History channel show "Axemen"

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Quigley_Sharps, Mar 9, 2008.


  1. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    Tonight at 10pm. Its about the logging industry on the oregon coast. [beer]
     
  2. the dog

    the dog Monkey+++

    it will make me homesick for the PNW.....i love the rain.rainy days in the brush makes me happy........[beer]
     
  3. NWPilgrim

    NWPilgrim Monkey++

    It was well done. I logged back in the late 1970s on the Olympic Peninsula. Looks like not much has changed, except in Oregon they were only getting 60 inches of rain per year, while in the Olympics we got 110 - 150 inches. Wet.

    I only did helicopter fly outs of salvaged cedar so never worked with yarders which are 100 times more dangerous. But we worked with guys that grew up setting chokes on yarders. In fact the junior college I went to in Aberdeen had a "choker setter" as the mascot. There are a thousand ways to get injured or dead ever day.
     
  4. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    watched a bit the othe rnight, they dragged a log up the mountain; unhooked it from the cable,grabbed it with a claw on an excavator. The wet log slipped from the claw and shot back down the mountain past the unsuspecting loggers, you'd think they could sound a horn or something so the guys know an out of control tree is coming at them at 100mph. Scary business, had a buddy killed up here just logging his own property (his side business)
     
  5. the dog

    the dog Monkey+++

    i liked the show.cant wait to see more.in washington they get lots more rain and even more so in southeast alaska.my duty station in alaska got over 200 inches a year.


    the mutiple blasts on the talkie tooter says to get out of the way.the talkie tooter is how they communicate with horn blasts.

    i think they did a good job so far on the show.
     
  6. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    Wish I had a "talkie tooter", I'd never be lonely at a party...
     
  7. SeptemberMage

    SeptemberMage LaMOE Monkey

    It was good. I think I liked Ice Road Truckers more. But that could change. It did make in even harder to stay here in Oklahoma. The PNW looks like awesome country.
     
  8. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    You should try it in the fog, you can hear it thunder down the mnt at you, but you don't know which way to run.
     
  9. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    eek3:shock:[gone][booze]

    I watch "deadliest catch " even though its the same show week to week unless captain phil is busting pistons and screws every 15 minutes
     
  10. NWPilgrim

    NWPilgrim Monkey++

    Logging is dangerous enough, but the segment aired shows mostly dry conditions with some rain. When I logged we would be out there in the winter and those ridges can be knee deep snow from November through April. Try moving around quickly when you have sopping wet boots, wearing thick rain gear and a wool shirt, snow swirling around, etc.

    We would have about one month it seemed from snow on the ground to "forest closed" days due to hot weather in the summer.

    Even after you get the logs to the landing you can still get beat up. One truck driver we worked with had no teeth. He was trying to lock the cam on the chain that goes around the logs on the truck when his hands slipped. The cam lever snapped back up and whacked him in the jaw knocking out every tooth. Not having insurance he just gummed his food. His favorite lunch was apeanut butter and bacon sandwich!

    Another time we were driving a log truck down the ridge with a load of logs. Then the brake line burst! We figured we were dead meat right then. Either we go off the hillside, or we stop too suddenly and the logs come through the cab decapitating us. Somehow I was able to sideswipe the hillside enough to grind to a stop before the next hairpin turn.

    Another time I was cutting on a log on the ground. Suddenly a huge weight was pressing down on my shoulders and pressed me into the ground. Just as I thought this is it, I am going to die now, the weight stopped. Turned out the log I was cutting went under some brush and was holding a big root wad from rolling down hill. When I cut the log the support was removed and behind me the root wad rolled until one of the massive roots pressed on my back. When I had about 18" of room left (crouched down with my head and chest being squished into my knees) the very tip of the root wad caught on the edge of the only stump within 30 feet. Even though I was not religious at the time, I thought Thank God! An angel just saved my life.

    Another time we were using a self loader crane on an old truck that used a cable and pulley instead of hydraulics. Just as we were moving the lof from the landing to the truck the crane brake gave way and a 2000 lb log dropped about 15 ft and just missed one of my buddies that had set the choker.

    Then there is the chainsaw and cables...helicopters...and stupid buddies...etc.

    My view on logging is that humans are the smallest and squishiest thing out in the woods. Almost everything around you is big, heavy and made of steel, rock or wood and much of it is uphill from you. You just have to be alert all the time and always have a way out in mind in case you need to make a quick exit. Never get your head or arms in line with the chainsaw bar. Walk on the uphill side of logs or boulders if you can. When you fall a tree have two exits planned and boogie as soon as the tree starts tipping. Never stand behind a falling tree as the butt can jacknife and take your head off.

    But days when we would ride the hook underneath the helicopter to get across an 150 acre clearcut made up for a lot of near misses. Or standing in a whole in the trees and watching a helicopter lift a load up through 200 ft of trees with a 100 ft cable. Awesome thrill. And just working out there in the woods was great.

    I left the woods when I was pulling my back out 3-4 times ever day and realized that by the time I was 40 I would be broken in body and wallet and nothing much to show for it but a pile of used equipment.

    ETA: none of this meant to make me into anything special. Many men did far more under far worse conditions for a far longer time. I was in the woods several months over a few years and made it out with all my fingers, toes, arms and legs. I stayed alert, but if you kept at it for many years then just one instant of distraction could get you killed or maimed. The true hero on the peninsula was a guy called Ten Finger Jack. He was notable because after 30 years in the woods and mills he still had all ten fingers. I was lucky and got out early was all.
     
  11. Tracy

    Tracy Insatiably Curious Moderator Founding Member

    Loggers are a unique breed.

    I miss seeing the full trucks driving by me with huge logs poking out from behind. I also miss the open logging roads for exploration.

    I didn't catch the show. Is it a series or was it a one-time thing?
     
  12. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I know the exact feeling with that root ball. I have spent several years as a climber doing triming and removals in residential areas (as well as some limited logging) where you are tied to the side of the tree and have to tie off the stuff you are cutting loose and have it swinging around you with no place to go to get away unless its 'ring around the trunk' as it swings at you.

    I know there was one time in particular when I was takeing out a tree on a hillside and about 15' down hill was a 4' drop at the retaining wall then the house. Uphill there was stuff so couldnt drop the trunk that way either untill got it down around 15' tall. I was up about 35' on a 3' thick trunk bucked to the side of it and there was a large limb on an oak tree directly overhead that seemed a lot safer than folding 1000 lbs or so of log down against the trunk next to me (they tend to spin around and catch you when you do that unless you let them fall some then try to stop them and often snap 16k lbs test ropes) and the limb overhead looked totaly healthyand solid. So set the rope through a fork in that oaktree directly above me and tied off about a 6' chunk of that trunk (normaly would have been NO problem for the limb it was roped to) but when I cut it loose I heard te crack and pop above me. To this day I have not figured out how it did it but that limb that turned out to be HOLLOW snapped off then turned 90 degrees before falling. If it had come down as physics and the way it broke, how the weight pulled and so on would have mandated then I should have ahd about 3000 pounds or better of tree drop on my buckstrap between me and the trunk I was on folding me back over the sadle and ripping me appart. I hit the ground shakeing that day.

    Then there were the times of kickbacks hitting me in the chest hard enouph that the arms didnt keep up with the acceleration of the torso and dislocated the shoulders. All the broken ribs. The time the boss turned around and put the end of a 32" chainsaw bar with the engine wrapped out into the back of my arm. All of that joy with not only no insurance but also generaly with no workers comp, when the boss laid me open was offered that he would supply bandages or a ride to the hospital where could claim to be unemployed. Tried to get the Mrs to sew it at home but she drug me to the ER anyway. Its kind of made me have a different prospectie on jobs most folks figure are hard or dangerous so long as they pay. lol


    BTW, Pilgrim, did you ever ride the climber convertable (take the top down and go for a ride) or you stay to the ground?
     
  13. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    "When I was in Seattle
    "At a small sidewalk cafe --"
     
  14. ColtCarbine

    ColtCarbine Monkey+++ Founding Member

    I don't watch much T.V. so I didn't even realize this show was airing. I did catch a few episodes of The Deadliest Catch and enjoyed it, so if this was along the same lines I'll have to check it out. I hope they mentioned how the Spotted Owl and environmentalists killed the logging industry in the NW shutting down a lot of mills and putting a lot of folks out of work permanently. Never worked for a commercial logging company but have cut more than my share of firewood over the years. Nowhere near the same scale working for a farmer who's selling firewood vs. commercial logging. I do remember working for $5/hr doing this back breaking work in the late 70's-early 80's. Now I just get to do it for the pure enjoyment of keeping in shape and the multiple times wood keeps you warm.
     
  15. NWPilgrim

    NWPilgrim Monkey++

    Colt, I know what you mean about firewood cutting for money. One summer in college I got the bright idea to try that. You do a LOT of work. Fall the trees, limb them. cut them, split them, load them, unload them, split some more, load them, drive them, unload them. Got pretty dang sick on moving the same darn wood over and over again. [ROFL]It is a good work out though. More power to you buddy!

    Monkeyman, you got that right about wood swinging around and kicking back. Incidences like you described are just too fortunate for that NOT to be someone watching out for you. Glad you've survived intact this long! And no, I stayed pretty much on the ground except when riding the cable under the helicopter. I would NOT want to be a topper. I like being on the ground where I can run if need be, thank you very much. Working up high like you do is gutsy.
     
  16. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Yeah but then too, working the top side I dont have to worry about anyone ELSE dropping stuff on me and I can feel it instantly if anyone toughes my tree with a saw and drop junk on them till they stop. lol I know the most important safety rule I learned from that kind of work was 'the most dangerous thing on any job site is the other guy'. One of the only times I hit the ground unintentionaly was when I was climbing a hanger so could cut it out, just as I started to set my safety line into the tree it was hung in a groundman cut the last hidden bit holding the hanger in place and brought down a hanger the size of a mid size tree with me IN IT. Same with getting cut, the only thing I did to myself was a few hits,the worst was generaly the other guy. lol
     
  17. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    "we 've" got those processor machines up here looks like an excavator theclaw grabs the base of the pine, automaticly saws it loose then rollers run the length of the trunk braking off limbs believe they cut to length too as they are de-limbing, one guy in the cab with some joysticks, obviously not for old growth giants
     
  18. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I would imagine they make them for the giants too. I know you can buy a chipper that you cut down trees with up to 3' trunks (or a tad larger) and it has a winch that pulls the tree up so it can get ahold of it then feeds the whole tree limbs and all through and turns it to land scapeing type chips and sprays them into the back of the truck that tows the thing.

    ETA; they probably make bigger ones now, that one was the 'Intimidator' that Vermears had out 10 years ago or there abouts.
     
  19. CRC

    CRC Survivor of Tidal Waves | RIP 7-24-2015 Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    It's on right now, again....Interesting show!
     
  20. loadercran

    loadercran Monkey++

    Lorry Crane

    Hi,

    HMF products have the reputation of being one of the most durable and reliable brands in the market. I browsed a site about the lorry crane and loader crane. They are offering in different sizes and models. So if you are interested then you can land.
     
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