# I want to be on Axe-men!



## biodzl_vt

No seriously, ever since the show debut in 2008 everbody and their brother has touted how they could run saw better than those guys on TV and are way more rugged than those whiners. The same for "Deadliest Catch". The reality is they don't just pick up greenhorns off the street or the docks. Timber falling seems like a dream job, watching 100+ foot trees crash down gets every straight man's adrenaline pumping, strenuous for sure, but rewarding. Not many people can walk into an old growth forest and start laying into it with a 660 and get paid for it, rather handsomely I might add. Or flopping down the neatly spaced rows of a plantation. I'm not just some Axe-men fanatic, I have 5 years in the tree industry, certified arborist, etc. I am familiar with the trees around my region, not so much western cedar, doug fir, etc. I guess my question is, is there anyway to become a timber feller in the NW without being lucky enough to be born into it? Thanks


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## treemandan

Call them up and ask for a job.


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## Gologit

biodzl_vt said:


> ... I guess my question is, is there anyway to become a timber feller in the NW without being lucky enough to be born into it? Thanks



No.


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## RandyMac

There is a great deal of truth in what Gologit says. Without family connections, I would not have had the opportunities I had.
One of the outfits I fell timber for in the Sierras, would get an Arborist a week looking to fall timber, they were handed some pruning shears and directed to some brush.


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## biodzl_vt

haha, yeah, that's what I figured. Seems like one could get experience through Forest Service as a wildland firefighter.


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## Gologit

biodzl_vt said:


> haha, yeah, that's what I figured. Seems like one could get experience through Forest Service as a wildland firefighter.



It might be a way to get started but production falling and falling on fires are two totally different things.


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## RandyMac

Gologit said:


> It might be a way to get started but production falling and falling on fires are two totally different things.



Forestry is also highly regulated, you will need to be certified and endure training.
Competition for a very limited amount of jobs, leaves the novice kinda ass out, in both fields.


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## Tree Pig

can you scuba dive S&S guys may give you a shot... you are obviously an old salt since you know so much about fishing that you could out do them greenhorns on deadliest catch... whats the name of the seaport in Vermont? white river junction maybe? some rough waters there.


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## Naked Arborist

LMBO... :arrogant::computer2:opcorn:opcorn:..


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## fubar2

Pay serious attention to the sounds pigs make. When you get proficient at calling Feral Hogs give em a call. It may be to your benefit to also get drunk out of your mind first, they seem to like that.


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## 48"BAR PINCHER

biodzl_vt said:


> No seriously, ever since the show debut in 2008 everbody and their brother has touted how they could run saw better than those guys on TV and are way more rugged than those whiners. The same for "Deadliest Catch". The reality is they don't just pick up greenhorns off the street or the docks. Timber falling seems like a dream job, watching 100+ foot trees crash down gets every straight man's adrenaline pumping, strenuous for sure, but rewarding. Not many people can walk into an old growth forest and start laying into it with a 660 and get paid for it, rather handsomely I might add. Or flopping down the neatly spaced rows of a plantation. I'm not just some Axe-men fanatic, I have 5 years in the tree industry, certified arborist, etc. I am familiar with the trees around my region, not so much western cedar, doug fir, etc. I guess my question is, is there anyway to become a timber feller in the NW without being lucky enough to be born into it? Thanks



Your already too smart. Those PNW guys cut down trees with outdated methods like they are still using crosscut saws and axes not chainsaws. And "good" TV only wants us to see the dumbest of the dumb so you have no chance with being from the NE and having a CA and actually knowing how to cut down a tree. 
I know a guy who just tried exactly what you wanted to do this past fall. He packed his saws and gear, left most of his brain behind, and moved to Veronia, Vernonia..... Oregon. After getting laughed out of town in a month he repacked his crap and moved again. Bottom line is his story is pretty much like what RandyMac and GoLogit said. The only difference he said was that if you wanted to be a faller you had to start at the bottom and work your way up to faller and that definetly makes sense in ANY trade.


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## ORclimber

logging jobs are competitive, because there is less work going on. In a town like Vernonia where everyone knows everyone, an outsider doesn't stand a chance. Not enough jobs to go around. There is lots of talented fallers working that aren't on tv.


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## hunthawkdog

*I do to*

We were at a family deal today and everybody got on the ax man kick agine telling me I should be on the show and the way I tear up stuff would make chealse stanga blush . well I doubt the history staitions gonna call tommorow. they also compared me to forest gump .i guess its a complement


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## forestryworks




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## hunthawkdog

*?*



forestryworks said:


>



I dont get it


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## forestryworks

hunthawkdog said:


> I dont get it



In that case, you better stay in Iowa.


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## hunthawkdog

*!*



forestryworks said:


> In that case, you better stay in Iowa.



ok tex


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## Earl68754

There is a great deal of truth in what Gologit says. Without family connections, I would not have had the opportunities I had.
One of the outfits I fell timber for in the Sierras, would get an Arborist a week looking to fall timber, they were handed some pruning shears and directed to some brush.


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## OlympicYJ

Family is the best way to get in the industry. Second is knowing people in the industry. Your buddy knew a guy that got him a job and your buddy got you the job kinda thing. And then if you even get a shot it doesn't mean your stayin. Ax Men is not full reality; most of it is staged!


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## testlight

If you want to be on TV call everybody you can. If you want to be a timber faller call Crown Alaska logging. They will might give you a shot. Also Columbia helicopters.


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## full_skip

I'll certainly weigh in on the forest Service stuff, looks like you're getting beat up enough going the private industry route. The USFS, USFWS, BLM, BIA and state DNR all work off a system recognized by the National Wildland Coordinating Group (NWCG, sick of acronyms yet?). They rank their fallers A,B, or C. C is the highest level. You first would need to complete S130/190 basic wildland fire fighting which is 5 days. Then go back and take S212 which is another 4 days. When you graduate from S212 your a Faller A (FALA). This means you can cut anything 16" and less, which translated into: your a swamper for a FALB. FALB's can fall trees 25" and less. Once you are comfortable with a saw you can initiate a task book and it requires you to cut a couple of trees in different scenarios to be signed off as a FALB. Overall your FALB takes maybe a couple years to complete (if you're totally green when you take S212). Your FALC is highly sought after and tough to pass. I can't remember how many trees we had to fall and all the scenarios but it wasn't easy for me to get. I had a good friend that flew from MN to TX or AZ to take his FALC and they failed him within a couple seconds because he started with the angle cut on his face and not his horizontal cut 1st? Their reason was if you start with your horizontal cut, and you're off target it's really quick and easy to adjust. If you start with your angled cut you have to make an entirely new cut. I fortunatley passed mine the 1st time but lost alot of sleep and drank quite a bit of beer after I passed due to the stress it puts on you. 

Now for the bad news. Wildland fire stresses the importance of getting the tree on the ground, the safest way possible which 9/10 times completely contradicts production logging. If I could make any reccomendation to you it would be to not jump in feet first. Get a job locally logging and work your way up. This will prevent you from being laughed out of Vernonia like some other person on the thread. Also don't beleive everything you see on TV. For the few days it's a blast the rest of the year it's very difficult, strenuous work that isn't always if never compensated for.

If there were countless timber faller jobs that all paid 100K plus a year, we'd all be out there.


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