for a birds eye view. I think they destroyed two or three cameras.

logwalker · December 29, 2007, 11:55:20 AM

There certainly is no shortage of genuine characters in that industry. Should be a good show. Joe

Mike_M · December 29, 2007, 05:03:43 PM

Come to the Oregon Logging Conference in Eugene, OR toward the end of Feb. and you can meet alot of them in person. It's kind of ironic that the conference still is held in one of the most liberal citys on the West coast. It does my heart good to see all the loggers come into Eugene during this time. The tree huggers don't know what to think.

SwampDonkey · December 29, 2007, 05:12:16 PM

Wonder how the huggers would react if the loggers protested to eliminate their jobs? Trouble is most aren't working. Who's paying them to tree hug?

Mike_M · December 29, 2007, 10:24:22 PM

The Earth First group and our tax dollars (welfare system).

Tillaway · December 30, 2007, 08:56:28 PM

Payment? What little I know is that the major enviro groups... like the one with the initials S C washes money through various funds, like the "John and Jane Smith Fund" that eventual flows down to the tree sitters and support crew. The tree sitters get a per-diem of like $15 or $20 bucks a day plus food, a place to crash when not "working", shared with a bunch of others, and.... some mind altering substances.

During the winter some of them take seasonal jobs, such as ski area jobs, go back to school or go sponge off the parents. The full timers will find a "cause" somewhere in the city be an activist on.

There are adds in the Portland and Eugene paper looking to employ "Activists" every Sunday.

SwampDonkey · December 30, 2007, 09:25:40 PM

About the only crew we get of the same ilk are the 'Save the Seals' bunch. Just a small group or two that comment on the environment, but they don't like sitting in flies and cold weather. ;D The only sit in I ever heard of was a bunch of college students and a handful of Natives that pitched tents one summer up in the big blow down area of 1995. I guess they didn't like the idea of salvaging timber, especially in the Christmas Mountains. The salvage continued on regardless. Now the blow down did hit in there, but only up near St Nich. and North Pole Mountain and near areas that were previously opened up to logging, the rest were harvested eventually. The only trouble is they really didn't know where they were and most NB citizens are like sheep so they had no sympathy or support. The whole thing burnt out about as quick as a match and long forgotten by most.

Mike_M · December 30, 2007, 10:57:27 PM

Tillaway hit the nail on the head. On any given day just look in any Oregon Liberal paper and these types of adds will be posted. They are a cancer in our area.

Tom · December 31, 2007, 03:38:13 PM

I love it!
A cartoon artist could make a whole career of strips on out-of-work Enviros. :D

ely · December 31, 2007, 04:17:35 PM

how about a show " activist clubbing championships" who do i talk to about being a character. i have never been to the northwest........yet.

Furby · December 31, 2007, 07:48:17 PM

Who was yer model Tom? :-\

Mindy · January 16, 2008, 12:59:39 PM

Hello everyone,

I came upon this post when searching for information on Axe Men series. To answer some questions, the show is scheduled to premeire March 9th on the History Channel. I work for Stump-Branch Logging and I am setting up a website for the company www.stumpbranchlogging.com as I get information I will be posting there.

The guy up in the tree is one of the Stump-Branch crew! We are really looking forward to the series. We're hoping that the negative thinking about logging changes and people realize the benefits as well as the dangers of logging.

bedway · January 16, 2008, 02:10:05 PM

Thank you for the info Mindy, and keep us posted,,,,bedway

SwampDonkey · January 16, 2008, 02:18:12 PM

Welcome to the forum Mindy. I tried your site, but it was loading something that took too long for dialup. I don't have access to cable and no longer have satellite reception. Wish we could learn more, don't go far.

timberjack240 · January 16, 2008, 10:31:11 PM

im knida lookin forward to seein this ..you dont ever see any loggin shows on tv maybe this will help wake a few people up .. after they do a series out west they outta come to the east coast .. i think id take a day and show em about cuttin the pennsylvania hardwoods with a husky and the ol detroit ;D plus that cood be an easy way to impress the ladies 8) ;D