# America's Toughest Jobs



## forestryworks (Sep 30, 2008)

on october 10th they're gonna show the logging episode
of America's Toughest Jobs

i believe they worked with Rygaard Logging out of 
Port Angeles, WA












edit: according to peninsula daily news rygaard logging will be on of the crews on season 2 of ax men which starts in 2009


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## 056 kid (Sep 30, 2008)

Crabs cant turn you into a pan cake!
And i dont care HOW heavy thoes pots are, they dont fall out of the sky!!

You can see the waves coming. I can say from personal experience, you wont see that widow maker comin!!!!!





Thats just what i have to say about "the most dangerous" job!!



So they make more loot, at least I have FUN!














Why hasent anyone ever thot of wearing caulks on deck?


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## Bushler (Sep 30, 2008)

Show a little respect, please.

I've been a commercial boat owner/skipper crabbing the west coast for 34 years, and have lost in excess of 50 friends in sea related accidents. Several of my best friends are dead. When they found PV's body they noticed he'd clawed his fingers off his hands, trapped in a sinking boat, trying to paw his way out through the Lexan storm windows.

My 'little brother' Stu died near Adak, trying to get a last minute maday out, (he did, it was heard, and the rest of the crew were saved), then couldn't make it back into the inflatable.

Richard pitchpoled the Kincheloe on the Brookings bar (all crew lost), Jim drowned when the Sweet Pea went down with all crew in Pelican Bay, CA.

The list of dead friends goes on and on.

I've also spent 40 years cutting timber when I wasn't fishing, so I know that business pretty well too. I've only lost one friend in the woods.

Crabbing accidents are usually mortalities, while cutters usually manage to limp to the hospital. Both are dangerous, but nothing compares to crabbing the west coast in the dead of winter. Trust me on that.

Owner/Skipper, F/V Nancy Jean.


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## Bushler (Sep 30, 2008)

Almost every logger I hired to work the deck ended up puking and turning green. Big tough men...worthless. Rolling around underfoot puking and getting in the way. I'd drag them off the deck into the foc'sle, then go back to work. They couldn't get the hang of the roll of the boat.

One of my logger friends puked so hard his false teeth went overboard. Gnarly.


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## ropensaddle (Oct 1, 2008)

Bushler said:


> Almost every logger I hired to work the deck ended up puking and turning green. Big tough men...worthless. Rolling around underfoot puking and getting in the way. I'd drag them off the deck into the foc'sle, then go back to work. They couldn't get the hang of the roll of the boat.
> 
> One of my logger friends puked so hard his false teeth went overboard. Gnarly.


I have a deep respect for crabbers I would have made a good one
early in life but don't think I would have the stamina now. I still
am pretty strong but 16 hrs and I am spent anymore. I have worked
38 straight then 16 per day for three weeks in march 97 restoring power
cutting trees away and dragging cable for the linemen and that was as
close as I can remember to the production requirements put on crabbers.
Every job is a job though but some do take more out of ya!

I will jump in to say I have removed fifteen foot over hang
over 12500 volts all day long in the sun that is not a cake
walk I tell ya, more dangerous than logging imo.


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## hammerlogging (Oct 1, 2008)

Bushler, thats one fine looking boat.


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## treemandan (Oct 1, 2008)

Bushler said:


> Almost every logger I hired to work the deck ended up puking and turning green. Big tough men...worthless. Rolling around underfoot puking and getting in the way. I'd drag them off the deck into the foc'sle, then go back to work. They couldn't get the hang of the roll of the boat.
> 
> One of my logger friends puked so hard his false teeth went overboard. Gnarly.



you would have to shanghi me to get me on that tub. No offense about the boat buddy but that's what it looks like to me. A little tiny boat in a bathtub and God is splashing around in there. Sorry for the losses, its one hell of a tally. The Dan abides although he needs to pack the dramamine and I am starting to feel queasy just looking at the pic. I am gonna stick to showers for awhile.


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## treemandan (Oct 1, 2008)

056 kid said:


> Crabs cant turn you into a pan cake!
> And i dont care HOW heavy thoes pots are, they dont fall out of the sky!!
> 
> You can see the waves coming. I can say from personal experience, you wont see that widow maker comin!!!!!
> ...


 


At least you admit to being only a kid.


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## 1I'dJak (Oct 1, 2008)

I've been commercial fishing on the west coast of the Queen Charlotte islands and it was a tough ass grind...long days, chit weather made it harder, nowhere to go other than your bunk when the day is done...etc... But the physically hardest job I've done is probably single stemming....More people can go out on a fish boat than could do that job...albeit they might be culls, but they can atempt it...few people can get choppered up in a heli-block and hike around steep ass ground (sometimes having to rapell) with all your climbing gear to find and to climb up big trees and take some big ass tops.... been talking to some guys about taking 100+ centimeter top;s with their 200t, having to cut windows in them so they could get their saw in em...the fear is a bit more in your face than fishing, whereas in fishing the danger is all around you and often out of your control...however in fishing, accidents are often deaths...once you go overboard your chances are slim....


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## clearance (Oct 1, 2008)

1I'dJak said:


> I've been commercial fishing on the west coast of the Queen Charlotte islands and it was a tough ass grind...long days, chit weather made it harder, nowhere to go other than your bunk when the day is done...etc... But the physically hardest job I've done is probably single stemming....More people can go out on a fish boat than could do that job...albeit they might be culls, but they can atempt it...few people can get choppered up in a heli-block and hike around steep ass ground (sometimes having to rapell) with all your climbing gear to find and to climb up big trees and take some big ass tops.... been talking to some guys about taking 100+ centimeter top;s with their 200t, having to cut windows in them so they could get their saw in em...the fear is a bit more in your face than fishing, whereas in fishing the danger is all around you and often out of your control...however in fishing, accidents are often deaths...once you go overboard your chances are slim....



Jak, I lived on the Charlottes (Port) and being on land during some of those storms was enough for me. I didn't even like taking the ferry over (the one they sank). Anyways, I have windfirmed as you know, and done utility removals, but I would much rather climb scary trees than be on a boat out there. I have a lot of respect for you guys that have fished out there in that cold and heartless sea.


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## 1I'dJak (Oct 1, 2008)

True enough clearance...I remember working out on the west coast swells and thinking how easy it would be to fall over and how hard it would be for the boat to turn around and get me while i foundered in my gum boots and rain gear...but I never had that fear like I did the 3rd day stemming when the foreman told me to take the top where I was...stem was about 80 cents or 30 inches where I started cutting...never done anything like that b4...My arshole pinched tight...I wondered, is this something I can do? Sweat dripping down my helmet brim...hearing that top (crap, basically a tree) creak and crash down wan like no other thing....driving back from windfirming today, guy was telling me a stemming story of how he was taking a big top and trying to keep it out of the creak so he was wedging the crap out of it, stacking his wedges and pounding away...wedges spit out, tumbled to the ground....sank his last wedge till he couldn't pound it anymore...started downclimbing his tree to retreive his wedges then Crack! there goes his top! Sketchy ####e...


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## clearance (Oct 1, 2008)

Thats a nasty story, I know guys who have done standing stem, I have taken big tops but nothing like that. Windfirming can be fun, hows it going out there? Living in motels, lots of windshield time? I have thought about doing it again.


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## 1I'dJak (Oct 1, 2008)

lots of windshield time....bout 3-4 hours staring out the windshield a day...long drives but its going alright...a little up and down, but that's the nature of the beast...apparently there's a bunch more single stem coming next year, but I'd definetly rather windfirm...however, Western Forest Products (who is the biggest client for island windfirming) is on the ropes... and I wouldn't doubt if they dissolved....that guy still windfirming up in the Charlottes? Dude, I couldn't windfirm without the grapple though, makes for a lot less effort...


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## clearance (Oct 1, 2008)

1I'dJak said:


> lots of windshield time....bout 3-4 hours staring out the windshield a day...long drives but its going alright...a little up and down, but that's the nature of the beast...apparently there's a bunch more single stem coming next year, but I'd definetly rather windfirm...however, Western Forest Products (who is the biggest client for island windfirming) is on the ropes... and I wouldn't doubt if they dissolved....that guy still windfirming up in the Charlottes? Dude, I couldn't windfirm without the grapple though, makes for a lot less effort...



He don't like the grapple and don't like the old bowline, he is a faller, oh well. He is real good guy though, straight shooter, I miss working for him. I think he is working the coast. Western is going under? Holy F. That will mean the old M&B gets split up. Its a sad time for logging here, worse ever.


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## 1I'dJak (Oct 1, 2008)

well I don't know for sure if it is...but i think they got too big and have too much overhead to roll with the lean times...basically I could see them either selling off some unprofitable divisions or just going the way timberwest did and contracting out all phases of logging...or i could be wrong...just my gut feeling... guilty of thread hijaking....I don't even think they do any single stem down in the states....couple guys I knew gave a demo in washington state and I think all the US loggers thought it was kinda loony...


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## clearance (Oct 1, 2008)

1I'dJak said:


> well I don't know for sure if it is...but i think they got too big and have too much overhead to roll with the lean times...basically I could see them either selling off some unprofitable divisions or just going the way timberwest did and contracting out all phases of logging...or i could be wrong...just my gut feeling... guilty of thread hijaking....I don't even think they do any single stem down in the states....couple guys I knew gave a demo in washington state and I think all the US loggers thought it was kinda loony...



Do doubt, the loggers that saw us windfirming thought we were nuts. Probably thought that they would be asked to climb up there. Ain't gonna happen.


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## Mike Van (Oct 2, 2008)

I spent 35 years as a power co. lineman before I retired. The last 20, I was more worried about getting hit by a car than burned in the air. Heading into the woods today, 60+ nice locust to cut & pull out. There is no way, no how you'd get me on a crab boat at 57. If the tractor craps out today, I can walk home. If the boat did, well you know............


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## 056 kid (Oct 2, 2008)

Not trying to be disrespectful at all!
Fishing is defiantly a tough job.


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## Zackman1801 (Oct 2, 2008)

its really too bad they dont have any logging shows about the east coast guys, or even guys in the middle of the country. I wouldent doubt there are people who think that logging only goes on, on the west coast.


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## forestryworks (Oct 2, 2008)

Zackman1801 said:


> its really too bad they dont have any logging shows about the east coast guys, or even guys in the middle of the country. I wouldent doubt there are people who think that logging only goes on, on the west coast.



if they do, they live under a rock


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## Zackman1801 (Oct 2, 2008)

ive actually heard people say that they thought maine was a part of canada before. anything is possible.


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## Humptulips (Oct 4, 2008)

1I'dJak said:


> well I don't know for sure if it is...but i think they got too big and have too much overhead to roll with the lean times...basically I could see them either selling off some unprofitable divisions or just going the way timberwest did and contracting out all phases of logging...or i could be wrong...just my gut feeling... guilty of thread hijaking....I don't even think they do any single stem down in the states....couple guys I knew gave a demo in washington state and I think all the US loggers thought it was kinda loony...



Ok, I'll admit my ignorance. What is single stemming and windfirming?


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## clearance (Oct 4, 2008)

Windfirming-pruning and topping trees on the edge of clearcuts so they don't blow down

Single stem-limbing the tree while it is still standing and topping it at a certain height. The tree is later cut most of the way through, the a helicopter with a grapple snaps it off and takes it away.


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## Humptulips (Oct 4, 2008)

clearance said:


> Windfirming-pruning and topping trees on the edge of clearcuts so they don't blow down
> 
> Single stem-limbing the tree while it is still standing and topping it at a certain height. The tree is later cut most of the way through, the a helicopter with a grapple snaps it off and takes it away.



Sounds like foolishness. Looney is about right.

The only thing that would explain it is government contract.


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## Bushler (Oct 4, 2008)

Hump, I have to agree. It seems like govt. regs. are designed to make resource production as complicated and dangerous as they can.

Clear cut and yarder log is the best way to harvest timber. Clear cuts and replanting timber is the best method to grow healthy trees.

So we don't do that anymore. Now its all about inefficiency and waste, per the goal of the GreenPeople.

I feel old. Our economy is in the toilet, we import everything and export our money.


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## clearance (Oct 4, 2008)

Humptulips said:


> Sounds like foolishness. Looney is about right.
> 
> The only thing that would explain it is government contract.



Single stem logging is a lot cheaper because you don't have to build roads, and you can take only what you want. The government didn't invent this, most gov't guys can barely climb out of bed, never mind climb trees.

I know guys that have done it, it is not crazy, it takes a good climber with balls, thats all. 

I do agree with Bushler, clearcut is best, but this method makes sense, because clearcuts are still allowed here. But when you clearcut you have to take all the wood, even the hemlock. With single stem they just pick out the money trees, like cedar.


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## Bushler (Oct 4, 2008)

Clearence, you say its cheaper because you don't have to build roads, and I can see the value saved in that..but aren't you in effect high grading out the high value trees and leaving the rest to be logged conventionaly later? Isn't that a lost leader sort of harvest, going back in?

Not being argumentative here, just trying to understand the perspective.

Another consideration is the value of the road. Roads are a definite plus for timber management, in spite of what the GreenPeople think. Reforestation, rodent control, fire suppresssion, etc.

I like to use the timber harvest to finance the road extensions, and road improvements.


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## Gologit (Oct 4, 2008)

clearance said:


> Single stem logging is a lot cheaper because you don't have to build roads, and you can take only what you want. The government didn't invent this, most gov't guys can barely climb out of bed, never mind climb trees.
> 
> I know guys that have done it, it is not crazy, it takes a good climber with balls, thats all.
> 
> I do agree with Bushler, clearcut is best, but this method makes sense, because clearcuts are still allowed here. But when you clearcut you have to take all the wood, even the hemlock. With single stem they just pick out the money trees, like cedar.



Any idea how this costs out? I was wondering how it stacks up against cable yarding or Cat logging as in cost per BF. Even if you're cherry-picking the best timber it still sounds like an expensive way to log. Do you get enough volume to make it worth it ?

And yeah, like a lot of us in the 48, I think it's a goofy idea. I'd sure like to watch it done though, and my hat's off to those doing it.


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## slowp (Oct 4, 2008)

clearance said:


> Single stem logging is a lot cheaper because you don't have to build roads, and you can take only what you want. The government didn't invent this, most gov't guys can barely climb out of bed, never mind climb trees.



There you go, stereotyping us. I have climbed a couple of trees at a much younger age. Wouldn't do it now, well, maybe try and really look stupid? Yes, sometimes I have a hard time getting out of bed, when having to deal with the bureaucracy of which I am the bottom of. Don't think about that last part too much please.
An example? Somebody in the main office didn't do much needed input because I didn't use a particular form. I merely wrote it out on an e-mail. So, it sat there for 6 weeks until I called to make sure what I wanted was taken care of. Such is life, that's why I have taken up the saw.  
Wonderful anger workout tool--a saw.


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## Gologit (Oct 4, 2008)

*Hey, Slowp.*



slowp said:


> There you go, stereotyping us. I have climbed a couple of trees at a much younger age. Wouldn't do it now, well, maybe try and really look stupid? Yes, sometimes I have a hard time getting out of bed, when having to deal with the bureaucracy of which I am the bottom of. Don't think about that last part too much please.
> An example? Somebody in the main office didn't do much needed input because I didn't use a particular form. I merely wrote it out on an e-mail. So, it sat there for 6 weeks until I called to make sure what I wanted was taken care of. Such is life, that's why I have taken up the saw.
> Wonderful anger workout tool--a saw.



You might work for the Fed but all of us know that in your heart and soul you're still a gypo logger. When the last of your ilk retire or get tired of the crap and move on there'll be nothing but bunny fondlers, tree huggers, recreationalists, the people that change the toilet paper in the campground restrooms, and 'ologists that never leave the office. If I gotta deal with Feds , and I don't unless I have to, I'd much rather deal with somebody like you.


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## ak4195 (Oct 4, 2008)

treemandan said:


> you would have to shanghi me to get me on that tub. No offense about the boat buddy but that's what it looks like to me. A little tiny boat in a bathtub and God is splashing around in there. Sorry for the losses, its one hell of a tally. The Dan abides although he needs to pack the dramamine and I am starting to feel queasy just looking at the pic. I am gonna stick to showers for awhile.[/QUOTE
> 
> Running with the stabilizers out and probably either following or slightly quarting on the stern.No way to tell the size of the boat obviously,but to a certain point and depending on the conditions that less of an issue.More importantly is the hull shape, soundness/way its loaded,and of course smarts.
> I used to know a guy named Bince who lived in Gustavus,owned a very small 38ft wood dble ender.He would single hand it across the gulf,straight to Dutch Harbor,a good week @ 5-7 knots 24/7.He stayed awake by falling head first into his radar overhead,which would give him a knot on his forehead.
> ...


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## clearance (Oct 4, 2008)

Bushler said:


> Clearence, you say its cheaper because you don't have to build roads, and I can see the value saved in that..but aren't you in effect high grading out the high value trees and leaving the rest to be logged conventionaly later? Isn't that a lost leader sort of harvest, going back in?
> 
> Not being argumentative here, just trying to understand the perspective.
> 
> ...



First of all, sorry to slowp, I know what you do, you have my respect.

Yes, single stem is high grading, no doubt. But the bush still looks good to the treehuggers, you cannot see what is gone unless you hike up there.

Yes, I like logging roads and they are good for many things, here though, they are not left and maintained, all spurs and even some mainlines are taken out. I mean destroyed on purpose. They take out the culverts first, then they take out the bridges. Spurs are taken right out, they use big excavators with twist-a-wrist buckets.

I think the clearcut it all method is best for the coast, but many here do not, and thier power in increasing.


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## Bushler (Oct 4, 2008)

AK4195, you have a good eye. The boat in the pic is not mine, I took that pic out the back door of my boat, (Nancy Jean)...I was leading the other boat, (Jeffery J.), into the channel at Chetco River, OR. The Jeff is 45' double chine Monk steel. Last I heard the Jeffery J. was in Bellingham WA.

My boat is slightly shorter, at 41', single chine Monk, aluminum. I fished alone most of my career, hiring crew for Dungeness crab fishing season. I crabbed that little boat from CA to AK. Spent one season fishing out of Cordova, AK

Most summers I troll fish salmon and tuna alone. When asked what I'd do if I fell overboard I'd tell people. "swim for the bottom".

The prize: My crew smiling big.


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## Bushler (Oct 4, 2008)

I confess a weakness toward sea stories and pics. Sorry.


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## Humptulips (Oct 4, 2008)

clearance said:


> First of all, sorry to slowp, I know what you do, you have my respect.
> 
> Yes, single stem is high grading, no doubt. But the bush still looks good to the treehuggers, you cannot see what is gone unless you hike up there.
> 
> ...



Sounds like you're up against the same sort of bureaucracy I see down here on the government lands. Difference might be is the harvest of a tree now seems almost sacreligious around here.
We seem to be forced to do some strange things at times to keep logging. We have the same sort of road decommissioning going on here. Turning it into a park, multiple use be damned.
No disrespect towards the loggers doing the work but it still sounds looney.


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## Bushler (Oct 4, 2008)

The point the GreenPeople are missing is, its not the trees that are sacred, its the grow site, the LAND that is sacred. The trees are just a crop. An overage crop (oldgrowth) is a waste of the grow site. Nurture the land, crop the timber!

Wanna see a pic I took when we were Moose fishing in Controller Bay, AK?


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## RandyMac (Oct 5, 2008)

Bushler, you up in Brookings? My Bro lives on the bluff across the Chetco from the Coast Guard base, great view from up there. I'm just down the coast in CC.
Local crab fishermen are tough, it's a rare year when a boat doesn't come up missing, the worse time of year to be on the ocean.
We had an old 41 foot double ender, it sat low and had next to nothing for freeboard, kinda like a surfaced submarine in rough water, being knee deep in water was normal.


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## Bushler (Oct 5, 2008)

Randy, I fished crab out of Brookings since 1974. Used CC as our bail out harbor when the Chetco bar was closed.

Summers I'd fish out of my home port, Gold Beach. Brother (F/V Early Times) and I tried fishing crab out of Gold Beach for two years and gave it up...the Rogue River bar was just to swill for safety.

The Dungeness in the boat pic came from Pelican Bay.


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## RandyMac (Oct 5, 2008)

CC is sometimes is the only harbor open between Puget Sound and San Francisco. I hated running the bar at Humboldt, even on a good day you stood the chance of pitching the prop outta the water.

Our old boat was the F/V Northman, it ended it's life on the rocks at Noyo.


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## forestryworks (Oct 10, 2008)

bump for anyone who wants to watch it

it's tonight at 8/7c on NBC

and it features SawTroll's favorite saw - the 441 :greenchainsaw:


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## slowp (Oct 10, 2008)

Today's toughest job was swarping out Bubba 1 and getting Bubba 2 ready to roll next week. Amongst a 3 year accumulation for me, and 2 years prior with somebody else, I found 2 arrow shafts, many metal thingies, the missing bungee cords, the missing water bottle that doesn't leak, a whole bunch of left hand gloves, but not the right hand ones, and many many aluminum cans.
I'll have to shovel all the fir needles out next week. They make a good duff layer under the box, next to the cab and little trees, grass, etc. sprouts there.
There's also a layer of moss to deal with. I'll miss Bubba 1.


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## Rookie1 (Oct 10, 2008)

My wife would tell ya its raising our 5 kids. No way I would stay home with them all day every day.


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## Rookie1 (Oct 10, 2008)

Oh my that show is gay. I just wasted 45min.,didnt finish watching,watching that bull crap. Ill put that on my pay-no-mind to list.


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## ropensaddle (Oct 10, 2008)

A soldier is prolly the toughest in war time it would be hard to squeeze
the trigger on another man. There are lots of tough jobs imo some tough
for different reasons Bull rider tough because it's hard on the body but
my sis is a youth counselor substance abuse and development problems.
I would rather pull my teeth with a fork


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## forestryworks (Oct 10, 2008)

yeah it was the same old stuff they show

i coulda spent another hour and a half cuttin' firewood


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## Gologit (Oct 10, 2008)

ropensaddle said:


> A soldier is prolly the toughest in war time it would be hard to squeeze
> the trigger on another man. There are lots of tough jobs imo some tough
> for different reasons Bull rider tough because it's hard on the body but
> my sis is a youth counselor substance abuse and development problems.
> I would rather pull my teeth with a fork



Jeeeeeeze....now there's a phrase that brings rich mental imagry..."pull my teeth with a fork". Man, that made my teeth hurt.

Hats off to your sis, too. She has a tough job and people that do that kind of work must really be dedicated. I couldn't do it.


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## .aspx (Oct 13, 2008)

Watch the full episode online until 11/04/2008

http://www.nbc.com/Americas_Toughest_Jobs/video/episodes/#vid=746201

just realized this is a contest. [sarcasm]i bet it's really good & not extra dramatic![/sarcasm]


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## .aspx (Oct 13, 2008)

go watch that video and notice that they are falling a doug fir. then when he starts pounding the wedge in you will notice that it's a cedar tree. 

it's in the first couple of minutes

great editing job!


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## forestryworks (Oct 13, 2008)

.aspx said:


> go watch that video and notice that they are falling a doug fir. then when he starts pounding the wedge in you will notice that it's a cedar tree.
> 
> it's in the first couple of minutes
> 
> great editing job!



good to know i ain't crazy for seeing the bark change


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## ironman_gq (Oct 13, 2008)

I dont understand why they give the biggest saws on site to the people with the least experience with them when a saw half the size would be more than enough for the tree they're dropping


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## forestryworks (Oct 13, 2008)

ironman_gq said:


> I dont understand why they give the biggest saws on site to the people with the least experience with them when a saw half the size would be more than enough for the tree they're dropping



you won't find anything smaller than 70cc in the logging world... it just don't cut it


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## Jacob J. (Oct 13, 2008)

Not having television in my home, the video on that website is my introduction to that series. Wow, what a ridiculous premise!


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## .aspx (Oct 13, 2008)

Jacob J. said:


> Not having television in my home, the video on that website is my introduction to that series. Wow, what a ridiculous premise!



never heard of the show until this morning. not what i expected. would not do business with again.

negative feedback


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## Jacob J. (Oct 13, 2008)

.aspx said:


> negative feedback



Totally agreed. You can't take people off the street who've never worked in the woods and expect anything. Shows like this only to serve to further the ignorance of the masses to dangerous work like this, and it makes loggers look like prima-donna meatheads.


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## .aspx (Oct 13, 2008)

OT side note re: Rygaard Logging. I was on my way to Whidbey Island one day for work and it was pissing rain. I'm heading uphill and I see a logging truck behind me. I'm in the fast lane going 60mph in a 50mph speed zone. 

The logging truck honks and then passes me on the right. I notice on the door it says "Rygaard Logging". The a's were coniferous trees just as the guys in that show had on their vests.

I remember thinking to myself, "the nerve of this m :censored: er"

He was probably doing at least 70mph in a torrential rain, uphill, in a 50mph speed zone.

100% true story

I have no idea why he was on this side of the ferry.


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## forestryworks (Oct 13, 2008)

turns out this rygaard logging is hiring... so i called
and the lady who answered said ax men is doing the hiring...?

what does that mean? i get a job setting chokers just for the show
and when filming is done in december i don't have a job?  

i could care less about being on tv

i want steady employment


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## slowp (Oct 14, 2008)

Axmen wanted to put a different guy on the crew here. That's why you won't be seeing them on the show. My world is turned asunder. Reality tv is not real. What is the world coming to! :jawdrop: Finding a logging job here is not too realistic right now. The mills are now cutting off most log deliveries. The mills here are full up with logs from last winter's blowdown.


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## Gologit (Oct 14, 2008)

slowp said:


> Finding a logging job here is not too realistic right now. The mills are now cutting off most log deliveries. The mills here are full up with logs from last winter's blowdown.



Same thing here. Two of our mills are on 2 week shutdown and it may last longer. Lumber isn't moving out of the mills and the log decks are almost full. When we finish the burn salvage from this year we're done logging. Start-up next spring is looking iffy, too.

I think I'll go out and talk to my calves..."Grow you little SOBs, grow!"


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## Zackman1801 (Oct 14, 2008)

thats absolutely ridiculous, they turn people loose with little or no safety training and tell them to cut down trees. its a wonder that soo many people get killed now adays, they see it on tv so it must be easy. its also ridiculous to make people hurry through tasks to earn more money, another easy way to get hurt, people dont pay attention for a moment and its over.


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## slowp (Oct 14, 2008)

Gologit said:


> Same thing here. Two of our mills are on 2 week shutdown and it may last longer. Lumber isn't moving out of the mills and the log decks are almost full. When we finish the burn salvage from this year we're done logging. Start-up next spring is looking iffy, too.
> 
> I think I'll go out and talk to my calves..."Grow you little SOBs, grow!"



Maybe I should have a Yukon. I thought you were talking to your legs!
The helicopter guys are out of here at the end of the month. The other guy is on standby, and the third is losing mills to deliver to. I spent a couple hours knocking down little alders, cuz I thought maybe I better start getting ready to run Twinkle again. Then went up and stumbled through the jack strawed helicopter felling. Yup, they did put a few across the old road like the guy told me. So many that I detoured down through the jungle to get back easier. The new truck was declared the "Ugliest :censored: pickup I ever saw." by one of the operators. He also pointed out that I better get a good shovel cuz I was sure gonna get stuck in the snow a lot this winter with that "Box." Came in and cut short a phone call with somebody looking for something to do so they thought they'd call and cause more work for me. Yup, a good day overall! I think I will open a little yukon. Maybe the world's most aggravating job today.


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## 056 kid (Oct 14, 2008)

Zackman1801 said:


> thats absolutely ridiculous, they turn people loose with little or no safety training and tell them to cut down trees. its a wonder that soo many people get killed now adays, they see it on tv so it must be easy. its also ridiculous to make people hurry through tasks to earn more money, another easy way to get hurt, people dont pay attention for a moment and its over.



I agree about the novices.

The hustling part is just how it is. When you are Slowly say tying off a broke cable, really slowly anything! the boss man has this hallucination that all of these little winged dollar signes that are filing through this window that reads GONE!!!


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## Bushler (Oct 15, 2008)

Moose fishing, Controller Bay, AK, circa 1979.


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## ak4195 (Oct 15, 2008)

Bushler said:


> Moose fishing, Controller Bay, AK, circa 1979.



Nice cast!

Guess that beats the 600lb halibut we caught one year in the SAndman reef area near the Shumagin islands.

ak4195


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## Zackman1801 (Oct 15, 2008)

056 kid said:


> I agree about the novices.
> 
> The hustling part is just how it is. When you are Slowly say tying off a broke cable, really slowly anything! the boss man has this hallucination that all of these little winged dollar signes that are filing through this window that reads GONE!!!



i agree that professionals with training can do jobs quickly and safely, but when you take a guy off the street, hand him a chainsaw and say i want that log limbed and bucked in 5 minutes, problems are bound to occur.


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## slowp (Oct 15, 2008)

Was that moose to be used as bait? Or was it the primary catch?


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## Bushler (Oct 15, 2008)

AK, 600 lb. halibut is a whopper! This one weighed 340, troll dressed. Kodiac.


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## oldirty (Oct 25, 2008)

OMG!!!!

anyone happen to see the finale?

damn that boy steven should not be allowed anywhere near another chainsaw. never mind the stihl that he was abusing.



great pics fellas. sick.


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## 1I'dJak (Oct 25, 2008)

I gotta say...from these shows, logging down south looks kinda haywire...old timey helmets, no visor, no muff.... maybe some earplugs, chaps over jeans, wedges in the back pocket, no hi-viz...looks like a real cowboy show...I imagine its not all like that...


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## Gologit (Oct 25, 2008)

*Walking in*



1I'dJak said:


> I gotta say...from these shows, logging down south looks kinda haywire...old timey helmets, no visor, no muff.... maybe some earplugs, chaps over jeans, wedges in the back pocket, no hi-viz...looks like a real cowboy show...I imagine its not all like that...



:hmm3grin2orange: Let's see...got my old tin hat, the one with no visor. Got wedges in both back pockets. My greasy old chaps are on over my jeans. I'm not real sure what high-viz is but my whistle and suspenders are orange...that should do it. The other three guys walking in with me look pretty much the same. We're carrying our saws up on the shoulder with no bar guards and some of our gypo jugs are just that...old clorox bottles and such.

Walking down through the brush, headed for the strip, talking among ourselves... "Man, those Canadian guys sure got a lot of government supervision and dumb-ass rules to follow. Must be tough to have some government dweeb telling you every little damn thing to do. What a haywire way to work."


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## Jacob J. (Oct 26, 2008)

1I'dJak said:


> I gotta say...from these shows, logging down south looks kinda haywire...old timey helmets, no visor, no muff.... maybe some earplugs, chaps over jeans, wedges in the back pocket, no hi-viz...looks like a real cowboy show...I imagine its not all like that...




Actually, it is all like that. I'm still wearing a tin hat from 1983 when I'm felling timber, I use the inside chaps under my rigging pants when it isn't raining and under my nylon rain pants when it is...

The only High-Viz I ever have on is the one fluorescent orange stripe on my tin hat, because some joker marking trees was using me for target practice.


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## 056 kid (Oct 26, 2008)

Jacob J. said:


> Actually, it is all like that. I'm still wearing a tin hat from 1983 when I'm felling timber, I use the inside chaps under my rigging pants when it isn't raining and under my nylon rain pants when it is...
> 
> The only High-Viz I ever have on is the one fluorescent orange stripe on my tin hat, because some joker marking trees was using me for target practice.



What you just explained is hI fidelitry loggin compared to what real south east gypo loggin is, no lid, no chaps, no ppe, no nothin except a saw, an old franklin, and a c 60 with a boom on it..


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## Gologit (Oct 26, 2008)

Jacob J. said:


> Actually, it is all like that. I'm still wearing a tin hat from 1983 when I'm felling timber, I use the inside chaps under my rigging pants when it isn't raining and under my nylon rain pants when it is...
> 
> The only High-Viz I ever have on is the one fluorescent orange stripe on my tin hat, because some joker marking trees was using me for target practice.



LOL...I got bored one day and cut up a bunch of that reflective tape that they put on trailers. I stuck a few pieces on my hardhat but they didn't last long...too much grease and oil embedded in the metal. The ones on my thermos stuck pretty good, though.


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## slowp (Oct 26, 2008)

"New" safety trends I have seen this year, are chaps. The fallers are wearing chaps. Only a couple guys did before. And they are carrying high visibility falling axes. I noticed they all have their axes painted flourescent orange. Must be new rules. Shovels too. The helicopter rigging crew is the only high visibility group. Plastic hardhats are fashionable also, maybe more so as they don't dent. Dents get fines if the safety guys show up. Elk season starts in a couple of weeks and it is a good thing to not look like an elk. I'd better bone up on my answers to THE HUNTING QUESTIONS.


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## Gologit (Oct 26, 2008)

slowp said:


> "New" safety trends I have seen this year, are chaps. The fallers are wearing chaps. Only a couple guys did before. And they are carrying high visibility falling axes. I noticed they all have their axes painted flourescent orange. Must be new rules. Shovels too. The helicopter rigging crew is the only high visibility group. Plastic hardhats are fashionable also, maybe more so as they don't dent. Dents get fines if the safety guys show up. Elk season starts in a couple of weeks and it is a good thing to not look like an elk. I'd better bone up on my answers to THE HUNTING QUESTIONS.



They really fine you for a dented hard hat? Is that the Fed or State people who do that?

My old hat would probably give them a heart attack...it's hard to find a spot on it that hasn't been dented or dinged or scraped. LOL...Maybe a hat that bad would be a felony...and I'd wind up in jail.


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## hammerlogging (Oct 26, 2008)

Damn right its a cowboy show. Thats the way we like it. 

All the PPE, high viz, etc, there ain't no doubt that it saves lives. The safety menatlity is good, and what I want with anyone working around me. But on the surface, all cowboy.

I was cutting way down in a hole with some fallers I'd never cut with. I wore a high viz vest cause it was a little tight for all of us until we got that hole opened up into strips. Truth is, the other cutters liked it because we do have to look for each other so we don't kill each other and with high viz, thats all that much easier. But tell me I have to do this or that, different story. Stupid mentality, yes, but in the land of the free and home of the brave, you gotta be careful how you tell someone what to do. Straight up no bs "this is a new rule, period" is probably the best way for me to recieve rules-- I really hate it when an inconfident wus tries to tell me what to do. (i.e gov't beaurocrat with no in-woods experience)


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## slowp (Oct 26, 2008)

Gologit said:


> They really fine you for a dented hard hat? Is that the Fed or State people who do that?
> 
> My old hat would probably give them a heart attack...it's hard to find a spot on it that hasn't been dented or dinged or scraped. LOL...Maybe a hat that bad would be a felony...and I'd wind up in jail.



The state people fine for dented hats. Most guys are not wearing dented hats because they know. I think it is per dent too. My orange vest that I wear so the hooktenders have a better target is getting very faded, not to mention that I wipe my paint messed hands on the right back part, so I probably don't show up so well.


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## John Ellison (Oct 26, 2008)

I watched that tough job show last night. If the camera people had any sense they would have been a little nervous when the guy that wore his chaps down around his knees was falling the tree. The tree was cut up in every direction imaginable and I saw someone standing about fifty feet away in the area ( I think) that they hoped it would go.

Re. Dented hard hats. Is there a three dents and you're out law in some states?
Some guys paint their axe because they can be easy to loose. You would'nt think it would be a fineable of fence to get caught with an unpainted axe, but who knows?


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## 1I'dJak (Oct 26, 2008)

Things have been a bit overegulated here, but that`s the way the she goes I guess...A lot has to do with the 45 loggers dying a couple of years ago... you see a faller here, He`s go the full rigging, his vis shirt, helmet with visor & muffs, cutting pants (no chaps allowed), two workable saws, 3.5lb axe with four wedges and wedge pouch, whistle, pressure bandage, radio etc etc...its become a lot more proffessional...on top of it they gotta take the falling course.... but one you pass thru these hoops you`re making at least 5 bills a day...


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## hammerlogging (Oct 27, 2008)

I like your location, I like your timber, I like your country, and I'd jump through more than one hoop for 5 bills a day. The cowboy mentality is juvenile at best, but don't tell us.
There's a balance to be reached in there where practicality meets the ideal.


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