The Last Woodsmen (2024) s01e01 Episode Script

1
Watch out, watch out!
Get out of the way!
It takes a few seconds
in this business,
and you could be killed.
It broke off in the wind,
and it caught me right
on the side of the head.
Holy!
Sixty-five stitches
across one leg.
To tell a family
that their husband
ain't coming home,
nothing's harder than that.
It's the most dangerous job
on the planet.
Holy!
You end up
with a brotherhood.
Camaraderie.
I harvest some of the
biggest trees in the world
in the most remote areas
in the world.
When you find those
big western redcedars,
there's big money in them.
You can get
$60,000 to $70,000
out of that one tree.
They're hard to find,
so we're pushing limits
to get to those.
And the stakes
are really high.
The crew, they're risking
their lives every day
for something
they love to do.
It's the biggest wood,
hardest ground,
steepest hauls.
Toughest job in the world.
And then you get
that paycheck.
Holy!
Welcome to the deadliest
logging operation on earth
Get out of the way!
Oh, my!
So remote,
the crew lives and works
in isolated camps
far from civilization.
Where trees
as wide as pickup trucks
are still cut by hand.
One wrong move
can ruin the tree.
Or worse,
cost you your life.
When we walk out
that door,
there is a chance
that we might not come home.
At the helm of it all,
logger Jared Douglas.
My destiny
is to be the biggest, baddest
logger on the coast.
Keep going, keep going.
What the?
This is a full-on risk,
and everybody thinks
I'm bat crazy.
Fire in the hole.
I might sink
That was close.
or I might swim.
Yeah!
I'm not scared of risk.
Nobody's holding me back.
It's just who I am.
These are
The Last Woodsmen.
Okay, forward.
You got her coming out.
Deep in the wilds
of the Pacific Northwest,
Jared Douglas
navigates his float camp
to its remote
logging outpost.
It feels like
we're getting out of that
wind pull better now.
Yeah.
We're good to go now.
For the next
three months,
he and his crew
will be off the grid
and on the hunt for some of
the most valuable timber
on earth.
It's gonna
come in hard, boys.
Nice and gentle,
nice and gentle.
Not gentle.
Our biggest asset
is our floating camp.
We can move it
from job to job.
Drop our anchors,
get to work.
Straight back, Glenn.
I always like to be present
when camp's being moved.
Somebody doesn't know
there's a rock protruding
from the ocean floor
somewhere,
that barge camp
would be peeled open
like a tin can and sink.
Like a glove.
Nicely done.
Touchdown.
Put a couple of ropes on her
and we'll be good to go.
Ross is
my right-hand man,
and he's full speed,
out of lead,
getting done.
And he's in charge
of float camp.
- Doing excellent, Ross.
- Yeah, you bet.
I think
I gotta get Daniel
to get the barge door
to pull back.
Okay. I'll go grab Hoppy.
A float camp
is a floating hotel.
Fifty-five rooms,
two story.
It has a rec room,
weight room, big cookhouse.
Roast beast.
And I love it.
You wake up,
and you're at work.
Everybody gets
their own room.
So I got all my here.
Mouthwash.
And then I spray
my Lysol down,
get everything cleaned up.
Because you don't know
what the
crawling around here.
Nobody has to bunk up,
which is great.
Nobody wants to do that,
smell some guy's
farts all night.
This one can go--
See where your
line is right now?
The way I grew up,
it was tough.
I didn't have
a lot of money.
I barely
graduated high school.
I started logging
when I was 19 years old.
My first job
was bucking cottonwood
they made into toilet paper.
I was a cocky kid.
And I remember my dad
dropping me off at the plane
and just said,
"Just shut up
and listen to the guys."
I was 23 when I started
my own company.
I started this
with one machine.
And I built this business
one machine at a time.
Got a business partner.
I've been
with my business partner
for about 15 years.
I decided
to go out on my own
and buy
the business partner out.
It's a lot of money,
it's a lot of stress.
It's a lot of debt.
Like, it's a lot of debt.
Twenty feet to go, boys.
Hey, Ryan, you want
to stay by that winch?
I could lose everything.
You know, it's a short fall
from the penthouse
to the outhouse
in this business.
You know, what is scary is
when you're supposed to jump,
and we're gonna jump.
But taking the full reins
of a logging operation
isn't just
a massive gamble,
it's also
one hell of a grind.
First, Jared and his crew
have to track down
the giants
It's beautiful. Straight.
then carve out roads
so fallers can get to them.
And that's when
the hazard pay
really kicks in.
Bringing down just one
of these behemoths
is a puzzle.
And one wrong move
can be deadly.
Once the trees
hit the ground,
the yarders take over,
dragging 50,000 pound logs
to the road,
where loaders
bundle them up
and oversized haulers,
called fat trucks,
muscle them
to the water's edge.
Once they splash down,
boom boats
wrangle them into place
until the log barge arrives.
Then it's payday.
And the work
of Jared and his crew
finally turns into
cold, hard cash.
We're out on a limb here.
Like, big time.
We got a bunch
of inventory roadside.
Okay, well,
the buyout has gone through.
- Yeah, boy.
- All right.
-Wow.
-It's done. It's been
a long time coming.
Yeah, it has been.
Yeah.
-You betcha, bud.
-Oh, yeah.
Now I'm gonna be able
to do the things
that I want to do,
which is huge.
Now, it's go time.
It's, like,
we gotta get that wood.
We're sitting good.
We've got to move
strong and fast.
Everybody's got to stay safe.
We've had some tough ground,
but it's coming.
I have a big debt to pay
for buying the partner.
If I don't have
$1.1 million in profit
by the end of the season,
I'll lose everything.
I lose my house,
my company.
But what drives me
is being able to provide
for my family
the things that
I wasn't provided.
I've been with my wife
for 24 years,
and we met as teenagers.
She's the love of my life.
She puts up with a lot.
Life away
from family is tough.
We're warrior building.
We want tough kids
that are going to be able
to take on the world.
I think every business owner
wants to hand down
the company.
That's what I want.
That's why I do it.
You know
the log barge is coming.
We've got five days.
It's imperative we get
that wood on the barge.
The barge leaves full,
I'd be able to put $200,000
into paying off my debt.
We can't drop
the ball right now.
We have to be on step.
How are we
doing here in Kleeptee?
The fallers are still
finishing up this one piece.
We gotta go do there
another yarder section.
And this is supposed to be
our candy spot here.
- You guys make sure this log barge is fully loaded.
- -You betcha.
Jim and Rob are out there
right now, hand falling.
They're finishing things up,
doing some daylighting,
so we can get some wood
to the road quick, too, so
- Get it done.
- All right.
To pay off his $1.
1 million debt by the end of the season,
Jared's after
not just big trees,
but the biggest ones,
timber giants
at the end of their lifecycle
and worth
up to $70,000 apiece.
You've got
a longer stride than me.
Yeah, look at him,
he's already a freaking
half a tree length away.
Hand fallers Jim Gardner
and Rob Winger
are first up the hill,
blazing the trail on the hunt
for that prized big wood.
I didn't think
I'd end up being a logger.
I've been a faller
for 25 years now.
I went to college
for electronics technology,
ran out of money
and went logging.
When you're
out there by yourself,
you're your own boss.
But you don't go into
the computer programming job
and there's a chance
you're going to die that day.
Fallers depend
on each other.
Slow down.
There's tons
of smaller incidents.
I nibbled
the end of my finger
with my saw,
broke my nose,
broke my back.
A tree broke off in the wind
and caught me right
on the side of the head,
folded me in half
and threw me down
into a gully.
Straight up.
Up, up and aways.
My fallen partners
helped me down to the road.
You have to be there
for your partner,
in case something
like that happens.
I've had three decent
friends killed falling.
It does take
a toll on the families
because it's always
in the back of their mind.
Are they going
to make it home?
My wife knows.
She knows the people
that I know that have
been killed.
And she was
at those funerals.
Almost getting
too old for this.
What do we got?
This is
the biggest tree we've seen
in the last few days, Jim.
Right now, we've come up
to a big western redcedar.
It's roughly
eight feet diameter,
150 feet tall.
There might be
a bit of a problem
with breaking off
and going down the hill
and on the road.
We obviously don't want that.
We have people behind us.
And we're going to be
blocking off their escape
and their first aid,
if anything happens.
If Jim and Rob can safely
bring this tree down,
it will add
roughly $50,000 to the load
headed out in five days.
But at 26 tons,
a tree this massive
can explode on impact,
destroying every last dollar
of its value.
Yup.
This cedar is leaning
down the hill a bit.
It's got
a pretty heavy canopy.
It's definitely going
in one direction
with all that weight
on one side.
That's good
holding wood there.
When you leave yourself
a small piece of wood
and that's
holding the tree up,
that's called holding wood.
This is what keeps
control of the tree,
and to make sure
it doesn't sag or fall apart
and blow down the hill.
Ooh.
That's a bit hollow back there.
That's your best
holding wood right there.
There's a bit
of a hole back here
on the high side, too.
The more rot,
the less control you have
over that tree.
You can point it
wherever the heck you want.
But if you've got
a lot of rot in there,
there's nothing to hold
the tree on the hill.
It's just gonna go
wherever it wants to.
So we're going
to aim it to the left,
down the sideline.
It's nice and flat.
There's no real stumps
that this thing's gonna hit.
Hopefully he can keep
enough holding wood there
that he can
keep it off the road.
Jim's first move
will be the undercut,
a deep notch
in the front of the tree,
to help send it
across the sidehill.
Next, he'll make
the back cut,
leaving a strip
of what's called
holding wood,
to further control the fall.
That's the best
a faller can hope for.
But with this tree nearing
the end of its life cycle
and showing signs of rot
at the base,
there's no telling
which way it could go.
It's all you.
Don't hit the road.
Okay, making noise.
It can be trickier
in the steep ground
because can go
sideways real quick.
If the tree hasn't
rotted to the core,
Jim should have
just enough holding wood
to send it where he wants it.
But even that
best-case scenario
has its challenges.
The back cut
needs to be just a touch
higher than the undercut.
There's such a different
elevation change
from the high side of the tree
to the low side.
Because you're gonna
have to be up here.
- Yeah.
- Over your head.
Your saw is designed
to be held down here.
And you put it over your head
and you get a kickback,
you could
cut yourself in the neck,
you could
cut yourself in the face.
You just have
a lot less control
when it's over your head.
I think
if I can cut this off here,
I can be able to stand on it.
I can create a step
-and stand on that.
-Stand on the two of them?
To start my back cut.
Let me hold you.
Working from
a makeshift staircase
is the only way
to put the back cut
where it belongs.
But it's risky.
Okay.
Jim will be right up
against the tree trunk.
And that holding wood
could snap at any moment.
Most deadly injuries occur
within ten feet of the stump.
And right now,
he's got no easy
escape route.
I'm afraid of heights.
I get nervous
every single day.
But the second you panic,
the sooner you're gonna make
poor decisions.
If you lose control
of a falling tree,
a lot of guys
will just run away.
I know guys that have
ran right underneath
falling trees.
That's not good,
when you lose control
of a tree.
Did that just kill it?
- dust?
- Yup.
I don't like
the sound of that.
Jim's saw died.
It just sucked in so much
of that fine cedar dust.
So I just ran up
and grabbed my spare saw.
Fired it up for him
and handed it off.
Let's see if we can get
something happening again.
Come on, baby.
Because this tree
is so big and so round,
there's a really
high probability
that it's going
to roll down the hill.
And it is
such a steep hillside,
it could hit the road,
smash the road,
cause destruction to that.
And on top of that,
it's going to cause
destruction
to the log
that we're falling.
- There she goes.
- Oh, yeah, baby.
Beautifully done.
Maybe not.
Oh, stay, stay!
Oh, mama, no!
Oh, we're screwed.
This is going
on the road for sure.
- There she goes.
- Oh, yeah, baby.
Beautifully done.
Maybe not.
Oh, stay, stay!
Oh, mama, no!
Oh, we're screwed.
This is going
on the road for sure.
Stopped.
As soon as it went over
that little crest
and nestled in with
the rest of the logs,
it stopped.
It was
the best-case scenario
in that situation.
Okay, Rob.
As it sits right now,
perfect position,
perfect placement,
perfect piece.
Despite the violent impact,
Jim and Rob
were able to preserve
almost every dollar
of this tree's value.
And with that value
at roughly $50,000,
this one cedar
will go a long way
toward helping
Jared's bottom line
when the barge arrives
in five days.
-Perfect.
-Yeah, man.
Back at camp,
Jared is already on the hunt
for his next stand
of money trees.
In a helicopter, it's nice
to see it from the air.
You can definitely
map it out in your head.
Joining the charge,
one of Jared's
closest associates,
with roots dating back
to the area's earliest
inhabitants.
My name is Klakwagiila.
I am a chief from
Mowachaht-Muchalaht
First Nation.
Oh, and my English name
is Jerry Jack.
I always forget that part.
First Nations
are a big part of harvesting.
They're the biggest
stewards of the land.
They have to sign off
on any active harvesting.
And, uh,
we respect their values,
and we work
closely with them.
Being one of
the chiefs in my Nation,
my role is
to look after resources.
This is the land
that the time forgot.
Our First Nations'
relationship with the forest
is very sacred.
We were stewards of our lands
thousands and thousands
of years
before anybody
showed up here,
and we looked after it.
There won't be
any logging in a block
unless they have our approval
from the Council of Chiefs.
Oh, this is beautiful wood.
This business
is as green as it gets.
Everybody thinks we're
knuckle-dragging cavemen
with power saws
destroying forests.
It's not that way at all.
Sustainability is key.
We remove the older,
weaker trees.
And we plant three trees
to every tree we harvest.
A regenerated forest
is a healthy forest.
So, this is McCurdy Creek.
This is a future,
uh, project.
This is the size
of the timber
that we're looking
to harvest.
Looks like it.
Fist pump to that, Jerry.
We found some good wood.
How's your fuel, Tusch?
You got it topped up?
Yeah.
Back at camp,
the push to move wood
to water
before the log barge arrives
is well underway
all under the watchful eye
of woods foreman
Ross Davis,
a logging veteran
of more than 25 years.
They'll probably get
four loads today each.
It's going to be
a tall order.
We don't want to have
a barge going home late.
Oh, that's a nice, big one.
Ooh, big wood.
Oof.
When I was 15,
I dropped out of school.
It wasn't working for me.
I kept getting
into trouble.
And then a buddy of mine,
just one day,
he needed a guy.
And he's seen me,
and he's like,
"Hey, you want
to come try this out?"
So at 15,
I started bundling logs
and slowly worked myself up.
My management style
is firm and fair.
There's a lot of guys
that don't like me.
Usually it's the guys
that aren't pulling
their weight.
And I'll pick on them
a little bit,
and I'll, uh--
I'll ride their ass a little.
Where is everybody?
There was something
going on with the yarder
when I was pulling in there,
and they were--
The guys were taking
a look at something.
- Can you walk?
- No, I don't think so.
Walk back a little bit
so those guys can get this?
I can't get
the brakes off.
Can't do
nothing there, eh?
I can't move.
With him dead in the water,
we're, kind of, gonna be
at a bit of a standstill.
The down yarder
is a major problem
because if Ross and his crew
can't get wood off the hill
and onto the road,
there's no chance
of getting it down
to the water
and onto the barge.
Pile of wood
down there, too, to come in.
That yarder is feeding
two machines
and all the
highway trucks today.
But, uh, with them down
nothing's happening, so
We have
a log barge coming in.
Jared's not gonna be
very happy if we can't log.
Twenty miles away
Gold River Shore,
you on the repeater?
Jared's pushing
even deeper
into the wilderness,
chasing a new area
rich with big timber.
But getting to it
is an endeavor all its own.
We work
in such remote areas,
we have to build our own roads
just to get to the timber.
These guys need to get
another half mile road
built from scratch
before the fallers can get in.
How you guys doing?
Ready for a blast?
In terrain
this rugged
blasting is the only way
to cut through
both soil and solid rock.
And the resulting debris
makes for excellent
road building material.
But to make the most
of every explosion,
the crew must work
with tactical precision.
What's your
strategy here like?
We can't
get by with a hoe
because it's too steep
and , right.
So we have to blast through it
before we can go by it.
How many pounds of TN
or dynamite or explosives?
I'd say
probably like 400 pounds.
Four hundred pounds
of explosives.
This don't get old, man.
- No,
this does not get old.
- No.
I've met a lot
of weird blasters.
Dave's about the most
normal blaster I've ever met.
Usually I feel
like the dynamite
seeps through their veins
and, uh,
makes them all strange.
But the love
of blowing stuff up,
you've got to be
a different type of person.
Thrill seeker.
Okay, let's scatter.
You guys good?
Let it rip.
Go.
You guys good?
High in
the mountains
of the Pacific Northwest
Let it rip. There
Jared
and his road crew
are one step closer
to reaching
their next stand
of big timber.
That's that.
While Dave
goes about shaping the rubble
into new road,
Jared heads back
down the mountain
to check on
logging operations below.
Yeah, go ahead, Ross.
Are you serious?
Okay, give me a minute.
If we can get
that wood on that barge,
I don't know.
Argh!
It's about
a four and a half foot
cedar probably.
Further up the hill
hand fallers Jim and Rob
are racing to locate
some big timber
and get it on the ground
before the log barge arrives
in just two days.
What do you think, Jim?
I think it looks
kind of rotten.
They found
another massive tree
that could be worth
nearly $50,000,
but only if they can
bring it down in one piece.
The cedar is probably
130, 140 feet tall.
Twenty-seven-feet
circumference,
so it's about
eight and a half feet.
If you look from here,
it's leaning like
You can see it
splitting right there
at that first limb.
Yeah, exactly.
Big trees are dangerous.
There's usually
a lot of things
that are inherently
wrong with them
by the time they
get to be that age.
So it's going
to be difficult
to control the direction
or it might just break off
and go where it wants to go,
which is not
where we want it to go.
We may as well try
and preserve what we can
and band her up.
Sounds good.
Cedar trees
are valuable, and when
there's so much force
and it hits the ground
at one time,
it will crack
and devalue the wood.
So if we band it together
with extra
tensile-strength banding,
then hopefully we can keep it
all together in one piece.
Beautiful.
I was just
gonna put an undercut
as far as I can into here,
and nibble away at the back
until it falls over.
While that banding
will reduce the odds
of the tree
exploding on impact,
it's still no guarantee.
So to hedge
their bets even more,
Jim and Rob will make cuts
that should send it toward
a cradle of smaller trees
laid out to soften its fall.
- All right, buddy.
- Is everybody ready?
Heck, yeah.
Started falling
maybe eight years ago.
I can't work indoors.
I like not having to watch
what I say.
I like not having to watch
what I do.
I like not having to dress
a certain way.
I like not having to shave.
I like having
the absolute freedom
to do whatever I want,
the way that I want to.
And it's me not living a lie.
It's pinching.
It's getting stuck.
Come on.
When you've got
your bar in the tree,
you can feel the reactions
that tree is doing.
You can feel the tensions.
You can feel
the snapping and the popping.
You can feel the slabs
that are dislocating inside.
So you can actually
feel that in the tree
so you know
exactly what's going on.
And on top of that,
you can see
the tree's
starting to go over,
and you can see the tree
is starting to lift.
This might not be good.
These slabs all want to pop
straight out like
celery.
On the outskirts
of float camp
-Well, lads, you ready?
-Yes, sir.
Jared
has a risky plan
to solve his yarder problem.
He's pulling another one
from the shop early,
midway through needed repairs,
in hopes that it can limp him
across the finish line.
go.
We're gonna bring in
our best grapple yarder.
Unfortunately, it
caught on fire,
and hopefully that problem
doesn't arise itself again.
Yeah, man.
But first
he and his crew
will have
to get it to the job site
some 22 miles away.
Are we
ready there, lads?
Yes, sir.
And with
a log barge to fill
in just two days,
there's not a moment to lose.
We don't
normally do this,
but we're pressed for time
and I need production.
There's quite a procedure
getting this thing moved over.
I'll be driving
the push truck.
You pretty much ram the bumper
into the back, uh,
a little bit.
Double up the horsepower
to get the low bed
up into these hills.
We have a new
low bed operator, Lance.
He's really good.
How does everything
look back there, Jared?
Looking good, Lance.
Look in the mirror, Lance.
You're looking
good too, buddy.
Thank you.
I wish I could have done
something more with my hair.
All good, bud.
Keep her coming, Lance.
All right, partner.
That particular yarder
is worth about
1.2 to $1.5 million.
So having it
fall off the low bed
would, uh, probably be
the end of my company.
I want to make sure
that we get this done right.
Yeah, it's not good.
There's not enough clearance.
The boom
grabbed the trailer
on the push truck
and wiped the, uh,
supply hoses right off of it.
That boom sticks out
a little too far
and it's banging
into the truck.
I don't know if we can
put a block in there.
I don't know if it'd stay.
Yeah,
a block might help.
We're putting some
blocks in on the top
of the, uh, ramps
to try to hold the boom there.
The boom
can rest on the ramps.
It's kind of a way
to give us some clearance
so that the, uh,
boom doesn't hit
the push truck.
Right. What do you think?
Just put some chains on there.
I don't
like you up there.
Like a normal Wednesday.
Okay, let's get this show
back on the road.
Definitely a lean
to the road, eh?
I don't think
it's going to hold,
but we'll see.
It's not gonna work out.
Whoa, there we go.
Yeah, we lost
our blocks there, boys.
Okay, bud.
It didn't
work out too well.
Punched a hole in the deck.
Took the whole board
right out of the deck.
We're lucky that the blocks
didn't go through
the radiator
of the push truck.
So, uh, our logger ingenuity
just did not work.
This is killer!
We'll make it happen.
With
the log barge
just two days out
and a yarder down
There you go.
Jared's bringing in
reinforcements.
But less than halfway
through the journey,
his replacement yarder
is already in jeopardy.
Now we're gonna
boom it up in a chain
so that it, uh, doesn't swing.
Nice.
So you can imagine
if the swing brake let go,
the boom would fly out,
hit a tree
and roll the grapple yarder
over off the low bed.
-Let's go.
-Yeah, you betcha. Let's go.
Big boss man
always wants to be around
when we make
big moves like this.
Let's go.
The cross chains
are working well.
Right on.
I think the road's
going to get ugly coming up.
So far, the yarder
finally seems to be secure,
but the true test
is still ahead.
A steep stretch of road
that will push
Jared's overland haulers
to their limits.
It's
a narrow road. Steep.
And if you can't get up it,
then, you know,
there's a chance of flipping.
On steep grades
like these,
the safe thing to do
would be to take
the yarder off the truck
and walk it up the hill
on its own tracks.
But that would cost
precious time and money
Jared doesn't have.
How's she feeling, Lance?
Feeling good, Jared.
Feeling good, buddy.
We're going
to take the risk,
and we're going
to push the yarder
over the mountaintop.
We're not wasting our time
walking this thing through.
We're going to go for it.
To make the climb,
the team will need
all the torque they can get.
So they'll use a pickup truck
to pull the heavy hauler
from the front
while Jared
pushes from behind.
I feel like this is gonna be
a complete up, but
It'll save us hours of time.
There we go.
I actually get
a little bit of adrenaline
when this goes on.
We're going up
over the mountain now.
Come on.
Let's go.
This is going
to be exciting.
At the boss' direction too.
- That's even better.
- No one can for this one.
Over $2 million
worth of gear here,
and the show
happens right here.
This is the steepest pitch
that we're sitting on
right now.
This is our
toughest stretch here.
This corner
will be interesting.
Holy!
Holy!
Oh, yeah!
Whoo!
They got her.
So that just saved
a whole bunch of time.
I kind of took a risk,
kind of took a gamble
and it, uh, probably paid off
a good couple of hours
on this move.
With the yarder
finally in place,
wood moving
toward water once again,
Jared might just have a shot
at filling the log barge
after all.
Hey, how you doing?
How was your day at work?
That's good.
I wish I could say the same.
How are the kids?
Oh, really? You're working
on that new dirt bike.
With me being away
and everything,
my biggest fear
is that the family
has enough of it
and says I can't live
this lifestyle anymore.
It's a big time fear,
to be honest with you.
Whenever I get this
log barge loaded or
Whenever that happens,
I'll be home.
Okay. Love you guys.
Talk to you later.
Bye.
I definitely
want to be home with the kids
and put them to bed
and do everything
a normal family can do.
But, uh, no,
we're out here in the woods
trying to get, uh,
log barges filled,
and I'm trying
to build an empire.
It's tough to do
This might not be good.
Further up
the hill,
Jim and Rob
have spent over four hours
wrestling with this cedar,
trying to get
one last money tree
down to the water
before the log barge arrives.
But it's not going
without a fight.
Trees that are rotten
and trees that are fragmented
have different slabs
and different pinch points,
and they like to loosen off
at different times,
and that's what
we're dealing with right now.
These slabs don't want
to pop straight out
like
celery.
Oh, she'll come out now.
To topple
a tree this massive
Rob needs to cut
deep into its core.
But this cedar's weight
keeps shifting,
so his saw
keeps getting stuck,
no matter
where he makes a cut.
Now let's see.
No?
Oh, baby!
We got the saw out,
but the tree feels like
it's about to collapse.
It feels like it's
fragmented on the inside
and it looks like
it's going to go
wherever it's going
to want to go.
We're going to have
to come up with a Plan B here.
It wants to collapse
straight down.
I say we throw
the spruce at her now
before we get stuck again.
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Their only hope now
use what's known
as a push tree
to force the cedar
where they want it,
toward a cradle
of smaller trees
cut to cushion its fall.
So it wants to just
drop straight down.
We're just gonna hit it
with the spruce.
Hopefully, I don't miss,
and, uh, hopefully
it takes it over.
Some people do drugs.
I do big wood.
It's a rush.
Get
your mojo going.
Everything out here,
you're just like a little ant
getting ready to be squished.
Nice.
It takes a certain
kind of person to do
this stuff for sure.
Somebody crazy like myself.
There it goes. Uh-oh.
Dodging bullets all day.
Let's throw
the spruce at her.
Yeah.
Deep
in the forest
of the Pacific Northwest,
Jim and Rob
are battling a giant cedar
with a mind of its own.
Their only hope
of getting it down safely
and loaded onto the log barge
is to use a push tree
to force it
where they want it.
Nice job, Rob.
That couldn't have hit it
any more direct.
That was perfect shot.
So, would you say
the banding worked?
Yep. That was a good,
uh, stroke of genius.
Yeah, that's a
nice piece of wood.
Despite Jim
and Rob's best efforts,
nearly $9,000 worth of wood
has shattered on impact.
But with the rest
of the trees safely grounded,
they can buck it up
and prep it for transport
before tomorrow's
log barge arrives.
I pulled the last bag
over there this morning.
We gotta make sure
these loaders
put every log we can on there.
After all
the hard work and money spent,
a 400 foot log barge
known as the Hercules,
is here to load
Jared's timber.
Right now, all my chips
are on the table.
I need to make sure
that the barge
is leaving full.
If Jared
can fill the log barge,
he's looking
at $200,000 in profit,
a strong payment
toward his $1.1 million debt.
Well, there she is.
Best view in the world.
The Hercules.
Funny, eh, those big logs
look so small on that thing.
- Yeah.
- -They don't call it the Hercules for nothing.
Those things
are beastly, aren't they?
- Yeah, they are.
- -Look at the size of that grapple.
Hey, Lance. It's Jared.
How you doing?
Yep.
Right on.
How are the bundles? Heavy?
Uh, that's
Jared has
a rough estimate
of the wood here,
but he won't know
how much he's made
until the final bundle
is weighed in.
I'm starting
to feel panicky
that I'm not going to
be able to pay my debt.
You wanna come aboard?
I think we're only gonna do
about another hour here,
and then we're
out of here for today.
I gotta head to my cabin.
How come
it's for sale?
Well, I was trying to buy out
the business partner.
I didn't think
I'd have enough money,
but I keep pumping
these barges out
I might be okay.
Just keep logging.
They say
there's a smell of money,
but, uh, there's
definitely a sound.
That moan of the cranes.
The moan of money.
- More money, more problems.
- -Yeah.
He's built this from nothing,
from one machine.
He tries to keep
people working
as much as he can,
and the guy's
got a lot on his plate
and he handles it better
than anybody I know.
I respect him for sacrificing
for the company.
Hey, Jared.
Looks like we're gonna be
a little late today.
No
After
all the effort,
Jared only profited $89,000
out of a possible 200,000.
Less than half
what he expected.
I'm getting
spread a little thin
and I'm getting nervous.
I feel like
I've made a mistake,
big time,
buying out
my business partner.
It's too far gone
to back down,
and, uh, it's going
to be stressful
to pay that debt back.
If I fall short on, uh,
these log barges,
the bank is gonna come
looking for my house.
I'm in big trouble.
This season,
Jared's striking out
on his own.
Welcome
to hell, boys. This is it.
And with his sights
set on expansion,
he's headed
into uncharted territory.
Getting this
to fall side hill
is going to be tricky.
Putting it all
on the line.
My time
to grow the company
the way I want it.
Nobody's holding me back.
Watch out! Watch out!
We're sitting on
a million dollars
of wood right here.
This is
a haywire Hail Mary!
That's super-hot.
Ninth inning,
the bases are loaded.
I up, didn't I?
The risk that we're taking
I need to get wood
down that river.
I'm not going to tell my wife
we're gonna sell our house.
It's ridiculous.
You don't move the wood,
you go broke.
I might sink.
That was close!
There's a bear
coming at ya.
-Or I might swim.
-Fire in the hole.
Got everything
on the line.
This is bad.
Uh-oh, my
Keep going. Keep going.
Back in business.
I can lose everything.
Man overboard.
- My business.
- -We're gonna need first aid.
My family.
This season,
there's no giving up.
Oh, holy!