A question for you professional loggers

[srb08]

I don't mean any disrespect to anyone here but I need to ask a question.

Are most logging operations as much of a cluster**** as the ones shown on Ax Men?
I can't imagine operations as poorly organized and run as those, staying in business very long.


I would think that a great deal of what the show portrays as normal day to day operations, has been scripted to artificially create drama but having never been around that type of worksite, I thought I'd ask the guys who have.

 

[logging22]

Its all for the tv.

 

[garyischofield]

morons

I've made a living in mechanized logging my whole adult life.(60 now)I can't stomach more than 90 seconds of the total idiocy of that show.I've met a lot of people from 40 years in this occupation.?Colorful,entertaining,unique,different-yes.Absolute buffoons and lowlife morons-no.How those operations on Axemen can get insured is a total mystery to me unless... You know about shows made for television?Strange how a very successful operation like Bobby Goodson/Swamp loggers with interesting shows was cancelled.I think in all the shows I watched, the portrayal of everyone concerned was of decent hardworking people,not as some neanderthal cement head swearing his head off.

 

[dooby]

Hmmmm!

I have been in the brush a few years now.Started as a landing hand,tape holder,stump shoveler,etc. way before the age of 18 and am far from knowing it all at the tender age of 41 ,but i aint never seen anything like it. i tried watching it 2 yrs. ago with the objective it would be a little more profesional. I have only seen one crew i would pay taxes with. My family and i are disgusted with it . I think the staged crap is crap. I and many a logger like me are bigger enviro-freaks than any earthy type ever thought about and DAMN IT the practices they portray are poor. I am gonna loose it:bang:

 

[hanniedog]

Isn't professional logger an oxymoron. Just asking.

 

[Gologit]

Isn't professional logger an oxymoron. Just asking.

Not in my neighborhood it's not. Any questions?

 

[forestryworks]

Isn't professional logger an oxymoron. Just asking.

Only in Ohio.

Anymore questions?

 

[hanniedog]

Well so much for joking with loggers.

 

[RandyMac]

Well so much for joking with loggers.

:hmm3grin2orange: you forgot the smiley faces :hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[slowp]

I have observed a lot of crews. I'm not a logger, I am a retired forester. I've seen a few-- note the word few, rigging fits and they were for a good reason. I've had to dive behind stumps a couple of times, and run away from falling trees. But if the real world was like that show, there would be no loggers because they wouldn't be making any profit and the state safety inspectors would fine them big time and I'd probably be phoning the safety people to come out and fine them.

As I've said before, I met one of the guys that is on the show. He was setting chokers and filling in for a friend. I didn't talk to him very much as he was working and keeping busy sending logs up the hill. Not at all like he is portrayed on the show. He said 80% of the show is acting and doing stunts. He has learned many ways to make a tail tree pull over when needed for the drama.

Does that tell you anything? I can't watch it. To have the water idiots called loggers is insulting. Actually the whole show is now an insult--I thought the first season was the best, then it got worse each year. I can't watch it.

 

[Gologit]

I tried to watch it this season. I lasted about 10 minutes and my wife turned it off. Said she couldn't stand all the yelling and screaming...from me.

The show might be entertaining to people that don't know any better...but it's not logging.

 

[srb08]

Thanks for the feedback, I guess it's just another reality show that is based on nothing real.

 

[Gologit]

Thanks for the feedback, I guess it's just another reality show that is based on nothing real.

I can only comment on the Left Coast logging. The terrain is real. The weather is real. Some of the shots of the rigging crew wading through slash are pretty accurate. The way they dress is fairly true. The machinery is what is actually used in most places. Some of the falling is how it's really done...not all but some.

What isn't real is the manufactured drama, the rivalries between companies, and the amount of time people waste while they stand around yelling at each other.

 

[srb08]

I can only comment on the Left Coast logging. The terrain is real. The weather is real. Some of the shots of the rigging crew wading through slash are pretty accurate. The way they dress is fairly true. The machinery is what is actually used in most places. Some of the falling is how it's really done...not all but some.

What isn't real is the manufactured drama, the rivalries between companies, and the amount of time people waste while they stand around yelling at each other.

The drama and infighting was what I was talking about, guess I was a little vague in my statement.

 

[madhatte]

What isn't real is the manufactured drama, the rivalries between companies, and the amount of time people waste while they stand around yelling at each other.

Also the "timeline" -- while each outfit has both contract parameters and personal goals, I don't think they're competing on a common scoreboard. The show's presentation (from what I've seen) doesn't make the difference clear. I know I've never seen an outfit actually mutiny, and I've been on a few landings.

Also, they do a terrible job of depicting actual PMW weather. I've seen maybe three whole episodes, and every time they #####ed about the rain, and every time I've said to myself, "Damn, even I wouldn't gripe about getting out of the truck over that!" We get some nasty monsoon crap that no sane person would step foot in... and yet there are folks who get up way earlier than I do to work way harder for way less money on on steeper slopes. Only good thing I have to say about Ax Men is that it focuses on the landing/rigging guys, who get way less props than they deserve.

 

[Rounder]

1. Wood in front of yarders/helicopters.
2. Wood on the landing in front of delimbers/bumpers.
3. Shovels putting logs on trucks.

That's how it really works. Not much room for moronics.

 

[Gologit]

Thanks for the feedback, I guess it's just another reality show that is based on nothing real.

Take a look at this. It takes a while to wade through it but it's well worth the time. There are several videos in the series. It's a lot more realistic than that goofy AxMen garbage.


<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TCTFLA1tulE?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[H 2 H]

Take a look at this. It takes a while to wade through it but it's well worth the time. There are several videos in the series. It's a lot more realistic than that goofy AxMen garbage.


<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TCTFLA1tulE?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is the area were I live (born and raised) were that was filmed

View attachment 270861

 

[Oldtimer]

I'd wad that "coatsy" guy up into a ball and toss him down the hill..

 

[logging22]

Thank you for that. I watched all 8 parts. Wonderful stuff. Completely different than that crap on tv. Really enjoyed it.