The Last Woodsmen (2024) s01e06 Episode Script

1
Jared, you're smoking.
[Adrian]
[bleep], bull [bleep].
[bleep].
[bleep].
[narrator] Coming up,
after hemorrhaging money
all season,
Jared has only
one option left.
It's like one thing
after another.
You just can't win.
[narrator]
Cash in at Grizzly River
or fold up shop for good.
[Jared]
I'm already stretched
to the limit.
Everything has to go right,
or I could lose my business.
[narrator] But earning
a paycheck here
is not for your
average logger.
[Jeff] Starting to
pinch you there?
[narrator]
It takes unmatched mettle
to stare down death
[Chris] Run! Run.
[narrator] pure tenacity
to power through production
[Adrian] I think we got her.
[bleep], yeah.
[narrator] and sheer will
to deliver wood
from the furthest reaches
of the wild.
[Dave] Batten the hatches
and put on a smile.
We're going
river booming, boys.
[howls]
[Jared] This season,
I finally bought out
my business partner
and I'm finally the master
of my own destiny.
[narrator] Jared Douglas
may be the master
of his own destiny,
but he's also in a bind.
-[man] We're down.
What do we do?
-Okay.
[Jared] We need to get this
problem solved right now.
[narrator] After taking out
a seven figure loan
and spending a small fortune
on a second logging venture
Welcome to hell, boys,
this is it.
[narrator] he's a full
$1.7 million in the red.
[Jared] I need to get wood
down that [bleep] river,
or I ain't getting a paycheck.
This is ridiculous.
-[Jeff] Oh!
-[wood creaking]
[Jared]
This is the most stress
that I've ever endured.
[narrator] Now, he's looking
to his Grizzly River operation
to make up lost ground.
[Jared] If I don't get paid,
I can't pay my people
and I'm gonna lose
my business.
That's my worst fear.
[narrator] Before Jared
can turn a dime
on any of the timber
harvested here,
foreman Dave Lornie
and boom boat operator
Leon Gad
will first have to sort out
how to get load one safely
down the gauntlets
of Grizzly River,
to a staging ground
called Potato Point.
[Dave] How do we
get back to here?
We gotta come back and then--
-[Leon] We gotta go like this,
go around that shoal
-Yeah, shoal.
-And then-- Yep.
-[Leon] and then in.
-Because there's an-- Yeah.
-We have to miss
that shoal though.
I'm super lucky to have Leon
on the crew here.
Now he's got, like,
two decades of experience
on the marine side of things.
[narrator] To get these logs
to market,
they'll have to secure them
to Leon's boat
and weave a path down
the obstacle-filled waters
of Grizzly River.
Survive that,
and they'll still need to
dodge the shifting sands
of the shoals
before they're in the clear.
[howls]
[radio beeps]
Radio check, Leon?
-[radio beeps]
-Got you, Dave.
[Dave] We have about
two-and-a-half hours
to go down and back up,
or we're gonna have to spend
12 hours down at Potato Point,
freezing overnight.
-[over radio]
Push it alongside.
-Roger.
[narrator]
For their first run,
they're taking almost
$200,000 worth of wood,
all carefully lashed together
to avoid any stragglers.
[Dave] The first part
of this process,
we wanna open up
the bag a little bit
before the high tide
and the flow of the river
will take these bundles
three quarters
of the way down.
Gives us time
to close the bag back up.
Success!
Right now,
Dave's hooking up
to the sticks
and we're gonna try
to close this bag back up.
We're letting the booms
snake down the river
and we'll come back
and catch up to 'em.
I'm just hoping
this goes well.
[Dave grunts]
I'm so stressed out right now.
Every minute
that we're wasting
trying to close this bag
is another minute
that those logs are getting
farther down the river
and could get hung up
or we lose bundles
and it's gonna cost us money
and cost us time.
Hopefully,
we just catch her together
in the next five minutes
and we'll start, uh,
following the wood down.
[Leon] Come on.
[Dave] Nope.
Just tell me
if I'm in your way, bud.
[Leon] [bleep],
I can't breathe.
Yeah, baby!
There he goes, he got it,
atta boy, Leon.
I'm really hoping
we can catch these logs,
'cause we're gonna lose
our tide.
Batten the hatches
and put on a smile.
We're going
river booming, boys.
[Jared]
Nice day for a boat ride.
Beautiful.
Liquid sunshine.
[narrator] Not far away,
Jared's also on a mission
to keep
the wood at Grizzly River
moving toward market,
which at the moment means
replacing a heavy hauler
that brings it down
off the mountain.
We had a Fat Truck
go down,
and we're not splashing
any wood right now.
So, this is a big problem.
I got a tentative deal
on a Fat Truck.
They're hard to find
and they're very expensive.
You're gonna spend
a bunch of money
on antiquated logging gear,
you wanna come
and put your hands on it.
So, I'm gonna
check 'em out myself.
[narrator] Able to haul
more than three times
the weight of an 18-wheeler,
Fat Trucks are the workhorses
of backwoods logging.
And with just
one of them down,
Jared will lose more
than $40,000 worth of wood
a day
until it's replaced.
This business is tough
and I mean, like,
really tough.
More people have failed
than made it.
The costs are so high,
a lot of things can go wrong
in this industry,
and, uh, it can put you
out of business.
You see everywhere,
these old remote locations
where people
are just packing up
and leaving everything.
Like, just done.
No major oil leaks.
This is, uh, for its age,
super good equipment.
No broken springs.
Now the tale of the tape,
will she start?
-[engine rumbles]
-[vehicle beeps]
[Jared] Sounds really good.
Compressor is working
really good.
-[horn honks]
-Horn works.
All in all,
this is a beautiful truck.
1979. Still working.
Let's get back to work
and haul some logs.
I'm really excited
about this truck.
[Chris]
Oh, you wanna go above
or along the edge here?
[Jeff] Uh, well, best place
you can find one.
[narrator]
High above Grizzly camp,
it's all hands on deck
to keep money trees
moving off the mountain
and down to the river
[Jeff] So,
let's follow this boundary
and see what we got.
[narrator]
which for hand fallers,
Chris Hirsch and Jeff Logan
means climbing
to the top of their world
in search of the most valuable
timber they can reach.
[Jeff] Welcome to the jungle.
[bleep] hiking.
It's actually not bad going
compared to, you know,
I think the worst part's
getting in here.
-[Chris] Would you look
at that one?
-[Jeff] Oh, yeah.
[Chris] This is real dandy.
[Jeff] From this side,
it looks like it's leaning
way down the hill
the other way.
[Chris] Yeah, exactly.
An optical illusion, man.
The way it twists,
and there's, like,
a bigger side
and a few different marms
that hang off
of the top there.
[Jeff] Yeah, oh,
yeah, for sure.
[Chris] Kinda looks like
What way does the weight lean,
because of the twist in it,
it's gonna probably do
what it wants to do.
[Jeff] Yeah.
[Chris]
I just don't wanna get stuck
in it.
[Jeff] Knock on wood?
The main challenge of this one
is getting this undercut in
without getting my saw
stuck in the tree
just because it's got
such a heavy lean
and it'll have
so much downward pressure
off that front side.
Hopefully, to keep this one
somewhat side hill.
If I can keep it above
this stump down here,
it would be the best.
But we can only do so much
with some of these big guys,
so we'll see if I can keep it
most side hill I can.
And then, that push tree
over there if I need it.
Always good to have
a good backup plan, right?
It certainly is. Even two.
[narrator]
On terrain this steep,
a twisted tree like this one
could easily spiral off
its stump,
and careen
straight down the hill.
Chris's only option
is to aim the undercut
across the side hill,
and keep it shallow
to preserve the holding wood.
Then, he'll move
to the back cut
and hope he still has
enough wood left
to keep the tree
under control.
[Chris] Pitter-patter,
let's get at her.
[chainsaw buzzes]
I get put out
in the steeper settings,
and it definitely
challenges my skills.
You're not just out there
doing an undercut
and a back cut.
You're thinking about
every possible scenario
so that you can keep
this tree saved out.
All of a sudden,
it can come down
straight on top of you and,
and that's just
the worst scenario
you could ever
possibly imagine.
[tree creaks]
I'm stuck.
[Jeff] Oh, yeah, you're--
That's in there pretty good.
[popping]
-[Chris] It's [bleep] popping.
-[Jeff] Be careful.
[Chris] The way
it's pinched in there,
that spiral's just got
so much pressure in it.
[Jeff] [bleep].
That's, that's tight.
[Chris] Yeah, let me just
try something here.
[popping]
[Jeff] It's popping.
[Chris]
Pop right in it's face.
The chop is not working.
I don't wanna be wiggling
my saw around too hard
here right now,
'cause it's trying
to just pull straight off
and the whole thing
is just trying to go
straight down the hill.
Holy-- Okay, no.
Stop that, please.
[Jeff] Oh, shut up.
[Chris] [bleep] you.
[laughs] Success.
Nice. We're back in action.
Now, let's see if I can
get stuck in it again.
[chainsaw buzzes]
All right.
We got the back cut.
If that thing
wanted to let go,
it, it's coming
straight at me.
[popping]
[Jeff]
It's doing weird stuff.
There's things popping.
[Chris] Just, trying to just,
I don't know.
[Jeff] Do you
want me to hit 'em?
[Chris] It's popping here,
but tight as hell back there.
[Jeff]
I'm just worried about it
going up the hill.
[Chris]
It's doing weird [bleep].
It's being, it's being weird.
I'm gonna have to try to push
this thing across the hill.
[narrator] An erratic tree
is a deadly tree.
So, Chris will use
another cedar nearby
to push this twisted giant
down from a safe distance
and hope it doesn't blow apart
on impact.
[Chris] Fallen trees
on steep ground
is definitely
a lot more challenging.
You gotta try and figure out
where you're gonna land
these trees to save 'em out.
And if they go the wrong way,
you can lose
a whole day's production.
[popping]
[Chris] Run!
[bleep].
Well, that lifted it.
I don't know
if I wanna get back in
under that.
[Chris] [bleep].
I don't know
if I wanna get back in
under that.
Oy, I got those
clear trees right there,
and a good trail.
[Jeff] Could be good
running up.
[narrator] On the steep slopes
of Grizzly River,
Chris and Jeff have two trees
hanging in the balance
and no options left.
All Chris can do now
is put himself in harm's way
to finish the cut.
[Chris] I gotta get back
under there,
but I got a good,
fresh escape route.
[Jeff] I'll let you know
if I see this thing
coming out.
[chainsaw buzzes]
[Chris] What the [bleep]? Run!
[Jeff] Watch out there.
[Chris] No, no, no, no, no!
[bleep].
Well, that's not really
where we wanted it to go.
[Jeff] No.
Right on this stump.
[Chris] That steep ground
up there
isn't really friendly
to the timber.
That was a weird one.
Because of that twist,
when we looked at it
originally,
it looked like it was gonna
save out a lot better.
But there must have been
some dry rot
or something
halfway up the tree
where everything kinda
sheared apart on us.
[narrator]
After hours of cutting,
Chris and Jeff are left
with a mere $10,000 in scraps.
Bad news
for Jared's bottom line.
But in the most dangerous job
on the planet,
walking away in one piece
is always a win.
[Jeff] Keeps you
on your toes here.
[Chris] All right.
Well, what's next?
[Jared] The road is, uh,
pretty [bleep].
[narrator]
On the logging roads
of Grizzly River,
Jared and bush mechanic
Adrian Bailey
have an emergency
on their hands.
After Jared dropped
a hundred grand
on a replacement Fat Truck
for the grizzly fleet,
they just got word that
it too is having issues.
[bleep] stressful times.
You know,
I thought these trucks
would be job ready,
but they've been sitting
for so long,
-and you know
what all that's about.
-[Adrian] Yeah.
We'll get her going
lickety-split.
We use these trucks
because we're hauling
gigantic wood,
Jurassic Park wood
over super rough terrain,
bad roads, steep mountains.
It takes a heck of a truck
to do that job.
-Should be here
right around this corner.
-[Adrian] Yeah.
-[Jared] There she be.
-[Adrian] Oh, yeah.
[Jared] That's where we're at.
Flat.
Both of 'em.
[Adrian] Okay, well.
We're gonna have to get air
back in one of these.
We're gonna make it work.
[Jared] One of my guys
is driving over the hill.
Um, he got two flat tires
and he kinda just
left it here and, uh,
we unfortunately,
only have one spare tire
with us.
So, we gotta get one
to take air.
That's my specialty.
[Jared] All righty, buddy.
Get at her.
[narrator] When working,
a Fat Truck can move
$40,000 worth of wood
down to the water every day.
And now that Dave is finally
taking logs to market,
Jared can't afford
to lose a single load.
[Adrian] Jared, he's excited
to go and get a load
with this new truck of his,
so we gotta get this thing
back up and going here ASAP.
[Jared] It's working.
You're coming up.
[Adrian]
The truck's very heavy.
So, we gotta jack the axle up,
lift the weight off the tire,
so we can jam some air in
and see if it'll take
and get back to work.
What do you think
these tires weigh, Adrian?
[Adrian] It's heavy enough
to squish me.
[Jared laughs]
It's really rare for me
to find a young guy
like Adrian
that's this invested.
I think
he wants to be Axl Rose
in a hairband.
[Adrian] Hmm. A little ratty.
Might have to do.
[Jared] And I think that's,
uh, second to pulling wrenches
is, uh, his hairdo.
So, it's, uh, pretty funny
in a logging camp.
[speaking softly]
We're gonna go with it.
Absolutely. Perfect.
[bleep] it.
[Jared]
Fire up the compressor.
We'll get some air
in this puppy.
[Adrian in normal voice]
The first thing to stay safe
when you're changing
one of these tires
is stay the [bleep]
out of the way.
These tires can be sketchy.
They're split rim.
If the rim comes apart,
like, the ring, the lock ring
can break or come apart.
When you air 'em up,
they can shoot out at you.
It's got the same energy
as a grenade basically
when they're full pressure.
So, these tires
have killed a lot of people
over the years.
Come on.
[bleep].
[exhales sharply]
The tire's
not taking air right now.
[bleep], man.
We have one spare tire
and we have two flat,
so it's a big problem.
We're not off to a good start
as per normal in my life.
[narrator]
Back on Grizzly River
Travelled to
a pretty good place.
[Dave speaking over radio]
[narrator] Dave and Leon
are closing in on the logs
they released at camp
with 15 miles to go
before they make Potato Point.
[Dave over radio]
Okay, get in there,
keep going to the other side.
I'm so stressed out right now.
[chuckles nervously]
We finally caught up
to this big raft of wood
going down the river,
and we're gonna have to
hook it up to the boom boat
to try and pull
and help direct it quicker
down to Potato Point,
'cause we're losing time.
So, it's really important that
we get onto this right now.
[Leon] We got
a small window today
and, uh, hopefully,
we'll get it done.
It just took a little longer
than expected,
but our first time doing it.
Tie it right here.
[Dave] This really
has to go good,
or we have a major recovery
operation on our hands.
I have to call a tugboat
to come up and assist at,
you know, 600 bucks an hour.
It'll be very, very expensive.
[Leon] All right.
Just gonna start
putting power on,
let me know how it looks.
[Dave over radio]
Go for it, buddy.
[in normal voice]
The, uh, bundles are secured
to Leon's boom boat,
and now,
the really dangerous journey
down to Potato Point begins.
[narrator]
This maiden voyage is crucial
to proving they can get timber
out of Jared's logging camp
and off to market.
But to do it,
they'll first have to make it
through a treacherous
section of river
filled with dead heads,
sandbars and stumps.
[Dave] Pretty dangerous place
if you get hung up
or you get stuck on something.
I've only ever been
up this river one time
in a crew boat
when I got dropped off.
So, we're gonna
go with the maps
that people have supplied us
and hopefully,
not end up on a sandbar.
I got lots of room
on the left hand side, eh?
[Dave over radio] Yeah,
about 30 feet to the beach.
[Leon] Okay.
We are on the low
of the high tides.
You get down to, like,
the 12-and-a-half footers,
we'd like to be playing
between 15 and 18,
so we gotta be really careful.
We're getting waves coming up
from the ocean.
It must be choppy
and stormy out front.
Lots of washed down
wood and stumps.
You can lose your equipment,
you can lose your life
if you, you mess with it.
We could have
a mayday in this river,
nobody's coming to save us.
[Leon speaking over radio]
[Dave] [bleep].
Jared, you're smoking.
[Adrian]
[bleep], bull [bleep].
[Jared] Man,
what's going on here?
[Adrian] [bleep].
[Dave]
This is where it's gonna get
pretty interesting.
We're towing
that big raft of wood down,
and we hit a shoal,
that wood is gonna run us over
and kill us.
Thought I felt a log
under there.
[tense music playing]
[Dave speaking]
- [bleep]
- [narrator]
On their first trip
down Grizzly River,
Dave and Leon have
nearly $200,000 worth
of timber in tow,
and water hazards
in every direction.
[Leon speaking]
-[radio beeps]
-It's going to roll
right by it, buddy.
[narrator] And with the tide
falling fast,
every minute exposes
more hidden dangers
and debris.
[Leon speaking]
[Dave] This is where
it's going to get [chuckling]
pretty interesting.
We've got a shoal
coming out off the point.
We've got to go
into what looks
like mud flats,
but that's the only
deep channel for us
to come around.
[narrator] Now that they've
cleared the obstacles,
the final challenge is
the shoals.
[Dave] A shoal is material
that's been shifted
by the river and the currents
and created an obstacle
in our way
in the river course.
And we don't really know
where that shoal comes out.
If we're towing that big raft
of wood down
and we hit a shoal
with that tugboat
or the winder,
that wood is going
to run us over and kill us.
Hopefully we sneak down this.
[tense music playing]
[Leon] Just trying to keep
them off the right hand side
that's pretty shallow.
Now let's see
[Dave] These maps,
they change.
River changes,
and the sediment deposits
in different spots.
So anything could
happen right now.
[tense music playing]
[grunts]
[bleep]
[blows raspberry]
[narrator] Further upriver,
Jared's all-out attempt
to cash in on Grizzly Camp
has come under fire,
with a Fat Truck down
with two flat tires.
The tire's not
taking air right now
'cause the bead was
not sealed.
-Do you have a come-along?
-Yes.
Can you go around?
I'm going to try that.
We have one spare tire
and we have two flats,
so it's a big problem.
We're trying to get
one of these fixed
by putting this strap
in the middle of the tire,
cinching it tight
with a come-along.
We're gonna push the bead
towards the rim,
sealing it,
and then it'll take air.
Hopefully.
[ratcheting]
[Jared] It's kind
of a bush trick.
It works probably one out
of the ten times you do it.
Certainly a lot less
labor intensive
than changing this tire.
Log loader up that hill,
begging to put logs
on this truck.
So we definitely-- we need
this thing up and running
as soon as possible. ASAP.
Keep going.
[Adrian] I think
she's going to take.
I think we got her.
Sounds like we got it.
Nice!
[triumphant music playing]
[bleep] yeah.
I kind of gave it one in four
we'd actually get it,
but it did take.
I'm happy.
One down, one to go.
Okay.
-My little
mechanic leprechaun.
-[chuckles]
I get lucky sometimes.
[Jared chuckling]
"I get lucky sometimes."
Naturally, we got
to roll the bones
and try the other one.
This one looks like it's going
to be a little bit tougher.
Well, with a little grease
and [bleep]
and come-along action,
we'll probably get her.
[Jared] I like
your positive thinking.
[tense music playing]
[leaves rustling]
[Chris] That one looks
like a good one.
This one looks nice.
High-grade cedar.
This is exactly
what they're looking for.
Real nice, real nice.
Whoa.
Can't look up, you fall over.
[narrator] High above camp,
Chris and Jeff are
doing all they can
to finally put
Jared's Grizzly operation
in the black,
which brings them
to the steepest country
on the claim
in search
of the biggest money trees
they can find.
[Jeff] It's leaning
down the hill,
and it's right on the edge
of the bluff,
which is really steep.
I think it's going
to go on the road.
[Chris] Pretty high potential
of that, for sure.
We're at least 200 feet up
from that road right now.
It's all about trying
to keep these roads open.
Hole all the way
through there somewhere,
because I can see
light coming through in here.
Perfect for a chair.
That's not going to be fun.
I'm worried
about a barber chair
'cause the tree can
split in half,
and the front half will
stay in the stump,
and the back half could
kick off.
They can go back a long ways,
30, 40, 50 feet.
[narrator] With more
than enough lateral force
to send a grown man flying,
barber chair is
a worst case scenario
for any faller.
But up here,
there's the added danger
of being knocked
off the mountain
and onto the rocks, stumps,
and other
deadly hazards below.
[Chris] Maybe I can
bail out that way.
[Jeff] You could, as long
as there's an uproot,
pull the tree over on you.
Because there's not much
of an escape route
going up there.
Oh, I can get
up there pretty good.
You're like a billy goat.
When I'm scared,
I can go anywhere.
[Chris] The worst thing
as a faller to ever experience
is a barber chair.
It'll kill you.
[Jeff] Next thing will be
trying to get the undercut out
without getting pinched.
[Chris] We got a pretty hard
downhill lean here.
I think you can get
this undercut past this rot
and hopefully get into some
of this greenwood.
I'm trying to keep it up
'cause the road's
just right there.
It's so steep
that if you slip,
that you could potentially
slide under the tree
as it's going over.
You got this.
I don't know.
This one's going to be
a 50-50 chance
that it's going to work.
[saw whirring]
[narrator] To keep this tree
from crashing down the slope,
Jeff will aim it
just uphill of a stump
that should hold it in place.
After making his face cut,
he'll carefully carve
the back cut,
leaving just enough
holding wood
to help swing it to the side.
But if this giant decides
to barber chair,
it's every man for himself.
[saw whirring]
[Jeff] I've fallen
for 21 years.
[Chris] My dad was a faller,
so he tried to get me
to stay away from it
like any faller would do
to their son trying
to get [chuckling] into it.
[Jeff] I was pinched once,
bucking a log and it pinned
my leg to the bank.
Like cats, we have nine lives,
and I've used up three.
[Chris] Every faller's had
close calls.
A lot could go wrong
at any minute, any second.
A limb out of the tree could
paralyze you, could kill you.
I mean, that's just a limb,
never mind
the rest of the tree.
You need to think
about the worst
and have a plan for it.
But you can't wear this fear
on your sleeve, I guess.
You have to keep it in
and respect it.
There's got to be
something wrong with you
to do it, I guess.
What do
you figure there, Jeff?
[Jeff] I'm almost
to that other side now.
I can go a bit more,
but I'm only going to get
halfway in the undercut.
[Chris] That wouldn't
go any further.
[Jeff] I'm just past
a little bit of the green
and it's into the gray now.
[Chris] I think
that's perfect there.
-It's got a big rock--
-Yeah, like--
-[loud pop]
-[Chris] Oh, [bleep]
-[Jeff speaking indistinctly]
-What was that?
[Chris] When you hear
a big pop like that,
you know
that it's working its way
to wanting to release
off the stump.
If it starts
to barber-chair on us,
you're just going to have
to scramble out of there
like a flustered up chicken.
[popping]
[Chris] It's got a big rock--
-[loud pop]
-[Chris] Oh, [bleep].
-[Jeff speaking indistinctly]
-What was that?
If it starts
to barber-chair on us,
you're just going to have
to scramble out of there
like a flustered up chicken.
[creaking and popping]
[saw whirring]
[saw revving]
[Jeff speaking]
-[bleep]
-[popping]
[Chris] Well,
it pinched you there.
Yeah.
When I really pulled
on it there,
I almost fell off.
-[loud popping]
-[Jeff] It's going to go.
Get out of there.
[Chris] [bleep]
nice work, man!
-[Jeff] So that's [bleep].
-Beauty!
Hey, it's not on the road.
-[Jeff] No,
it worked out good.
-Not even close!
[narrator]
After all the setbacks
that come with steep terrain,
Jeff and Chris have
finally landed a tree
worth more than 40 grand.
Nice work.
I don't need a hand.
[Jeff chuckles]
You never know.
[Chris] Legs on me
like a kangaroo.
[bleep] It worked out
real good.
[tense music playing]
[engine whirring]
-[radio beeps]
-[Dave] It just
looks so dicey,
'cause it's like
the mud-flat's
here on my left,
and that's where
I'm supposed to go.
That shoal must
come off the point,
'cause all the silt
and sand would just
pool up off of that point.
[Leon over radio]
Yeah, I think so.
[narrator] Back on the water,
with big wood hitting
the ground up above,
the entire future of Jared's
Grizzly River operation
depends on Dave
safely guiding it to market.
[loud thud]
[Dave] I just don't trust--
There's a bunch
of [bleep] here.
I don't trust going that way.
[narrator] If they can get
their first load of timber
down to the river's mouth,
they'll have charted a course
for hundreds
of bundles to come.
But only if they can clear
their most
challenging section yet.
[Leon] It's right
at the bottom
of the shoal here.
So we're going
to stay over to the left
when we're coming out.
If we get stuck on that,
all this wood's going to come
and push us up farther.
If we don't have
a high enough tide,
we're going to be spending
the night on there.
And that's not going
to be good.
[tense music playing]
[Dave] Every time
a logger leaves his house
to go to shift,
you tell your kids
that you love them
'cause a lot of guys lose
their lives in this industry.
You never know
whether it's in the plane
or a tugboat on the river.
There's a lot of souls lost
getting these logs to market.
[birds calling]
[Jared] Maybe
we'll get lucky twice.
Come on.
[narrator] Further upriver,
high-dollar wood is piling up
by the roadside.
But there's still no way
to get it down to the water.
[Jared] No. [bleep]
[Adrian] Okay.
[Jared] We tried
the same method,
and we just can't seem
to get it to take air.
[narrator] With one tire
now back in action,
Jared's looking
for a quick fix
on tire number two.
[Jared] We're going
to do something crazy
that we probably shouldn't do.
When in doubt,
pull the can of ether out.
For the record,
it's completely haywire,
but if you get the win,
man, I'll be stoked.
-You're lighting it, though.
-Okay.
[Jared] Ether is
extremely flammable
starting fluid
for engines.
We're going to spray
a little bit in the tire.
We're going to hope
it expands when it's ignited
and seal the two sides
of the tire
so we can put air to it.
[Adrian] That smells like
your first date or what?
[Jared laughing]
My first date.
[Adrian] Time is always
the biggest issue out here.
Jared's patience is gone,
so we're going to try ether.
[softly] This is crazy, Jared.
This is crazy.
It might work. If it does,
I'll tip my hat to Jared,
even though
I'm not wearing one.
If it doesn't work, it looks
like we're changing a tire,
which means
we're not getting a load
with this new truck today.
You ready?
I'm going to light you.
[Adrian] Okay.
[hissing]
Here.
[Jared] Nope. [bleep]
[Adrian] [bleep] sakes.
[Jared] That don't work.
[Adrian] That's [bleep].
[Jared] It's really
frustrating me right now.
I don't have time for this.
We really need this thing
up and running
as soon as possible.
Well, the ether didn't work,
so we're changing a tire.
[Adrian] [bleep], man.
[Jared] This is the last thing
I need to be doing today,
but we wasted a bit of time
trying to do the shortcut.
Anybody in trades know
shortcuts only work sometimes.
[bleep] sakes, man.
Violence it is.
[bleep] loggers, they think
that they can just
buy an old truck
and just send it
straight to work.
You never know
what these old trucks
have been through.
-[Jared grunts]
-[clanks]
[Adrian] They get run hard
and put away wet
every single time.
They have
all these little issues
that come up.
I'm not very shocked.
[both grunting
and breathing heavily]
[Jared] There we go.
[tool whirring]
[Adrian] It'll make the load.
It'll make the day.
-[tool whirring]
-[Adrian] All right.
[Jared] Ready to go
haul some log?
There's just enough time
in the day, I think,
to get that truck loaded.
[honking]
Jared, you're smoking.
[Adrian] You're smoking.
You've got to stop, man.
I think you've got
to break now.
[Adrian] Yeah.
[tense music playing]
[Jared] [bleep] sake.
[bleep] never ends.
[bleep] bull [bleep]. [bleep].
[bleep].
[Chris] Getting home
from work,
you check in with the wife,
let her know you're still
on the top side of dirt.
Good to talk to the kid.
Hey, kiddo.
What are you up to?
[kid speaks indistinctly]
[Chris] Sometimes you wonder
if they even remember you
when you're going to get home,
[chuckles] especially
the young kids.
Jojo, what are
you going to do today?
I'm surprised you're not
outside playing in the mud
like you normally are.
You don't want to spend
too much time away from them.
Got to enjoy life
with them as well
and watch them grow up.
Bye, kiddo.
Love you.
[woman] All right, we'll talk
to you later. Love you.
Okay, bye.
[tense music playing]
[Jared] [bleep]
[bleep]. [bleep].
[bleep].
[bleep] really?
-[Adrian] [bleep] sake, man.
-Dude, it's super hot.
That's probably
why the tire went flat.
[Adrian] Yeah, it could be.
[bleep]
One step forward,
two steps back.
[bleep]. [sighs].
[narrator] At Grizzly River,
Jared's been fighting
tooth and nail
to send money trees
off to market
and turn some
much needed profit
on the place.
But this Fat Truck is
refusing to fall in line.
[Jared] The brake hung up
and heated up the brake drum,
so just about melted
the tires off the truck.
It's like one thing
after another today.
Just can't win.
I'll try and beat
the brake off
and see if it'll release.
It's frustrating, man.
[Adrian] We'll get you going.
[Jared] What's the last call
for the loader?
Last call for the bar.
-[Adrian chuckles]
-[Jared grumbles]
This is called a maxi pot.
It's for your brakes.
Inside here is a giant spring.
It holds the brakes on.
It looks like
we're just a little sticky.
It needs some grease.
Hammer this thing off.
Away we go.
[Jared]
If equipment breaks down,
those machines aren't
making money.
The debt and the stress can
make me an [bleep] at times.
[Adrian] These greasing up
holes are pretty dry,
so it probably hasn't been
greased in a while.
Lack of lubrication is
one of the main causes
for failure.
It's off.
Hey, I felt it release.
-Eh?
-I felt it release.
I'm just going to creep
ahead a bit,
see if it's hanging up.
Yes.
[Adrian] They seem
to be all freed up now.
I guess that's what you get
when you buy things sitting
by the ocean for two years.
-Yeah.
-Everything seizes up.
You better get going
if you want to catch a load.
Yeah, follow me
to the spur road,
and I'll call the loader
and tell him to stay late.
I've got to get that load.
[Adrian] [bleep]
Get some wood.
[Jared] Today was a tough day,
but I think we're okay.
And off to the loader I go.
[horn honking]
[Jared] Sometimes you win,
sometimes you lose,
and sometimes you break even.
[bird calling]
[Leon speaking over radio]
[Dave speaking]
[Leon] Okay.
[narrator] Back on the water,
Dave and Leon have
nearly towed
their first load of timber
down the untamed channels
of Grizzly River.
But before they reach
Potato Point,
they'll first have to get
through the shoals.
[Leon] We're right off
the shoal right now.
[tense music playing]
[loud thudding]
[Dave] Oh.
[Leon] I thought
we were stopping there.
It almost felt like
we rubbed the sandbar.
We'll know real quick,
we'll have to back up fast.
Thought I felt a little rub,
but it might have just
been a log under there,
jump up.
[Leon] Okay.
[Dave] Coming around
the shoal,
and we're going to turn
into Potato Point.
Woo-hoo!
It feels so good to have
made it to Potato Point.
Now that we've got
the logs down,
we've got to make a bag
around them to secure that bag
so they don't float away
in a big storm,
and they're secure.
We're gonna switch.
I'm going to run ahead.
[Dave] Leon's got
a little more experience
with the boom sticks
and boom gear,
and I just felt
I could be better off
running the tug
while he did the leg work.
So we're going to get
the sticks broken apart
and ready to go so we can--
when we arrive, all unhooked,
push the wood in
and we're going to bag it off
and leave it
and run up the camp.
Towing the bundles down
went absolutely amazing.
Leon and I figured out
our system
and we pushed it a bit,
but we made it.
[Dave] The bullpen's
filling up as we speak.
[Dave] Jared's going
to be really excited
that the wood made it
down safely.
Because [chuckling]
Jared is so anxious
to start seeing a profit
come out of here.
We're just bleeding money
when we do camp start up
and all the hiccups
with waiting and logistics
and everything else.
Leon will continue to bring
bundles of logs down every day
until we have enough
to build the booms
for the big tug
to tow to market.
It's going to be
a real headache
to make sure it goes
smooth every day,
but we're the best.
That's what we're going to do.
[Leon] Tank's closed,
logs are secure.
[Dave] Right on, buddy!
Get out of here.
-Yahoo!
-[laughing] [bleep] right.
[triumphant music playing]
[tense music playing]
[narrator] Having
finally forged a path
from Grizzly Camp
to Potato Point,
it's time to move some timber.
For the next
seven straight days,
Dave oversees the transport
of more than 300 log bundles
to market,
earning Jared
enough to pay off
his initial investment
in the operation
and another $280,000
to put toward his debt.
[Jared] Opening up a new camp
in Grizzly River
was a huge gamble.
I'm very happy
that things worked out.
No risk, no reward.
Right now, it was big risk
and big reward.
So we're cruising, man.
This is a good feeling.
But this business is
relentless. You have to
just keep moving.
Stop. Take a moment.
And when I say a moment,
a small moment.
Get back on the horse
and keep grinding.
[Jared]
When the fire season starts,
we're going to have
to shut down.
[man] This is the way
that we mitigate problem trees
with blast assists.
-[Jared] Are we ready?
-[man 2] Hell yeah.
[bleep] That was intense.
[man 3 over radio] We either
log it or we let it burn.
[man 4] Oh. -[bleep]