The Last Woodsmen (2024) s01e04 Episode Script
Fowl Play
1
Last week,
after betting big
on a second operation
The final frontier
of logging.
This is the point
of no return.
logger
Jared Douglas got more
than he bargained for.
- Oh, God!
A stain, like a blood stain.
-Gross.
We got
a ton of work to do.
This place has been neglected
for years.
Big time stressed out.
I definitely
bit off more than I can chew.
And while
his hand fallers raced
to keep timber coming in
Nice.
an uninvited guest
shut Float Camp
down completely.
If we gotta wait
four weeks,
that'll kill this place.
While his new claim
in Grizzly River
suffered setbacks
from the start.
Every minute you lose
today, you don't get back
at the end of the year.
Get out of there!
We cannot fail
or could take down
the company.
with the next log barge
less than a week out,
- Jared has a shot at $200,000 in profit.
- -Oh,!
But only
if he can get Float Camp
back on track
If this
doesn't work
This is gonna
send him over the top.
and Grizzly River
up and running
We got smoke
coming out
of the exhaust now.
Come on, you!
before the money
runs out.
Whoa, stay up high!
I've never been
this frustrated
in my entire life.
This might be the end of me.
In the backwoods
of the Pacific Northwest,
Jared's high-tailing it back
to Float Camp
to deal with a setback
no one saw coming.
We got word from Ross
that there's
a Canadian goose
that's laid an egg
in our skidway.
And we have an obligation
to the wildlife.
We really need to make sure
we follow the regulations.
It's definitely affecting
all sorts of things
right now, financially.
In these parts,
Canadian geese
are a fiercely
protected species.
And until this one moves out
on its own accord,
Jared's only source of income
is shut down.
We need that skidway
to get logs in the water.
If we don't get that wood
in the water,
we don't get paid.
We have a log barge
coming in three days.
This is a disaster.
And the timing
couldn't be worse.
After buying out his partner
and sinking another $600,000
into opening Grizzly River,
Jared is $1.7 million
in the hole.
He's got one season
to pay off the debt
and save the business
he spent 20 years building.
Just a man trying to make
a dollar in this forest
that just keeps
giving it to me.
And we're down.
What do we do?
We better
get something
done here today.
Besides crying
over spilled milk.
Float Camp was going
to pay the bills.
It was going
to keep money coming in
and give me that money
to invest in Grizzly.
Jared was counting
on this operation
to bring another $200,000
in profits.
But with no way to splash wood
or call off
the already-inbound
log barge,
his hands are tied.
This is where the goose
is doing us in.
Well, what did
the biologists say
for the goose?
Like, what have we got?
Once they hatch,
I guess.
Once they hatch,
we can shove them along?
Or do they got to stay
in their nest?
Until they take off
by themselves, I guess.
This is not what I need
right now.
I'm to my eyeballs in debt,
and I need to make sure
both operations
are producing logs and money.
And we need to get
this problem solved right now.
Look at it.
It's got oceanfront view.
Accommodations.
You understand
the wages that are being
lost here and everything?
me.
A hundred miles
to the north,
at Grizzly River
What's the ceiling at?
- About 750 to 800.
- 750?
Woods foreman
Dave Lornie is dealing
with a different kind of foul.
Foul weather.
Finally got the camp
up and running now.
The weather's kind of
slowing us down here.
Jared is extremely anxious
to get us into production.
Grizzly River poses
the most challenges
I've ever seen
in a logging operation
just from its sheer location
and dealing with the river.
Last guy that operated
in Grizzly River,
the woods got him.
He went broke.
This is a full-on risk
and everybody thinks
I'm bat crazy.
After three days
of rain,
skies are just starting
to clear.
Which means Dave
can finally get this
logging operation underway.
How was the flight?
Surely ain't bad.
Home sweet home.
Pick a room.
Just pick whatever you want
that there's nobody in.
Perfect.
- Let's check out the cook house.
- -Okay.
Maya's an unreal cook.
Breakfast right now
is 5:45 a.m. to 6:45 a.m.
- Dinner's 5:30 p.m.
to 6:00 p.m.
-Looks good.
Yeah.
I got the boys
orientated into the camp
and they seem happy.
Jared's going
to be very relieved
we're ready to get
into production
with the falling.
- Ready?
- Yeah.
Okay.
Pretty close to camp.
Pretty nice.
We can make beauties.
- Let's try and hack out this line here, guys.
- -Oh, yeah.
Jared's pretty
stressed out,
so it's good timing here
that we got this spot
to come into.
Yeah, just identify
any overhead hazards.
That's an interesting
little scenario.
Oh, there's hang-up.
That's going to be a fun one.
We'll walk back into here.
This is where they are.
Oh, yeah, here we go.
That thing's tall.
Lots of cat
and bear scratching.
Bears are starting
to wake up now.
Jackpot.
Yeah.
Nice and sound.
Jeez, rock solid.
These fallers
are a different breed.
They're ready
to rock and roll.
They have a dangerous job.
They're the best of the best
in the woods.
And now we can start putting
some serious production
in the water.
Okay, where do you want
to start, Jim?
Paper, rock, scissors?
That's a big.
At Float Camp
So, have we got
a second skidway down here?
Yeah, but it definitely
needs some love.
Jared
and foreman Ross need
to come up with a way
to splash logs
without spooking the goose.
And they may have
just found one.
- This is a skidway?
- Yep.
Been there for a little while.
It's a little rotten.
They don't have time
for this.
They might not
look like much,
but skid ramps like these
are the linchpins
of any logging operation.
The last in a long
and costly process
that moves wood to market.
And the only means
of getting log bundles
too heavy to lift by machine
into the water.
The problem
with this ramp is,
as you can see,
the skidway is bent.
When it gets to low tide,
it comes high and dry
at the end
and the bundles
are gonna get hung up there.
Gonna have to carve this out,
I guess,
-and put a boomstick in here.
-Yeah.
It's the only thing
we can really do
at this point.
You got the goose
over there
just laughing at us.
I've never been
this frustrated
in my entire life.
This might be the end of me.
To get this
decommissioned ramp
up and running,
Jared and Ross will have
to smooth out the kink
in one of its skids.
To do it, they'll repurpose
a 60-foot boomstick
typically used to fence
in log bundles
and lash it to the skid
like a splint.
You're gonna have
to get a boomstick unhooked
out of there
with the crew boat
and push it to me somewhere
- where I can get close to shore with the loader.
- -Yeah.
We're not gonna make
anything happen sitting here
and talking it to death,
so let's get
some action happening.
All I want to do is be able
to hold my head high
in this community,
create jobs.
I really just don't know
what I would do with myself
if I don't make it.
Yeah, we'll give her a go.
Don't bang the props off
on our precious boat.
- You know how badly we need it.
- -I'll try to, yeah.
While Jarrod
falls deeper into debt
at Float Camp,
back at Grizzly River
Well, we got about
an eight-foot cedar tree here.
handfallers
Jim and Rob are closing in
on some desperately-needed
money trees.
But the dense forest
around Grizzly,
is a tangled canopy
of limb-tied branches,
widowmakers
and other overhead hazards
that make getting them
to the ground
a potentially deadly puzzle.
I'm gonna say,
I don't know, 140 feet tall.
There'll be some
high-grade logs
coming over it.
Dense stands of timber
have their inherent problems.
There'll be rotten tops,
there'll be branches
just hanging there.
Some schoolmarms
hanging off the top of it.
Schoolmarm
is when the top dies,
the leading limbs
turn into the new tops
and they grow up
off the sides of the trees
and then they redistribute
the weight of the tree.
It is leaning kind of
right along the sideline.
I'm hoping to put it out
right through here
is a nice spot for it.
So I'll just bring my undercut
right to about here
and put it right out there.
It's leaning back a bit.
What do you think?
Can we jack it?
I think
we could jack this.
We'd have to probably jack
right in this area somewhere
to get it to go out there.
Okay.
To keep control
of the tree,
Rob will have
to counter the weight
of those heavy schoolmarm's
pulling it down.
First, he'll make an undercut.
Then, he'll make a back cut
and create a space
in the tree for the jack.
With the jack in place,
they'll use it to direct
the tree
into its landing spot.
We should throw
a band on it, though,
just in case.
So, I'll give you that.
There are pocket seams
that go up the tree.
So there's a small likelihood
that this will hit the ground
and it'll split.
So to minimize that,
we're gonna have to band it.
Ooh.
Good.
Beautiful.
Okay, I'll put the undercut in
right there.
That looks good now.
That should work.
I'll just start
the back cut around,
notch in for the jack
and then we can put
the jack in there, I guess.
Yep.
My job is to take it
very seriously.
It's dangerous for me,
but if you don't
take it seriously,
it can be dangerous
for your partner as well.
Working as a team,
you can keep track
of each other.
When I'm cutting,
Jim can watch
for overhead hazards
or even those schoolmarm's
that have split away
from the tree
and they're just
hanging there,
waiting to fall out.
Just checking.
Probably not a bad idea.
Jimmy and I first started
falling together.
He was still fairly green,
but he had drive,
he had ambition.
So, yeah, I trust Jim.
You have to be able
to trust your partner
with your life.
There's some rot in the butt.
but there's still some
holding wind in there.
Hopefully it's sound enough.
'Cause can go sideways
real quick.
And that thing could break off
and go over backwards
and flatten that jack.
Jack's
a two-man operation.
We pretty much have to have
someone cutting
and someone lifting
at the same time.
With the extra guy there,
he can keep pressure on it
as I'm cutting.
And then he can tell me
if he hears any pops, cracks.
Like, get the hell
out of there
or the jack's slipping.
Keep going.
Perfect.
It feels amazing.
It makes you feel alive.
This would have peeled
like a banana
if it wasn't banded.
Cedar fell pretty much
where I wanted it to.
The band helped save it out.
I can hear Dave
is chomping at the bit
to get this wood in the water.
So we've got to do our best
to keep it up.
With the first log
safely on the ground,
foreman Dave is turning
his attention
to the next big challenge.
Getting all that wood
to the water.
Here at Grizzly River,
we've got a bunch
of really cool old machines.
The time
has taken back over them.
The forest
is growing through them.
There is the most
awesome dump truck
that was converted
into a logging truck.
It used to haul equipment
up and down
the main line at Grizzly.
It's been sitting
for 15 years,
but with a little bit
more elbow grease,
I think we could actually
haul logs
with that old logging truck.
It's going to save me
time and money
and Jared will be happy.
It would cost Jared
more than $100,000
to buy a fat truck
and send it up Grizzly River.
But if Dave can get
this one back
in working order,
it'll save both
time and money.
I'm going to pick up
Adrian Bailey,
my little mechanic helper.
He's a really good buddy
of mine.
I haven't seen him
in, like, five years,
so I'm really excited
to see him.
Adrian!
Davey!
Look at the rocking
hairdo, bud.
-Hey, it's good to see you.
-Yeah, you too.
-Too long.
-Yeah.
-Welcome
to Grizzly River, buddy.
-Hell yeah, brother.
Adrian, he's quite the little grease monkey.
He loves challenges.
He's haywire like me.
That's why I took a real shine
to him years ago.
He's looking like Axl Rose
these days
and he is memorized and played
and knows every
Guns N' Roses song.
I think he's hoping
that Axl Rose
will pick him out of a crowd
and want him
to replace him one day.
Got all the essentials
anyhow here.
I sure hope he doesn't go
and become a rock star
and not a mechanic anymore.
I might go be his bodyguard.
I thought you were only
staying a couple of days.
You got six flats.
Well, I don't know.
I'm a heavy duty mechanic.
And I like heavy metal
and rock and roll.
How is rock and roll
and logging similar?
It's this break it,
, thrash it,
burn it, kill it,
eat it.
Money made, money burnt,
money lost.
Throw it, it.
Who cares?
Full throttle,
give-her-all-the-way
kind of an industry.
And I love it.
I love working with Dave
because he's a wild
and crazy logger.
Like,
he's super rock and roll.
Every time
I get to work with him,
I learn how to be rockin'.
It is absolutely never
a dull moment
when I'm working with Dave.
Absolutely never
a dull moment.
We're just gonna stop
and look at our project here.
- Where's your drink?
- Right here.
-Good to see you, young fella.
-Cheers, pal.
I love it.
-Bring back memories.
-Hey, Davey. Oh, yeah.
There's some ancient
out here.
- Oh, yeah, bud.
- This is old, man.
I've never seen anything
like this.
You know how many logs
that thing probably hauled off
the scariest mountains?
Holy , man.
Being a bush mechanic
working with loggers,
their standards
are much different
than gear shop
and engine shop
back in town.
They're pretty cool.
Big heavy old cabs.
I think the low bed's actually
in better shape than the one
we've been using.
, man.
Pose her down
and paint her up, man.
When it comes
to repair and maintenance
of heavy equipment,
you can do the job right
or you can do it now.
And generally
they want it all done now.
And so you cut some corners,
you try to cheat a little bit
to keep production flowing.
How long has it been sitting?
Do you know?
Fifteen years.
-Fifteen?
-Fifteen years.
I see no cap on the fuel tank.
No, we'll just--
We're gonna bypass that.
We'll get
a five-gallon bucket,
we'll make a dripper,
change the filters
and get some batteries
out of something
we're not using.
- We'll just have some fun with it, right?
- -yeah.
The first step
is to hook batteries up
and see if it'll budge at all.
That low bed's been sitting
apparently about 15 years,
but as long as it turns over,
I think I can outsmart
that thing.
- Let's do this.
- Let's do it.
If it doesn't
turn over,
then we gotta start
from scratch
and start looking
into the engine
and see
what the issue is there.
We'll see.
We got a big V
on the front of this truck.
If we get it running,
it's gonna be for "victory."
Want me
to grab a stick?
Yeah, I need
a boomstick badly,
and we're gonna
get this done,
and it'll be all day.
Back at Float Camp,
and with the protected goose
going nowhere soon
Jared and Ross are working
to restore
a second skid ramp.
So they can start
splashing bundles
before the log barge arrives.
Just getting prop up,
myself up onto the skidway
and be able to work
on the edge there.
While Ross
rounds up a half-ton boomstick
to serve as one of the skids,
Jared digs a trench
to help hold it in place.
Just trying
to clear a pathway
so we can get
a good boomstick down
in along this skidway
so that we can start
dumping out low tides.
Gotta make sure
we pick all the rocks
and all the goodies
out of here.
Hard to do it
without an excavator,
so doing it with a log loader
is very, very hard to do.
All because of a goose.
Alrighty.
This should be exciting.
Boss says he's got
a plan there.
Hopefully, extend the skids
a little bit longer
which isn't the best way
to do this,
but it can be done.
Get this stick to the boss man
and shove her into place
and hopefully that solves
a few problems.
If this doesn't work,
this is gonna send him
over the top.
Ultimate snap show.
You watch.
How you making out, Rosscoe?
Oh, we're coming.
Bring her on in.
Ross is getting
a boomstick for me now.
so I'm just getting close
to the water's edge
so I can grab it.
It's always really tricky
getting close to the edge
'cause if the bank
was to unravel
in the water you go
and not a good scene.
So trying to make sure
that we've got
a firmly planted feed on us
'cause the boomsticks
are heavy,
and we've got to be
very careful
to stay out of the water.
There we go.
There we go.
Come on, baby.
It's sketching me out.
There's got to be
better ways to make money
than this.
Ether,
I don't like using it.
We've got
smoke coming out
of the exhaust now.
Come on, you.
I'm tied in with that.
Heads up. Stand back.
Holy.
Just got
to be very careful.
It could possibly
tip into the water.
We don't want that.
Come on, baby.
On the banks
of Float Camp,
Jared's under the gun
to reopen the operation.
I need this skidway fixed
and operational today,
so I can get
a log barge in here
and clear out all the wood.
We've lost a lot of money here
with the goose,
and I will not be happy
until there's logs
going down the skidway
and hitting the water.
No splash, no cash.
We're also seeking
to get a really good boomstick
for me now.
We'll get it in there.
We'll get it lashed in.
Beautiful.
Oh, thank God.
It's even got a tapered end.
None of the logs are going
to hang up on it.
So, perfect.
This worked really good.
We're just going
to get this chain
shackled to this chain.
The log can't go anywhere,
and it'll be kind of
permanently there.
But, uh, obviously,
we haven't tested it yet.
We've got to try to get
wood moving again
so that we can get
this log barge filled.
Over 100 miles away
in Grizzly River
So,
what have we got here?
Jim and Rob
are zeroing in
on their second tree
at the newly opened operation.
That's pretty solid.
A massive cedar
that will go a long way
toward paying down
Jared's debt.
This tree
we're about to tackle
is a seven-foot red cedar.
It looks to be about
120 feet tall.
Right now,
cedar is the highest
value tree out here.
So, this is a nice piece
of wood.
It is leaning back
pretty hard.
So, this one
will have to go, too.
It's limb tied in with it.
And there's a bunch
of broken off limbs
in the big one.
I don't know if you noticed
that on the outside of it.
On the bottom side.
Yep.
So, we'll have
to watch for that.
Got some
overhead hazards. Yep.
Trees that grow together
fall together.
A tree that's leaning back
is not gonna fall over
without that other tree
'cause the limbs
are tied together.
When trees
become this tangled,
falling just one
could pull the other
straight down on Jim and Rob.
So, their safest bet
is to cut both cedars at once.
And try to control
their fall together.
So, I'll start with undercut.
Undercut.
Back cut.
My front tree.
Back cut with wedges.
Plan B. Pusher tree.
To drop these trees
in tandem,
Jim and Rob
will make an undercut
in the smaller one,
then the seven-footer.
After adding back cuts
to both,
they'll use wedges
to ease them
in the same direction
and hope neither
falls too soon.
We're good to go.
Ground debris is good.
Like their
last target,
falling this tree
will be complicated
by the high density canopies
that surround Grizzly Camp.
All right,
make some noise. Yep.
These trees
are what's called
a widowmaker.
There's a broken branch,
and it's just hanging out
between other branches.
Any bit of breeze,
any slight jarring
of this tree
and that could
come out prematurely
and it could strike somebody.
And that's definitely
why we have a second
set of eyes.
Okay. Next one.
What do you think?
Start, get this side
wedged up first,
then when I tap some wedges
you can watch for me.
When we start our back cut,
we're gonna put our wedges in,
and we're gonna pound
and pound
until we get the right lifting
that we're looking for.
Hopefully, we can
wedge it up enough
to push it over.
If we can't, we'll have
to go to a different plant
to put it on the ground
as safely as we can.
- Not lifting at all, is it?
- No.
-Starting to sit back.
-Yep.
I'm just asking for it.
have it break off
and go over backwards.
That's her. Let's push it.
We can't wedge
this thing up enough
and it's physically
not possible
to wedge it over.
We have a backup plan,
our push tree in the back.
There should be enough
to overtake it.
I think so.
There's so much more force up high than there is down low.
Having wedged
all they can,
Jim and Rob
will use a push tree
to finish the job
from a safe distance
and send the limb-tied seeders
down like dominoes.
Go more.
Yeah.
Whoo!
She's not going.!
I thought for sure
that wouldn't take it.
Now what do you want
to do?
Back near camp
- You okay?
- Yep, you bet.
foreman Dave
and bush mechanic Adrian
are trying to save Jared
a hundred grand
by bringing
a 50-year-old logging truck
back from the dead
- Come on
- Dave.
and putting it
back to work.
We have electricity.
We have
to make sure we have
the best connections possible.
It won't need much.
Maybe a little spit shine
when we're done.
Oh, yeah.
We're going
to check the air filter,
check the air intake.
If there's
any open orifices anywhere,
rodents can climb in,
block things up.
You could suck a rat
into the engine,
shoot her up in the blower.
It wouldn't be good.
Looking pretty clear.
There'd be
and pests in there
if there was rodents.
So we're looking
pretty good on that.
These engines are pretty old,
and they're nice and simple,
fortunately.
They need air, they need fuel,
they need oil in 'em.
I think that'll be
enough fuel.
Well, we're gonna try
just a little bump here, okay?
Yep.
I'll just make sure
everything's tight.
-Yeah, yeah.
-We'll have to check
that connection on that one.
I mean,
it turned over pretty slow,
so that means
if these batteries
are as healthy
as Dave says, then that means
we have an issue.
Either the starter's bad
or the engine's seized up,
which I ran into before.
I don't know the history
of this thing.
Maybe when it shut down last,
it had issues already.
I'm going to try to use ether
to get that ignition going,
get the engine speed up,
get the cylinder
temperature up.
Hopefully, that'll fix
the problem.
Three times
more flammable than diesel,
ether is a great way
to jump-start an engine
just to see if she'll run.
Say when.
When.
So close.
Okay, hang on.
But it does come
with some risks.
Ether
is a highly combustible fluid.
It's really not good.
I don't like using it.
I really do avoid it.
But in these circumstances,
especially when we're dealing
with something
where we just wanna
get it running,
standards get lower and lower,
we just gotta make it run.
Ether makes that happen
a lot quicker.
We got smoke coming out
of the exhaust now.
Crank it
for a little bit.
Come on, you!
Come on, you!
In an effort
to save Jared
some much-needed money,
foreman Dave
and bush mechanic Adrian
are working to resurrect
a half-century-old
logging truck
to add to their fleet.
Keep her going.
Lots of ether.
Give her.
More.
Oh, yeah.
It's alive.
It's alive!
Here she goes.
Hell yeah, dude.
Whoo!
All systems are go
on this old girl.
It's really surprising to me
'cause I I see
a lot of this old stuff
and, you know, it's just
a dream to get it going.
We're ready to rock and roll.
She'll be load bearing
in no time.
For a rainy day
and the wipers are on.
Unreal.
Yeah, man!
We're ready
to pull out of here, bud.
Want to try her?
You put her into gear for me?
Up one.
Come on, baby.
Yeah, the brakes on free.
Hold on.
Yee-haw!
Whoo!
Turns on a dime, too.
Unreal.
I am so happy
right now.
Gonna do some donuts.
Gotta have a little bit of fun
after all that work.
Mad Max. '80's style.
Back down
at Float Camp
Jared and Ross are ready
to test a fixer-upper
of their own.
A skid ramp built to bypass
a nesting goose
If we send
that barge light,
Jared's not gonna be happy
with us at all.
and get Jared's
log trucks back
to dumping bundles.
We need
to get things happening.
This goose, it's costing me
a lot of production,
a lot of money,
and I don't think
I'm gonna make my target
on the log barge.
So we need to get things
happening here at Float Camp.
See if it works.
See if we can't get
those first loads
out into the water.
If this doesn't
pan out,
we're in big trouble.
I just signed myself
into a heap of debt,
and right now
I need all systems go
on each camp.
I need them to be producing.
Whoo!
Oh, that's awesome.
- That's it.
- Yeah!
So you see
how that boomstick's
getting out further
into the water.
Should be able
to dump all day.
So far, so good.
We're winning today.
Yeah, that looks really good.
Well, we can get that log barge now.
No excuses.
Get it happening.
No splash, no cash.
There you go.
Back in the hills
of Grizzly River
Okay. Um
Now what do you wanna do?
We've got
a bit of a problem.
handfallers
Jim and Rob
are trying to get Jared's
new logging operation
up and running
by putting high-dollar trees
down on the ground.
But right now, they have
three half-cut cedars
that are refusing to topple.
We're gonna have
to probably start
right out there,
I would think.
We tried to push
this tree over
and nothing's happening.
We don't have
enough weight into it.
We can't go in there
and cut any more.
It's gonna be too dangerous.
It's gonna be right above us.
We're going on
to Plan C.
So what we're gonna do
is we're gonna do
the same thing
with this tree here.
We're gonna push
this tree over
and push it into all that.
Hopefully.
Uh, generally, when you
start thinking backup plans,
you start thinking
more than one set of plans.
You kind of wanna take a look
at what you have
in succession.
Make sure you have
more than one pusher.
And you want to take advantage
of all your opportunities,
not just be nearsighted
and see what's there
in front of you.
So what we're gonna do
is we're gonna cut
a few more trees
and lead it into it,
and we'll use the excess force
to push this all over.
Hopefully, it all goes
according to plan.
Okay.
Next one.
Okay.
Higher, the better.
Cut and wrap.
Drama.
Clearly,
the push-tree approach
isn't working.
Oh, let's cut
that one
to the right off.
But it has tilted
the original limb-tied trees
enough to send them
where the fallers want.
So I think
if we cut that post off,
it should hopefully go.
To finish the job,
Rob will have to drop
the smaller tree first.
But doing so means
working in one of the most
dangerous situations known
to falling.
Directly beneath
two massive trees
that are already hanging
by a thread.
Whoa, whoa!
Get back, get back.
That truck's hauled
up to three and a half times
the amount of wood
that a highway truck can haul.
My grandpa
and my great-grandpa
were both off-highway
logging truck drivers,
and so this is
my great-grandpa.
That was his career load.
Allegedly, that's
the heaviest load that was
ever hauled into Elk River.
I decided to go
and get my Class 1 license.
There were lots of people
who were trying to tell me
logging, it's dying.
Until they learn
how to 3D print houses,
logging's not going
to be going away.
Whoa, whoa!
Get back, get back.
- It took it a while.
- Yeah.
At Grizzly River,
Jim and Rob are halfway
through falling a pair
of stubborn cedars.
But with one of their
push trees
still teetering
on the seven-footer.
Uh, let's cut that
second one.
Rob's last cut
will be
his most dangerous by far.
Heads up.
Stand back.
Keep going.
Better.
Holy
Nice.
He missed four times,
and finally it just--
There was enough to break off
and fall all by itself.
Didn't go as planned,
but whatever.
It's on the ground.
- Saved out nice, too.
- Everything's saved out nice, actually.
They saved
right out to the top.
We happened to get two great
big prime lengths off.
Big bucks.
They should be happy
with this.
In the logging industry,
things don't necessarily
always go as planned.
You always want a Plan B.
You always want a Plan C.
And as we found out today,
things went sideways.
But we kept our heads,
and we knew what it would take
to do it safely.
Yeah, we probably should have
taken more out of the guts
of it, I guess.
Live and learn.
Might have up.
It's never up
when they fall over.
up when you go home
and they're still
standing there.
Good morning.
How are you?
There's
the tug, finally.
Okay, we're going over there
to look at the barge loading.
- Okay.
- We'll see you over there.
Back at Float Camp,
after days of production lost
to a nesting goose,
it's finally time for Jared
to send all the bundles
he can muster
onto the log barge
and off to market.
There she is.
It's a unique feeling
right now.
It's very nerve-wracking.
All our hard work,
down to six hours
of barge loading.
I'm usually pretty excited
when that log barge is coming.
I know my payday is coming.
But we were unable
to dump logs
because of our goose problem.
Some big logs in there?
Probably not enough.
His potential profit
is $200,000.
But he won't know
how much he's made
until the wood is weighed in.
I know
I'm gonna come short
on my barge load,
which means
I'm gonna come short
on my paycheck.
So it's how bad
it actually is,
and we're gonna
assess the situation.
But I'm definitely
on pins and needles for this.
Rainy, dismal day.
Yeah.
Definitely
some nice wood coming
on the barge.
It's just not enough.
The last of her.
Still got empty deck space
over there.
It's not good.
I don't know
what I'm gonna do.
Despite
their best efforts,
in the end, Float Camp
was only able
to fill less than half
of the barge's payload,
which for Jared means
less than half
of his potential payday.
I lost a lot of money
over that goose.
That goose me.
Ready?
Sharpshooter.
Pull.
It's a lot of stress.
I already have everything
on the line financially.
Stress is bad.
Stress kills you faster
than a bus running you over,
I think.
I've seen guys
in this business
having heart attacks,
having a stroke.
But you look at your crew,
they all depend on you.
Everybody's got a mortgage,
everybody's got a family.
A lot of people rely on me.
And I'm out there
in the trenches with them.
So far,
Jared's profits this season
stand at $223,000
towards his $1.7 million debt.
Pull.
Your brains and your balls
are for your business,
and your heart's
for your family
is what it comes down to.
But my heart's
for my employees as well.
So I can't let my crew down.
- So this is where the next spot is?
- Yeah.
We're going to have to get
the road builders
in here right away.
I need to get wood
down this road,
into that log dump,
and down that river,
or I ain't getting
the paycheck.
Fire in the hole.
This is ridiculous.
Last week,
after betting big
on a second operation
The final frontier
of logging.
This is the point
of no return.
logger
Jared Douglas got more
than he bargained for.
- Oh, God!
A stain, like a blood stain.
-Gross.
We got
a ton of work to do.
This place has been neglected
for years.
Big time stressed out.
I definitely
bit off more than I can chew.
And while
his hand fallers raced
to keep timber coming in
Nice.
an uninvited guest
shut Float Camp
down completely.
If we gotta wait
four weeks,
that'll kill this place.
While his new claim
in Grizzly River
suffered setbacks
from the start.
Every minute you lose
today, you don't get back
at the end of the year.
Get out of there!
We cannot fail
or could take down
the company.
with the next log barge
less than a week out,
- Jared has a shot at $200,000 in profit.
- -Oh,!
But only
if he can get Float Camp
back on track
If this
doesn't work
This is gonna
send him over the top.
and Grizzly River
up and running
We got smoke
coming out
of the exhaust now.
Come on, you!
before the money
runs out.
Whoa, stay up high!
I've never been
this frustrated
in my entire life.
This might be the end of me.
In the backwoods
of the Pacific Northwest,
Jared's high-tailing it back
to Float Camp
to deal with a setback
no one saw coming.
We got word from Ross
that there's
a Canadian goose
that's laid an egg
in our skidway.
And we have an obligation
to the wildlife.
We really need to make sure
we follow the regulations.
It's definitely affecting
all sorts of things
right now, financially.
In these parts,
Canadian geese
are a fiercely
protected species.
And until this one moves out
on its own accord,
Jared's only source of income
is shut down.
We need that skidway
to get logs in the water.
If we don't get that wood
in the water,
we don't get paid.
We have a log barge
coming in three days.
This is a disaster.
And the timing
couldn't be worse.
After buying out his partner
and sinking another $600,000
into opening Grizzly River,
Jared is $1.7 million
in the hole.
He's got one season
to pay off the debt
and save the business
he spent 20 years building.
Just a man trying to make
a dollar in this forest
that just keeps
giving it to me.
And we're down.
What do we do?
We better
get something
done here today.
Besides crying
over spilled milk.
Float Camp was going
to pay the bills.
It was going
to keep money coming in
and give me that money
to invest in Grizzly.
Jared was counting
on this operation
to bring another $200,000
in profits.
But with no way to splash wood
or call off
the already-inbound
log barge,
his hands are tied.
This is where the goose
is doing us in.
Well, what did
the biologists say
for the goose?
Like, what have we got?
Once they hatch,
I guess.
Once they hatch,
we can shove them along?
Or do they got to stay
in their nest?
Until they take off
by themselves, I guess.
This is not what I need
right now.
I'm to my eyeballs in debt,
and I need to make sure
both operations
are producing logs and money.
And we need to get
this problem solved right now.
Look at it.
It's got oceanfront view.
Accommodations.
You understand
the wages that are being
lost here and everything?
me.
A hundred miles
to the north,
at Grizzly River
What's the ceiling at?
- About 750 to 800.
- 750?
Woods foreman
Dave Lornie is dealing
with a different kind of foul.
Foul weather.
Finally got the camp
up and running now.
The weather's kind of
slowing us down here.
Jared is extremely anxious
to get us into production.
Grizzly River poses
the most challenges
I've ever seen
in a logging operation
just from its sheer location
and dealing with the river.
Last guy that operated
in Grizzly River,
the woods got him.
He went broke.
This is a full-on risk
and everybody thinks
I'm bat crazy.
After three days
of rain,
skies are just starting
to clear.
Which means Dave
can finally get this
logging operation underway.
How was the flight?
Surely ain't bad.
Home sweet home.
Pick a room.
Just pick whatever you want
that there's nobody in.
Perfect.
- Let's check out the cook house.
- -Okay.
Maya's an unreal cook.
Breakfast right now
is 5:45 a.m. to 6:45 a.m.
- Dinner's 5:30 p.m.
to 6:00 p.m.
-Looks good.
Yeah.
I got the boys
orientated into the camp
and they seem happy.
Jared's going
to be very relieved
we're ready to get
into production
with the falling.
- Ready?
- Yeah.
Okay.
Pretty close to camp.
Pretty nice.
We can make beauties.
- Let's try and hack out this line here, guys.
- -Oh, yeah.
Jared's pretty
stressed out,
so it's good timing here
that we got this spot
to come into.
Yeah, just identify
any overhead hazards.
That's an interesting
little scenario.
Oh, there's hang-up.
That's going to be a fun one.
We'll walk back into here.
This is where they are.
Oh, yeah, here we go.
That thing's tall.
Lots of cat
and bear scratching.
Bears are starting
to wake up now.
Jackpot.
Yeah.
Nice and sound.
Jeez, rock solid.
These fallers
are a different breed.
They're ready
to rock and roll.
They have a dangerous job.
They're the best of the best
in the woods.
And now we can start putting
some serious production
in the water.
Okay, where do you want
to start, Jim?
Paper, rock, scissors?
That's a big.
At Float Camp
So, have we got
a second skidway down here?
Yeah, but it definitely
needs some love.
Jared
and foreman Ross need
to come up with a way
to splash logs
without spooking the goose.
And they may have
just found one.
- This is a skidway?
- Yep.
Been there for a little while.
It's a little rotten.
They don't have time
for this.
They might not
look like much,
but skid ramps like these
are the linchpins
of any logging operation.
The last in a long
and costly process
that moves wood to market.
And the only means
of getting log bundles
too heavy to lift by machine
into the water.
The problem
with this ramp is,
as you can see,
the skidway is bent.
When it gets to low tide,
it comes high and dry
at the end
and the bundles
are gonna get hung up there.
Gonna have to carve this out,
I guess,
-and put a boomstick in here.
-Yeah.
It's the only thing
we can really do
at this point.
You got the goose
over there
just laughing at us.
I've never been
this frustrated
in my entire life.
This might be the end of me.
To get this
decommissioned ramp
up and running,
Jared and Ross will have
to smooth out the kink
in one of its skids.
To do it, they'll repurpose
a 60-foot boomstick
typically used to fence
in log bundles
and lash it to the skid
like a splint.
You're gonna have
to get a boomstick unhooked
out of there
with the crew boat
and push it to me somewhere
- where I can get close to shore with the loader.
- -Yeah.
We're not gonna make
anything happen sitting here
and talking it to death,
so let's get
some action happening.
All I want to do is be able
to hold my head high
in this community,
create jobs.
I really just don't know
what I would do with myself
if I don't make it.
Yeah, we'll give her a go.
Don't bang the props off
on our precious boat.
- You know how badly we need it.
- -I'll try to, yeah.
While Jarrod
falls deeper into debt
at Float Camp,
back at Grizzly River
Well, we got about
an eight-foot cedar tree here.
handfallers
Jim and Rob are closing in
on some desperately-needed
money trees.
But the dense forest
around Grizzly,
is a tangled canopy
of limb-tied branches,
widowmakers
and other overhead hazards
that make getting them
to the ground
a potentially deadly puzzle.
I'm gonna say,
I don't know, 140 feet tall.
There'll be some
high-grade logs
coming over it.
Dense stands of timber
have their inherent problems.
There'll be rotten tops,
there'll be branches
just hanging there.
Some schoolmarms
hanging off the top of it.
Schoolmarm
is when the top dies,
the leading limbs
turn into the new tops
and they grow up
off the sides of the trees
and then they redistribute
the weight of the tree.
It is leaning kind of
right along the sideline.
I'm hoping to put it out
right through here
is a nice spot for it.
So I'll just bring my undercut
right to about here
and put it right out there.
It's leaning back a bit.
What do you think?
Can we jack it?
I think
we could jack this.
We'd have to probably jack
right in this area somewhere
to get it to go out there.
Okay.
To keep control
of the tree,
Rob will have
to counter the weight
of those heavy schoolmarm's
pulling it down.
First, he'll make an undercut.
Then, he'll make a back cut
and create a space
in the tree for the jack.
With the jack in place,
they'll use it to direct
the tree
into its landing spot.
We should throw
a band on it, though,
just in case.
So, I'll give you that.
There are pocket seams
that go up the tree.
So there's a small likelihood
that this will hit the ground
and it'll split.
So to minimize that,
we're gonna have to band it.
Ooh.
Good.
Beautiful.
Okay, I'll put the undercut in
right there.
That looks good now.
That should work.
I'll just start
the back cut around,
notch in for the jack
and then we can put
the jack in there, I guess.
Yep.
My job is to take it
very seriously.
It's dangerous for me,
but if you don't
take it seriously,
it can be dangerous
for your partner as well.
Working as a team,
you can keep track
of each other.
When I'm cutting,
Jim can watch
for overhead hazards
or even those schoolmarm's
that have split away
from the tree
and they're just
hanging there,
waiting to fall out.
Just checking.
Probably not a bad idea.
Jimmy and I first started
falling together.
He was still fairly green,
but he had drive,
he had ambition.
So, yeah, I trust Jim.
You have to be able
to trust your partner
with your life.
There's some rot in the butt.
but there's still some
holding wind in there.
Hopefully it's sound enough.
'Cause can go sideways
real quick.
And that thing could break off
and go over backwards
and flatten that jack.
Jack's
a two-man operation.
We pretty much have to have
someone cutting
and someone lifting
at the same time.
With the extra guy there,
he can keep pressure on it
as I'm cutting.
And then he can tell me
if he hears any pops, cracks.
Like, get the hell
out of there
or the jack's slipping.
Keep going.
Perfect.
It feels amazing.
It makes you feel alive.
This would have peeled
like a banana
if it wasn't banded.
Cedar fell pretty much
where I wanted it to.
The band helped save it out.
I can hear Dave
is chomping at the bit
to get this wood in the water.
So we've got to do our best
to keep it up.
With the first log
safely on the ground,
foreman Dave is turning
his attention
to the next big challenge.
Getting all that wood
to the water.
Here at Grizzly River,
we've got a bunch
of really cool old machines.
The time
has taken back over them.
The forest
is growing through them.
There is the most
awesome dump truck
that was converted
into a logging truck.
It used to haul equipment
up and down
the main line at Grizzly.
It's been sitting
for 15 years,
but with a little bit
more elbow grease,
I think we could actually
haul logs
with that old logging truck.
It's going to save me
time and money
and Jared will be happy.
It would cost Jared
more than $100,000
to buy a fat truck
and send it up Grizzly River.
But if Dave can get
this one back
in working order,
it'll save both
time and money.
I'm going to pick up
Adrian Bailey,
my little mechanic helper.
He's a really good buddy
of mine.
I haven't seen him
in, like, five years,
so I'm really excited
to see him.
Adrian!
Davey!
Look at the rocking
hairdo, bud.
-Hey, it's good to see you.
-Yeah, you too.
-Too long.
-Yeah.
-Welcome
to Grizzly River, buddy.
-Hell yeah, brother.
Adrian, he's quite the little grease monkey.
He loves challenges.
He's haywire like me.
That's why I took a real shine
to him years ago.
He's looking like Axl Rose
these days
and he is memorized and played
and knows every
Guns N' Roses song.
I think he's hoping
that Axl Rose
will pick him out of a crowd
and want him
to replace him one day.
Got all the essentials
anyhow here.
I sure hope he doesn't go
and become a rock star
and not a mechanic anymore.
I might go be his bodyguard.
I thought you were only
staying a couple of days.
You got six flats.
Well, I don't know.
I'm a heavy duty mechanic.
And I like heavy metal
and rock and roll.
How is rock and roll
and logging similar?
It's this break it,
, thrash it,
burn it, kill it,
eat it.
Money made, money burnt,
money lost.
Throw it, it.
Who cares?
Full throttle,
give-her-all-the-way
kind of an industry.
And I love it.
I love working with Dave
because he's a wild
and crazy logger.
Like,
he's super rock and roll.
Every time
I get to work with him,
I learn how to be rockin'.
It is absolutely never
a dull moment
when I'm working with Dave.
Absolutely never
a dull moment.
We're just gonna stop
and look at our project here.
- Where's your drink?
- Right here.
-Good to see you, young fella.
-Cheers, pal.
I love it.
-Bring back memories.
-Hey, Davey. Oh, yeah.
There's some ancient
out here.
- Oh, yeah, bud.
- This is old, man.
I've never seen anything
like this.
You know how many logs
that thing probably hauled off
the scariest mountains?
Holy , man.
Being a bush mechanic
working with loggers,
their standards
are much different
than gear shop
and engine shop
back in town.
They're pretty cool.
Big heavy old cabs.
I think the low bed's actually
in better shape than the one
we've been using.
, man.
Pose her down
and paint her up, man.
When it comes
to repair and maintenance
of heavy equipment,
you can do the job right
or you can do it now.
And generally
they want it all done now.
And so you cut some corners,
you try to cheat a little bit
to keep production flowing.
How long has it been sitting?
Do you know?
Fifteen years.
-Fifteen?
-Fifteen years.
I see no cap on the fuel tank.
No, we'll just--
We're gonna bypass that.
We'll get
a five-gallon bucket,
we'll make a dripper,
change the filters
and get some batteries
out of something
we're not using.
- We'll just have some fun with it, right?
- -yeah.
The first step
is to hook batteries up
and see if it'll budge at all.
That low bed's been sitting
apparently about 15 years,
but as long as it turns over,
I think I can outsmart
that thing.
- Let's do this.
- Let's do it.
If it doesn't
turn over,
then we gotta start
from scratch
and start looking
into the engine
and see
what the issue is there.
We'll see.
We got a big V
on the front of this truck.
If we get it running,
it's gonna be for "victory."
Want me
to grab a stick?
Yeah, I need
a boomstick badly,
and we're gonna
get this done,
and it'll be all day.
Back at Float Camp,
and with the protected goose
going nowhere soon
Jared and Ross are working
to restore
a second skid ramp.
So they can start
splashing bundles
before the log barge arrives.
Just getting prop up,
myself up onto the skidway
and be able to work
on the edge there.
While Ross
rounds up a half-ton boomstick
to serve as one of the skids,
Jared digs a trench
to help hold it in place.
Just trying
to clear a pathway
so we can get
a good boomstick down
in along this skidway
so that we can start
dumping out low tides.
Gotta make sure
we pick all the rocks
and all the goodies
out of here.
Hard to do it
without an excavator,
so doing it with a log loader
is very, very hard to do.
All because of a goose.
Alrighty.
This should be exciting.
Boss says he's got
a plan there.
Hopefully, extend the skids
a little bit longer
which isn't the best way
to do this,
but it can be done.
Get this stick to the boss man
and shove her into place
and hopefully that solves
a few problems.
If this doesn't work,
this is gonna send him
over the top.
Ultimate snap show.
You watch.
How you making out, Rosscoe?
Oh, we're coming.
Bring her on in.
Ross is getting
a boomstick for me now.
so I'm just getting close
to the water's edge
so I can grab it.
It's always really tricky
getting close to the edge
'cause if the bank
was to unravel
in the water you go
and not a good scene.
So trying to make sure
that we've got
a firmly planted feed on us
'cause the boomsticks
are heavy,
and we've got to be
very careful
to stay out of the water.
There we go.
There we go.
Come on, baby.
It's sketching me out.
There's got to be
better ways to make money
than this.
Ether,
I don't like using it.
We've got
smoke coming out
of the exhaust now.
Come on, you.
I'm tied in with that.
Heads up. Stand back.
Holy.
Just got
to be very careful.
It could possibly
tip into the water.
We don't want that.
Come on, baby.
On the banks
of Float Camp,
Jared's under the gun
to reopen the operation.
I need this skidway fixed
and operational today,
so I can get
a log barge in here
and clear out all the wood.
We've lost a lot of money here
with the goose,
and I will not be happy
until there's logs
going down the skidway
and hitting the water.
No splash, no cash.
We're also seeking
to get a really good boomstick
for me now.
We'll get it in there.
We'll get it lashed in.
Beautiful.
Oh, thank God.
It's even got a tapered end.
None of the logs are going
to hang up on it.
So, perfect.
This worked really good.
We're just going
to get this chain
shackled to this chain.
The log can't go anywhere,
and it'll be kind of
permanently there.
But, uh, obviously,
we haven't tested it yet.
We've got to try to get
wood moving again
so that we can get
this log barge filled.
Over 100 miles away
in Grizzly River
So,
what have we got here?
Jim and Rob
are zeroing in
on their second tree
at the newly opened operation.
That's pretty solid.
A massive cedar
that will go a long way
toward paying down
Jared's debt.
This tree
we're about to tackle
is a seven-foot red cedar.
It looks to be about
120 feet tall.
Right now,
cedar is the highest
value tree out here.
So, this is a nice piece
of wood.
It is leaning back
pretty hard.
So, this one
will have to go, too.
It's limb tied in with it.
And there's a bunch
of broken off limbs
in the big one.
I don't know if you noticed
that on the outside of it.
On the bottom side.
Yep.
So, we'll have
to watch for that.
Got some
overhead hazards. Yep.
Trees that grow together
fall together.
A tree that's leaning back
is not gonna fall over
without that other tree
'cause the limbs
are tied together.
When trees
become this tangled,
falling just one
could pull the other
straight down on Jim and Rob.
So, their safest bet
is to cut both cedars at once.
And try to control
their fall together.
So, I'll start with undercut.
Undercut.
Back cut.
My front tree.
Back cut with wedges.
Plan B. Pusher tree.
To drop these trees
in tandem,
Jim and Rob
will make an undercut
in the smaller one,
then the seven-footer.
After adding back cuts
to both,
they'll use wedges
to ease them
in the same direction
and hope neither
falls too soon.
We're good to go.
Ground debris is good.
Like their
last target,
falling this tree
will be complicated
by the high density canopies
that surround Grizzly Camp.
All right,
make some noise. Yep.
These trees
are what's called
a widowmaker.
There's a broken branch,
and it's just hanging out
between other branches.
Any bit of breeze,
any slight jarring
of this tree
and that could
come out prematurely
and it could strike somebody.
And that's definitely
why we have a second
set of eyes.
Okay. Next one.
What do you think?
Start, get this side
wedged up first,
then when I tap some wedges
you can watch for me.
When we start our back cut,
we're gonna put our wedges in,
and we're gonna pound
and pound
until we get the right lifting
that we're looking for.
Hopefully, we can
wedge it up enough
to push it over.
If we can't, we'll have
to go to a different plant
to put it on the ground
as safely as we can.
- Not lifting at all, is it?
- No.
-Starting to sit back.
-Yep.
I'm just asking for it.
have it break off
and go over backwards.
That's her. Let's push it.
We can't wedge
this thing up enough
and it's physically
not possible
to wedge it over.
We have a backup plan,
our push tree in the back.
There should be enough
to overtake it.
I think so.
There's so much more force up high than there is down low.
Having wedged
all they can,
Jim and Rob
will use a push tree
to finish the job
from a safe distance
and send the limb-tied seeders
down like dominoes.
Go more.
Yeah.
Whoo!
She's not going.!
I thought for sure
that wouldn't take it.
Now what do you want
to do?
Back near camp
- You okay?
- Yep, you bet.
foreman Dave
and bush mechanic Adrian
are trying to save Jared
a hundred grand
by bringing
a 50-year-old logging truck
back from the dead
- Come on
- Dave.
and putting it
back to work.
We have electricity.
We have
to make sure we have
the best connections possible.
It won't need much.
Maybe a little spit shine
when we're done.
Oh, yeah.
We're going
to check the air filter,
check the air intake.
If there's
any open orifices anywhere,
rodents can climb in,
block things up.
You could suck a rat
into the engine,
shoot her up in the blower.
It wouldn't be good.
Looking pretty clear.
There'd be
and pests in there
if there was rodents.
So we're looking
pretty good on that.
These engines are pretty old,
and they're nice and simple,
fortunately.
They need air, they need fuel,
they need oil in 'em.
I think that'll be
enough fuel.
Well, we're gonna try
just a little bump here, okay?
Yep.
I'll just make sure
everything's tight.
-Yeah, yeah.
-We'll have to check
that connection on that one.
I mean,
it turned over pretty slow,
so that means
if these batteries
are as healthy
as Dave says, then that means
we have an issue.
Either the starter's bad
or the engine's seized up,
which I ran into before.
I don't know the history
of this thing.
Maybe when it shut down last,
it had issues already.
I'm going to try to use ether
to get that ignition going,
get the engine speed up,
get the cylinder
temperature up.
Hopefully, that'll fix
the problem.
Three times
more flammable than diesel,
ether is a great way
to jump-start an engine
just to see if she'll run.
Say when.
When.
So close.
Okay, hang on.
But it does come
with some risks.
Ether
is a highly combustible fluid.
It's really not good.
I don't like using it.
I really do avoid it.
But in these circumstances,
especially when we're dealing
with something
where we just wanna
get it running,
standards get lower and lower,
we just gotta make it run.
Ether makes that happen
a lot quicker.
We got smoke coming out
of the exhaust now.
Crank it
for a little bit.
Come on, you!
Come on, you!
In an effort
to save Jared
some much-needed money,
foreman Dave
and bush mechanic Adrian
are working to resurrect
a half-century-old
logging truck
to add to their fleet.
Keep her going.
Lots of ether.
Give her.
More.
Oh, yeah.
It's alive.
It's alive!
Here she goes.
Hell yeah, dude.
Whoo!
All systems are go
on this old girl.
It's really surprising to me
'cause I I see
a lot of this old stuff
and, you know, it's just
a dream to get it going.
We're ready to rock and roll.
She'll be load bearing
in no time.
For a rainy day
and the wipers are on.
Unreal.
Yeah, man!
We're ready
to pull out of here, bud.
Want to try her?
You put her into gear for me?
Up one.
Come on, baby.
Yeah, the brakes on free.
Hold on.
Yee-haw!
Whoo!
Turns on a dime, too.
Unreal.
I am so happy
right now.
Gonna do some donuts.
Gotta have a little bit of fun
after all that work.
Mad Max. '80's style.
Back down
at Float Camp
Jared and Ross are ready
to test a fixer-upper
of their own.
A skid ramp built to bypass
a nesting goose
If we send
that barge light,
Jared's not gonna be happy
with us at all.
and get Jared's
log trucks back
to dumping bundles.
We need
to get things happening.
This goose, it's costing me
a lot of production,
a lot of money,
and I don't think
I'm gonna make my target
on the log barge.
So we need to get things
happening here at Float Camp.
See if it works.
See if we can't get
those first loads
out into the water.
If this doesn't
pan out,
we're in big trouble.
I just signed myself
into a heap of debt,
and right now
I need all systems go
on each camp.
I need them to be producing.
Whoo!
Oh, that's awesome.
- That's it.
- Yeah!
So you see
how that boomstick's
getting out further
into the water.
Should be able
to dump all day.
So far, so good.
We're winning today.
Yeah, that looks really good.
Well, we can get that log barge now.
No excuses.
Get it happening.
No splash, no cash.
There you go.
Back in the hills
of Grizzly River
Okay. Um
Now what do you wanna do?
We've got
a bit of a problem.
handfallers
Jim and Rob
are trying to get Jared's
new logging operation
up and running
by putting high-dollar trees
down on the ground.
But right now, they have
three half-cut cedars
that are refusing to topple.
We're gonna have
to probably start
right out there,
I would think.
We tried to push
this tree over
and nothing's happening.
We don't have
enough weight into it.
We can't go in there
and cut any more.
It's gonna be too dangerous.
It's gonna be right above us.
We're going on
to Plan C.
So what we're gonna do
is we're gonna do
the same thing
with this tree here.
We're gonna push
this tree over
and push it into all that.
Hopefully.
Uh, generally, when you
start thinking backup plans,
you start thinking
more than one set of plans.
You kind of wanna take a look
at what you have
in succession.
Make sure you have
more than one pusher.
And you want to take advantage
of all your opportunities,
not just be nearsighted
and see what's there
in front of you.
So what we're gonna do
is we're gonna cut
a few more trees
and lead it into it,
and we'll use the excess force
to push this all over.
Hopefully, it all goes
according to plan.
Okay.
Next one.
Okay.
Higher, the better.
Cut and wrap.
Drama.
Clearly,
the push-tree approach
isn't working.
Oh, let's cut
that one
to the right off.
But it has tilted
the original limb-tied trees
enough to send them
where the fallers want.
So I think
if we cut that post off,
it should hopefully go.
To finish the job,
Rob will have to drop
the smaller tree first.
But doing so means
working in one of the most
dangerous situations known
to falling.
Directly beneath
two massive trees
that are already hanging
by a thread.
Whoa, whoa!
Get back, get back.
That truck's hauled
up to three and a half times
the amount of wood
that a highway truck can haul.
My grandpa
and my great-grandpa
were both off-highway
logging truck drivers,
and so this is
my great-grandpa.
That was his career load.
Allegedly, that's
the heaviest load that was
ever hauled into Elk River.
I decided to go
and get my Class 1 license.
There were lots of people
who were trying to tell me
logging, it's dying.
Until they learn
how to 3D print houses,
logging's not going
to be going away.
Whoa, whoa!
Get back, get back.
- It took it a while.
- Yeah.
At Grizzly River,
Jim and Rob are halfway
through falling a pair
of stubborn cedars.
But with one of their
push trees
still teetering
on the seven-footer.
Uh, let's cut that
second one.
Rob's last cut
will be
his most dangerous by far.
Heads up.
Stand back.
Keep going.
Better.
Holy
Nice.
He missed four times,
and finally it just--
There was enough to break off
and fall all by itself.
Didn't go as planned,
but whatever.
It's on the ground.
- Saved out nice, too.
- Everything's saved out nice, actually.
They saved
right out to the top.
We happened to get two great
big prime lengths off.
Big bucks.
They should be happy
with this.
In the logging industry,
things don't necessarily
always go as planned.
You always want a Plan B.
You always want a Plan C.
And as we found out today,
things went sideways.
But we kept our heads,
and we knew what it would take
to do it safely.
Yeah, we probably should have
taken more out of the guts
of it, I guess.
Live and learn.
Might have up.
It's never up
when they fall over.
up when you go home
and they're still
standing there.
Good morning.
How are you?
There's
the tug, finally.
Okay, we're going over there
to look at the barge loading.
- Okay.
- We'll see you over there.
Back at Float Camp,
after days of production lost
to a nesting goose,
it's finally time for Jared
to send all the bundles
he can muster
onto the log barge
and off to market.
There she is.
It's a unique feeling
right now.
It's very nerve-wracking.
All our hard work,
down to six hours
of barge loading.
I'm usually pretty excited
when that log barge is coming.
I know my payday is coming.
But we were unable
to dump logs
because of our goose problem.
Some big logs in there?
Probably not enough.
His potential profit
is $200,000.
But he won't know
how much he's made
until the wood is weighed in.
I know
I'm gonna come short
on my barge load,
which means
I'm gonna come short
on my paycheck.
So it's how bad
it actually is,
and we're gonna
assess the situation.
But I'm definitely
on pins and needles for this.
Rainy, dismal day.
Yeah.
Definitely
some nice wood coming
on the barge.
It's just not enough.
The last of her.
Still got empty deck space
over there.
It's not good.
I don't know
what I'm gonna do.
Despite
their best efforts,
in the end, Float Camp
was only able
to fill less than half
of the barge's payload,
which for Jared means
less than half
of his potential payday.
I lost a lot of money
over that goose.
That goose me.
Ready?
Sharpshooter.
Pull.
It's a lot of stress.
I already have everything
on the line financially.
Stress is bad.
Stress kills you faster
than a bus running you over,
I think.
I've seen guys
in this business
having heart attacks,
having a stroke.
But you look at your crew,
they all depend on you.
Everybody's got a mortgage,
everybody's got a family.
A lot of people rely on me.
And I'm out there
in the trenches with them.
So far,
Jared's profits this season
stand at $223,000
towards his $1.7 million debt.
Pull.
Your brains and your balls
are for your business,
and your heart's
for your family
is what it comes down to.
But my heart's
for my employees as well.
So I can't let my crew down.
- So this is where the next spot is?
- Yeah.
We're going to have to get
the road builders
in here right away.
I need to get wood
down this road,
into that log dump,
and down that river,
or I ain't getting
the paycheck.
Fire in the hole.
This is ridiculous.