The Last Woodsmen (2024) s01e07 Episode Script

1
We're going to do
something crazy.
Ether is extremely flammable.
We're going to spray
a little bit in the tire,
hope it expands.
You ready?
I'm going to light you.
Last week,
Jared's all-out push
to turn a profit
at Grizzly River
got off to a rocky start.
That don't
work.
But high above camp,
hand fallers landed
some hard-to-reach
money trees.
- Get out of there.
And after wrangling
their first logs downriver
Team Grizz
scored a $280,000 payday.
It was a huge gamble,
and I'm very happy
that things worked out.
We're cruising, man.
This is a good feeling.
Now, as midsummer
gives way to fire season,
Jared is racing the clock
A forest fire
could erupt.
We're going to have
to shut down.
counting
on his crew
to fill as many log barges
as possible
Holy .
I've had
extremely close brushes
with death.
I almost took
my head off once.
and pick up
the pace at Grizzly River
We have
to build the roads
to really increase production.
before wildfires
shut them down for good.
One, two, three.
For right now,
the tides have turned
into bleeding money
to making some money.
But nothing else can go wrong.
After cashing in
at Grizzly River
and paying off
his $600,000 investment there,
Jared is roughly
half a million
toward his now
$1.1 million debt.
And with the end of his season
just around the corner,
there's no time to waste.
It's getting hot.
Fire season's coming soon.
When fire season starts, we're
going to have to shut down.
Every year,
the hot summer months
turn these forests
into a tinderbox,
causing widespread
government shutdowns
for loggers
and reducing millions
of dollars' worth of timber
to ash.
I got a log barge
coming at the end of the week,
and I'm hoping that's going
to net me $200,000.
I don't want to have to bring
bad news home to the wife.
Bracing for the worst
and hoping for the best.
Financially, I've never been
in this kind of debt.
It's scary now.
My dad's had two heart attacks
and a stroke now,
and he worked
for the government
and had
a very stress-free lifestyle.
So, you know, how long
am I going to last at this?
Failure's not an option.
To help
speed up production
before fire season hits,
Jared's rushed
in an old yarder
straight from the repair shop,
and woodsman Cody Bezaire
and Brad Laviolette
to start moving logs.
Their mission,
get every last stick
of timber off this hill
and send down the mountain
before
the next log barge arrives.
Hey Brad,
what do you think
about putting out
the guylines here,
and then we'll boom down
and put the lines for the boom
and shorten up
on the haul back there?
Yeah, that's not a bad idea.
We got to wait for the grapple
to show up, so.
-Yeah.
-Yeah, I like it.
So we're
going to rig up
in those two trees
right there
Yeah.
park the yarder down here
somewhere out of the way.
You guys will have this done
in two days.
Yeah, it looks like good wood.
Yeah, it's nice wood.
-Can't smash it.
-Yeah.
Need it nice and valuable.
I'll teach it all to fly.
Our job here
as a grappler-yarder crew,
we're brought in to extract
all the timber
off the side hill
that the fallers have
laid out.
And we bring it all down
to the built road surface
where the loading crew can
come in behind us
and put them on a truck
and ship them off to market.
-Man, I wish
my wife was
that kinky.
Wildfires are
very serious in this area.
Cables make sparks
when they are yarding logs,
so we cannot have
any kind of cables
starting forest fires
in our downed timber.
You got to think that's money
that we've paid the fallers
to put the wood on the ground,
and all the moving
of machines,
we cannot have it burn up.
-Okay. See you soon.
-Yeah.
-Happy trails, man.
-You betcha.
See you in the future.
To make
their deadline,
Brad and Cody will
work as a team,
pulling no less than 200 logs
off the hill per day
and pushing
this 60-ton grapple-yarder
to its absolute limit.
The grapple yarder is
a oversized swinging crane.
Through the use of wire rope
and pulleys and a big grapple,
we can actually
send our grapple
out into the forest,
pick up logs,
and airmail them
back to the landing.
I'll just finish filing up,
and then I'll just disappear
into the forest here
-and come up
with some targets.
-Yeah.
Let me know,
and I'll start pulling
-the bite for you there.
-Okay.
Time to start sweating.
As hook-tender,
Brad will ensure
the yarder is firmly anchored
to surrounding trees
and stumps
so it doesn't topple
off the road,
which starts with hauling
100 pounds worth of gear
up the hill.
Being a hook-tender,
it's very physically demanding
because you're fighting
very rugged terrain
where most people can't
even crawl.
We are industrial athletes.
Like
there's no Olympic gold medals
for logging,
but if there was,
I'd be interested in trying
to get that gold medal.
When I was a teenager,
I was kind of a head.
I got in a lot of trouble
with the law.
I was hanging out
with the wrong crowd.
For a while, I wanted
to be an architect,
then I wanted
to be a porn star.
But I just got into logging,
and then logging saved me
in a way.
I started hanging out
with the right people
who took care
of their families,
and eventually
my life turned around.
So logging's been good to me,
and I try and pay it back.
Blood, sweat, and beers.
So this one's got
a lot of things going for it.
Nice, healthy canopy.
Not too many dead limbs
over my head as I climb.
Name of the game is
just climb this tree,
put all this gear up there,
put the lines through it
back down
to the grapple-yarder.
Away we go, I'll just
get all suited up here.
Once the lines
and pulleys are in place,
Brad will tie off
to a nearby stump,
creating an anchor system
able to withstand
more than 90,000 pounds
of pulling force,
-if it holds.
Now, I just got to get
to the other side of the tree.
There's a whole slew
of things that can go wrong.
I've had extremely
close brushes with death.
I don't want to get
into too much detail
about any of them
because my family's watching.
But from cables breaking
and flying at you.
I almost took
my head off once.
It was not a good scene.
Logs slipping out
of the grapple, coming at you.
I learned a lot from it.
And, you know,
fear will keep you alive.
Okay.
That's all good to go.
Winner, winner,
chicken dinner.
With the old yarder
anchored and ready,
Brad and Cody can finally
start moving some product
down the hill
and on to the next log barge.
Nothing's
really working.
Two months ago,
yarder caught on fire
and melted a bunch
of electrical
and a bunch of clutches
got melted.
We did a test run in the shop
and seemed to be working okay.
And then we brought it out
and something's came loose
or, you know,
shorted out again.
Hit the work-real-good button.
One of the clutches is
engaged and it's not
supposed to be.
This is something
we can't fix out here.
You on the repeater there,
Jared Douglas?
Hey, do you know
if Nick's in today?
Something's stuck on.
I can't get the bull gears
to turn around--
to turn here.
Okay. Sounds good.
Ah, they're trying
to track down the mechanic
to come out and take a look.
But every hour
this machine sits idle
will cost Jared more than
$1,000 worth of wood,
money he desperately needs
to pay his $1.1 million debt.
I guess we're just on standby.
What a piss off.
I think these are
going to be next if we can.
Okay.
And if we could
tackle these ones,
we got a bunch together.
Up at Grizzly River,
road crews are racing to open
one final section of forest
for loggers to harvest
before fire season
shuts them down.
We'll have to start
over here somewheres, I guess.
But to get
the big wood to the water,
this road will have
to be widened enough
for fat trucks
to pass through.
And since doing that means
bringing down
several giant cedars,
fallers Jim Gardner
and Rob Winger are
joining the charge.
It's leaning up
the hill pretty hard.
It is
leaning up the hill.
It's leaning back
pretty hard, too.
To widen this corner,
they want everything
out this way
to keep it away
from the river.
Should have brought
the jack in this shift.
Would've helped.
That could've helped.
We've got
a large diameter red cedar.
It's a nice piece of wood.
We're gonna try and get
what we can out of this thing,
and hopefully if we can
lay it out properly,
we're gonna be able to salvage
the whole length of the tree.
How is it there?
- Powder?
-Powder?
Ooh, that's hollow there.
As long
as we got sound wood
for our holding wood.
And
probably right here is going
to be the low side
of the holding wood.
We don't have anything
really to hit it with.
No.
Just be a hell
of a lot of wedging.
We've got nothing
to push it with,
so we're going
to have to wedge
our guts out on this tree.
Let's put the undercut in,
cut the high side up first.
Wedge it up as much as we can,
and then
slowly nibble away
at the low side.
Put her just right
at that face there.
That maple face staring at us.
That'd be perfect.
I think so.
If we put it in the river,
there's destruction
of fish habitat.
There's fines involved.
So we've got to do our best
to keep it out of the river.
Otherwise, there's some
pretty heavy consequences.
-So I got your watch here.
-Okay.
I'll be pounding wedges.
To avoid
hitting the river
and the fines
that come with it,
Rob will make his face cut
on the tree's low side,
followed by a back cut.
Finally, they'll use wedges
to counter its lean
and send it safely down
on dry land.
If they succeed,
they'll be one step closer
to one last stand
of money trees.
Let's do it.
It's absolutely imperative
that we keep this tree
away from the river,
but because of the heavy lean,
there's a good chance
it could break off
or prematurely come unhinged
and come over backwards.
Just heads up
while I cut this low side up.
We can watch for movement,
and if it starts moving
while I'm cutting
on the low side,
get me the hell out of there.
It's definitely
sagging back
when you were cutting.
Let's see what happens.
Look out, Jim.
Look out. It's going.
Get out of there!
On the roads
of Grizzly River
Look out, Tim!
Look out! It's going!
Let's go!
Right on the money.
All honey shot.
It went a lot faster
than I thought it would,
with Jimmy wedging it up.
And then as soon
as I cut that low side up,
away she went.
I thought we were going
to wedge our guts out, Jim.
Well, you did wedge
your guts out, kind of.
With this tree
on the ground,
Jim and Rob are
that much closer
to accessing one last stand
of cedars
before fire season
forces their shutdown.
I like it when it goes
better than planned.
We've got
this tree laid out perfectly
along the side of the road.
We were able to keep it
away from the river.
It went over by itself,
but from right from the butt,
right to the tippity top
of this tree,
every single piece is
going to be used.
On the ground, all clear.
Walk on out.
Let's do this.
Heck yeah.
Jared will be happy
because he's got half
a truckload of wood
in one tree.
But with more trees
blocking access
further up the road,
Jim and Rob's work is
far from over.
So what's next,
you figure?
Let's check
the next one.
Back
at float camp
I don't know.
-The bull gears
aren't turning.
-Oh.
Yeah.
Cody
and Brad have been down
for three hours,
leaving hundreds of thousands
of dollars' worth of wood
still stuck on the hillside.
I think
all the clutches are
being
told to be stuck on there.
But
with bush mechanic Nick
now on the scene,
there may be hope
for the old yarder yet.
This machine had
a little bit of a fire,
so this post right here,
which is supposed to switch
between that terminal
and this terminal,
is melted,
so it's contacting both.
These things aren't really
meant to come apart, so
it's gonna be a little tricky.
I am sanding off the burnt
part of the connection.
It's kind of a Hail Mary fix.
Keep your fingers
crossed, bud.
What do you think?
One way to find out, buddy.
Give her a go, bud.
If Nick's
backwoods remedy doesn't work,
Brad and Cody won't be able
to send logs down the hill,
leaving Jared's
high-value timber
vulnerable to wildfires,
along
with his $1.5 million yarder.
Nice,
that's all working.
Let's try a reverse.
Haul back should be going off.
sweet.
Frickin' all working.
Woo-hoo!
Let's go get some wood!
Yee-haw.
So now
that the grappier is working,
we're actually going to try
and get the wood
off the hill to the road
as quickly and safely
as possible.
Now it's a mad dash
to get this wood on the road
and down to the water
before the log barge arrives
in less than 48 hours.
Yeehaw!
All right.
Now we're cooking.
Well, at least
the wind hasn't kicked up yet.
11 o'clock.
-11 o'clock,
the wind's coming?
-Yeah.
While both
of his camps brace
for fire season
on a remote inlet,
Jared's already thinking
one step ahead.
Today we're going
log salvaging.
There's valuable wood
sitting around
on all these inlets.
A logger did
all the hard labor,
but a couple of bundles
got away on him.
When temperatures rise enough
to shut logging down
completely,
Jared will need to keep
earning an income,
so he's teaming up
with First Nations
Chief Jerry Jack
on a joint venture
that could benefit them both,
if they can
make it profitable.
Jerry Jack's
a hereditary chief
of the Mowachaht-Muchalaht
Nation.
We need strong relationships
with First Nations.
They're getting the revenue
from their forests,
and they need to have someone
that they can trust
and work with
in a partnership,
that's going to be
mindful of their land,
and that's us.
I can't wait to see what kind
of wood's in this bundle.
Yeah.
Working with Jared,
we just have a mutual respect
for each other.
And we're open
about everything.
If I have to say something
he might not like,
I'll say it anyway.
Basically, we have
trust in each other.
You need to have that trust
in who's doing
the work for you.
We can't have
dishonest companies in here
taking trees
that they shouldn't be taking
in the first place.
Definitely
some really good value,
some nice fir. Somebody, uh,
left this behind.
There's some logs, boys.
This industry is shrinking.
A lot of people are
getting out,
so you've got
to be relentless.
There's no substitute
for hard work.
Let's hook up the first ones
and see what happens.
Try to get two
off the top here.
Should work.
With logs weighing
up to six tons,
Jared's dozer boat can
only pull a few at a time.
But if they can
salvage enough of them,
it could pay up
to $30,000 a day
during the slow season.
Wildfires will
shut us down eventually.
It's just a matter of time.
But this could be a way
to keep my guys working
through summertime.
Hey, you want me to hit it?
Oh, yeah!
Hard as you can hit it.
Go! Till you see
the checkered flag or Jesus.
damn.
Oh, good start.
Wait till we get
some big, big ones.
Nice.
Money in the bank.
It's going really good.
They're coming off.
I want that big one
- Yeah.
- in the worst way.
Trying to get
this big puppy out of here.
So hopefully
this one will throw
that one that way.
This is the one I want.
Look at this thing.
Holy.
While Jared works
to find
a new source of income
during the lean summer months,
high above float camp,
fallers Chris Hersics
and Jeff Logan are
on a mission to harvest
every last giant cedar
they can find
before fire season arrives.
It's another lunker.
It is. Oh,
it's another nice tree
for sure.
Through here, it's rotten.
Look at this thing.
We can cut that right off
and
probably get right inside.
I'm hoping it'll go
over here and stay sideways.
I don't want it
to go down the hill.
I'd like to keep it side hill
as much as I can.
I'm not sure
how big of an undercut
I'll get out of it either.
Otherwise, I'll be aiming it
way down here.
It's just rock solid down
at the bottom there, though.
It is, yeah, I know.
All the way around
to the other back
around the corner, so
The trick will be not
getting pinched as usual.
Down on the low side
in the undercut.
Yeah.
Yeah, the worst part
about the whole situation is
just getting
that hemlock off the back.
It is, yeah.
Everything's
just got to have
a little something
dangling off of it
just to keep you on your toes.
After sawing
the hemlock out of his way,
Jeff will cut a slab
from the high side
of the cedar.
That way,
if his saw gets pinched
by the off-balance tree,
he can access and free it
from inside the trunk.
From there, he'll
carefully make his undercut,
followed by a back cut
to guide it safely
onto the side hill.
I don't have much room
to fit my saw in,
and it's grown
into the cedar tree,
so I'm going to have to try
to reach up higher to get it.
He's got to fall it
up the hill.
It's got the potential
to slide back,
maybe wipe him out
with the limbs,
but he should be able
to escape
around the front side
and use the big tree as cover.
Watch out! Watch out!
Watch out! Watch out!
Things almost got
difficult there for a second.
- It just
about did.
I thought I would go
over way more,
but we got it.
Hung her
right in there.
High above float camp
and with a dangerous hemlock
now out of the way,
Jeff is all clear
to start turning
this end-of-its-life-cycle
cedar
- into money in the bank.
- Okay, next step.
To start,
he'll take a slab
from the uphill side.
So if his saw gets pinched,
he can cut it
from inside the cedar.
Then he'll cautiously
make his undercut
and finish with a back cut
to send it down
on the side hill.
At least now if I can't
reach it all
from the other side,
I can reach in from here now.
Well, I'll start
this undercut, I guess.
Let her rip, tater chip.
I don't really want
to cut too much
on this undercut.
I want that to hold it.
'Cause if I cut this side up
and then go cut that last,
all the weight will be there.
Sorry, can I sit down
on you there?
Yeah.
See how
it looks like inside?
I'm going to do it.
You do your thing.
I think
I got it all cut up.
I don't know, Chris.
Went in there
as far as I could
under that thing, so.
I don't want to be
going down below.
It's pinching me
down there now.
Oh, yeah.
I think it's just
this piece right here.
It's going.
Oh, yeah. It's talking.
Yeah.
Hey, it saved out
pretty good.
It went downhill
a little further
than I was aiming,
but fiber's so strong.
Just that little post,
I didn't think that would hold
that whole tree up.
And there was no other
holding wood anywhere,
just this one piece.
Once I cut that off,
that's why it went down there.
Hey,
it's on the ground.
It was a challenge
to bring down,
but at over $50,000,
this tree will be
a much needed addition
to the log barge.
Back down
on the water
I'm a bit
of a meat hound.
I want to get it all.
Greedy.
Yeah. Keep going.
Jared
and Chief Jerry Jack are
still in the early stages
of a salvage business
that could bring in money
during the fire season.
But to make it
worth their while,
they'll need
to up their volume.
Uh-oh.
This is not good.
The boom boat has a nozzle,
so the propeller turns
in the nozzle.
What can happen is rocks can
jam in the nozzle,
then you're dead in the water.
I think
you got to come this way.
I know you're back here.
Don't stop, keep going.
That was a close call.
Yep.
This should be interesting.
Ready when you are.
Don't stop, keep going.
Whoa! Chain came undone.
I think I got
a little greedy there.
Damn.
Back in the hills
above Float Camp
I think we're ready
to log here.
Hey, Brad. Ready to go?
All clear in the landing.
Give her.
Brad and Cody
still have hundreds of logs
to send downhill before
the barge arrives tomorrow.
Yeah, I'm liking it.
It's pretty stable so far.
And with their yarder
finally working again,
they're running full throttle
to catch up.
Big wood requires
really tough gear.
So we've got
the grapple yarder here.
A grapple yarder
is the giant swinging crane,
designed to extract logs
through a cable
yarding process.
Send the grapple
out into the forest,
pick up a log,
bring it back in,
rinse and repeat all day long.
But when you're maximizing
the, uh, pulling capacity
of the grapple yarder,
things can break,
and that's
that's when things
can get quite dangerous.
yeah.
Now we're logging.
The operator,
he's got a set of blinders on.
He can see the hill
in front of him.
So it's up to me,
the hook tender,
to get on the radio
and communicate to him.
Uh, you might want to go ahead
on your throw a little bit.
Here we've got a belly.
A little more.
That's good.
The logs are heavy,
anywhere up to 20,000,
30,000 pounds.
So in order
to not damage the logs,
try to grab them
by the butt end,
the thicker end.
So the top, lighter,
otherwise you just
snap them in half.
Easy on my tree there,
big fella.
You've got to be careful
to not come down
the hill too fast
and hit the machine.
$1.5 million machine.
yeah.
Lots going on,
lots to pay attention to.
Always looking right, left,
and out the window.
Sometimes your eyeballs
feel like sandpaper
at the end of the day.
Oh, .
Oh, .
In the hills
above Float Camp
I up.
While racing
to move wood to the water
before tomorrow's
log barge arrives,
Cody may have just pushed
this yarder a little too far.
It looked like as he was
trying to land that log,
looks like this big,
long hemlock log
came shooting off
the bank and
It came close to the yarder
but didn't quite touch it.
Everything we use out here
has the potential
to kill people.
A lot of people
started their day
and never finished it.
We've lost some friends
and broken most of the bones
in my hands.
Concussions, uh,
twerked knees.
Anytime everybody finishes
the job without an injury,
it's a successful day.
As long as there
are no more setbacks,
Brad and Cody
should be on track
to get the last of this lumber
down the mountain
and off to market,
well before
fire season strikes.
Yeehaw!
Pretty slick, Cody,
pretty slick.
This guy's got the skills
to pay the bills.
The logs will be processed
and loaded
and put onto a truck
and brought down to the barge.
Back down on the water,
while exploring
a whole new logging venture
that could bring
up to 30 grand a day
over the fire season,
Jared and Chief Jerry Jack
are starting to have
second thoughts.
This isn't working.
We've been struggling.
Taken us half a day
to get a bundle off the beach
piece by piece. So
I'm gonna call in
the big guns here.
You got a long tow rope
on you there, Glenn?
You want to come try towing
a bundle off the beach?
Yes, sir.
To keep costs down,
Jared was hoping
his fleet of smaller boats
would get the job done.
But if Captain Glenn's tugboat
can move enough logs
at one time,
this salvaging venture
could still turn a profit.
Glenn's boat has about
five times the horsepower
of the boat that we're using.
I know it's probably
gonna be a long shot,
but we'll, uh,
we'll give it a try since
you're in the neighborhood.
Sometimes you just
got to call in the horsepower.
I like it.
It's gonna be interesting.
Will my plan work?
Probably not.
Tighten up on it.
Very well.
There we go.
That's some power.
Oh, yeah.
That worked out, finally.
In all,
Jared's small team
was able to harvest
more than 80 logs
worth $25,000 in a single day.
A much needed boost
during the lean times
of fire season.
And with a few adjustments,
they could easily bring up
production even more.
Very happy.
Log salvaging day is over.
We got what we could get.
All we got to do now
is dial things in a bit,
and this could be a great way
to make some money
during fire season.
I think today was a win.
Nice fur for somebody's,
uh, deck.
Meanwhile,
in Grizzly River
Oh,
they got two drills going.
Jim and Rob
are working side by side
with road crews
to access what may be their
last stand of giant cedars
before the shutdown.
We've got
a right of way here.
But we have a tree
that's going to be undermined
by this blast.
It's leaning up the hill
and towards us.
-Yeah.
-If they blow
this front section of it out,
it should just come
right into here.
Yeah.
I think that's going
to be what happens.
It is leaning up the hill
quite a bit, isn't it?
Yeah.
Dead standing trees
like this one
are loaded with widowmakers.
Notoriously brittle
and too dangerous
to bring down by hand.
So instead,
the road crew will tie it
into their next blast
and save it out
as best they can.
If we're gonna
blow it up,
we're gonna have to deal
with all as one problem.
And this is part of the way
that we mitigate, uh,
problem trees,
is with blasting assist.
Are we ready?
Hell, yeah.
Oh, it's very hollow
right here.
It's easy peasy
to get a hole in here.
How does it look over there?
It looks like
this is the solid part.
To bring
this tree down safely,
they'll use strategically
placed explosives
to separate it from the stump.
And having sized up thousands
of giant cedars in their time,
Jim and Rob
know just where to put them.
Solid here.
It's just a little punk
around the outside,
but it's solid inside.
I'm not gonna
compromise any wood.
I'm just gonna try
and take this rotten
out of here
so you can get a bag in there.
He says one bag should do it,
but if I get my hole
big enough for two
- Yeah.
-Go big or go home.
When you're blasting a tree,
it's pretty dangerous.
There's so much power.
At the start, your knees
are shaking a little bit
and you're like, "Holy crap."
But I'm
an adrenaline junkie. Yeah.
I like adrenaline,
so it's a rush for sure.
Even if it collapses
that ways.
Hey, Kevin,
do you want to have a look
to see if that's all right?
Bore that a little bit more,
you could have a nap in there.
Kev.
Not gonna work for ya?
A bag
or you put a stick back there?
And then a sausage
out here or something?
We'll just bore a pilot hole.
- That's it, yeah.
- 'Kay.
To ensure
a clean break,
Rob will carefully carve
a second, smaller window
on the opposite side,
making room
for extra firepower.
That will take
this back leg out.
It should launch it
straight up.
- right that will.
That's, like,
gonna reach orbit.
Next, the crew
will pack the tree trunk
with explosives
to blast it off the stump.
And hopefully
keep it somewhat intact.
So I'm gonna use this one
as my the initial charge
and hopefully blast out this.
One main leg of the tree.
And hopefully
just knock it over.
This will help
kind of like an undercut.
But with explosives.
This should kick out that
and then the bag
will do the rest.
Okay.
Hello, Getter.
Yo, what's up, man?
Are you guys ready?
Yep.
Big thumbs up there, Tripod.
Roger that, Jim.
We're gonna blast.
One, two, three.
Maya just brought
her new hound puppy,
which I'm gonna say
we're sharing this puppy.
When it's in camps,
it's Dave and Maya's.
This is Raven.
-This is my new dog
that I share with Maya.
- Oh, sure.
You're going to share.
I'm sharing with you.
Oh, no,
there's somebody
on the phone over there.
There's a bear coming at ya.
Talk to him.
-Atta girl. Good girl.
Good girl. Talk to him.
On the outskirts
of Grizzly Camp
Roger that, Jim.
We're gonna blast.
One, two, three.
, that was intense.
Boom, baby.
That was awesome.
I don't see a tree anymore.
That was intense.
That was really intense.
Can feel the vibrations
going through that tree
we were hiding behind.
Jim and Rob's
mission to make way
for fat trucks
has been a success.
And with all
the larger obstacles
out of the way,
the road crew
should be able to access
their final stand of timber
in just a few short days.
So it worked,
just like Kevin was saying.
It blew the front out,
blew the back out
and it laid right down
across the road.
It was perfect.
It's almost like
somebody cut this down.
Onto the next one.
A little wavy
out here today, Roscoe.
-Yeah.
Back near Float Camp
With the threat of wildfires
drawing closer by the day,
the time has come
for Jared to cash in
on what could be
one of his last
log barges of the season.
Ah,
the Herc ' s here, buddy.
She's a mammoth barge,
isn't it?
Big wood.
If he fills the barge,
his profit is $200,000,
and he'll need
every cent of that
toward his $1.1 million debt.
I'm really sweating
about this load.
I don't know, man.
It's gonna be, uh,
touch and go.
With everything
I have going on right now,
expanding camps,
buying out a business partner.
I'm in so much debt.
Financially, we need
to get this done.
I'm feeling like, uh,
we got a lot of balls
in the air.
A lot of expenses.
Every dollar is needed
at this point.
Not optimistic
we're going to get the load
that we need outta here today.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Oh, .
Look at that bundle.
Just blew apart.
. It's
That's dangerous right there.
That was a, uh,
poor bundle replacement.
I really hate getting
this late into the season,
because if we come up short
on this barge,
we're not going to have
much time to make
that money up.
Well, you on this one, Lynn?
Yes, sir.
Here we go.
Is there a full load here
for you right now?
Yes, sir.
It looks like it's gonna be
a full one.
Nice work.
Yeah, buddy.
-You did it.
- You betcha.
right.
This barge brings
Jared's total net income
this season
to $703,000.
Leaving him with nearly
400 grand remaining
to pay off his debt.
Can't help
but win it, baby.
I'm going to get
Employee of the Month.
I want a medal
and a chest to pin it on.
A lot of people
put food on their table
due to this big company
that we run.
Oh, whales, a bunch of whales.
-Oh, whales.
-Marcus.
Letting
my crew down is one
of my biggest nightmares.
So I'm gonna
work my ass off to make sure
that I can pay my debts
and keep this company afloat.
These guys are out here,
away from their family,
busting their ass
so I can make my payments.
Without them,
I could not be who I am
and I could not do
what I'm doing.
-Cheers.
- Cheers, boys.
Go get some crabs.
Won't be the first time
you getting crabs.
- No.
Fire season came early.
The winds are blowing.
The sun is out.
If our humidity drops,
we've got to shut down
right now
because things could
spontaneously combust.
I'm looking
at the barge.
There might be
a hole down there somewhere.
A hole in the barge.
That doesn't look quite right,
does it?
We definitely have
a little bit of water in here.
Taking Float Camp
out of operation right now,
it could break me.
Yeah, I could lose everything.