Ax Men
| Ax Men | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Documentary, Reality show |
| Starring | Jay Browning Darrell Holthusen Melvin Lardy Mike Pihl |
| Narrated by | Thom Beers |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 14 [1] |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Dolores Gavin Thom Beers |
| Producers | Marc Marriott (series) Brian Knappmiller (story) |
| Production location | Northwest Oregon |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | History |
| Release | 2008 – Present |
Ax Men (also known as Axe Men) is an American television series on the History Channel that follows the work of several logging crews in the second-growth forests of Northwestern Oregon. 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.[2][3][4]
Cast
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 prosthesis 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 son Jesse is scheduled to take over the company one day.[5][6]
Stump-Branch Logging
Stump-Branch Logging is owned by Melvin Lardy and based in Buxton, Oregon. His crew is a fairly young one, using secondhand equipment and willing to take any job to make a living.[7][8]
Pihl Logging
Pihl Logging is owned by Mike Pihl. Comments by employee Dwayne Dethlefs are often featured in promotional spots for the show.[9]
Gustafson Logging
Gustafson Logging Company is a clearcut logging company based out of Astoria, Oregon. [10]
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.[10] The company was started in 1974 by Duane Gustafson with only a chainsaw, some old wire, and some other assorted rigging.[10] Darrell Holthusen is the "side rod," or crew foreman.
Season 1 episodes
Season 1 consists of 14 episodes.
"Man vs. Mountain"
Original air dates of March 9, 2008 (US) and 10 July, 2008 (UK).
"Risk and Reward"
Original air date of March 16, 2008. Aired in UK 17 July 2008.
"Storm Season Strikes"
Original air date of March 23, 2008. Aired in UK 24 July 2008.
"The Big Hit"
Original air date of March 30, 2008. Aired in UK 31 July 2008.
"Market Meltdown"
Original air date of April 6, 2008. Aired in UK 7 August 2008.
"Reversal of Fortune"
Original air date of April 13, 2008. Aired in UK 14 August 2008.
"The Close Call"
Original air date of April 20, 2008. Aired in UK 21 August 2008.
"Loggers Under Fire"
Original air date of April 27, 2008. Aired in UK 28 August 2008.
"A Logger's Thanksgiving"
Original air date of May 4, 2008. Aired in UK 4 September 2008.
"Black Friday"
Original air date of May 11, 2008. Aired in UK 11 September 2008.
"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.
Selected logging terms
- 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.
- Bucking--Cutting a fallen tree into logs of required lengths. May also refer to limbing (see below).
- Choker--A cinching device used to secure cables onto logs so they can be hauled away from where they were cut.
- 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.
- 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 skidder--A machine that picks up piles of fallen trees and carries them to the landing. See above comment.
- 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.
- 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.
- Side rod--Foreman of a logging crew.
- Skyline--A cable strung high above a logging site, with a motorized carriage to which logs can be attached.
- Timber faller/Timber feller--A person whose primary job is to cut down trees.
- Topping--Cutting the top section off a standing tree. Often done when the tree itself is to be used an an anchor point for the skyline.
- Turn--A group of logs being moved by the yarder/yoader (see below); also, one round trip of the skyline carriage.
- Yarder--A machine that moves logs up 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 set
A DVD set of the series was released on August 26, 2008. According to the AETV Store, includes four DVDs and features 611+ minutes of footage, but will contain no closed captioning.[11]
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.
References
- ^ Ax Men FutonCritic.com
- ^ Collins, Scott. - "Cable TV's turn to trend follower". - Los Angeles Times. - April 7,2008
- ^ Profita, Cassandra. - "'Ax Men' is cutting edge of reality TV". - Daily Astorian. - February 22, 2008
- ^ Tenpas, Jake. - "An ax to grind". - The Oregonian. - March 09, 2008
- ^ J.M. Browning Logging - Ax Men - History Channel
- ^ J. M. Browning Logging & Trucking Official Website
- ^ Stump-Branch Logging - Ax Men - History Channel
- ^ Stump-Branch Logging Official Website
- ^ Pihl Logging - Ax Men - History Channel
- ^ a b c Gustafson Logging Official Website
- ^ Ax Man - AETV Store
