Axe Men---YAWN!

[reachtreeservi]

I don't know the guy from adam. So I can't tell you if he's a good guy or not personally.

But I do like watching his show better than Axemen. Or Survivor.
There's alot wrong in the show; language, single lanyard while cutting , etc.

But It's entertainment.

Sure he's a crane baby.
And everybody who's ever owned and driven a bobcat everyday has wheelied it. I don't think I'd do it on TV, that's just me.

But it's good reality TV. The Good , The bad and the somewhat ugly.

I love it when he tells you at the beginning of the show:

" I'm a saw for hire. I'm here to protect your children , you and your home from the most deadly vegetation on the planet. Trees.
Now let's go cut some."

You've got to love that !

 

[sawinredneck]

With the right crane, what's the problem with that? Did it myself just two weeks ago. Saves alot of time.

And you are right!!!

BUT when the front outriggers come off the ground three feet because the crane is overloaded, that's not the right way to do it!

 

[reachtreeservi]

And you are right!!!

BUT when the front outriggers come off the ground three feet because the crane is overloaded, that's not the right way to do it!

You got a point there !

Made for good reality TV though, didn't it ? LOL

 

[sawinredneck]

I don't know the guy from adam. So I can't tell you if he's a good guy or not personally.

But I do like watching his show better than Axemen. Or Survivor.
There's alot wrong in the show; language, single lanyard while cutting , etc.

But It's entertainment.

Sure he's a crane baby.
And everybody who's ever owned and driven a bobcat everyday has wheelied it. I don't think I'd do it on TV, that's just me.

But it's good reality TV. The Good , The bad and the somewhat ugly.

I love it when he tells you at the beginning of the show:

" I'm a saw for hire. I'm here to protect your children , you and your home from the most deadly vegetation on the planet. Trees.
Now let's go cut some."

You've got to love that !

And dropping a tree on a customers car, having a sling hanging by athread as it swings over the customers house while the climber runs in terror, where do I stop?

Yeah, thats got to be great for the industry:monkey:

 

[reachtreeservi]

And dropping a tree on a customers car, having a sling hanging by athread as it swings over the customers house while the climber runs in terror, where do I stop?

Yeah, thats got to be great for the industry:monkey:

If you look at it that way Sawinredneck , you're correct .

Hard to argue with you when you're right.



What's good for the Industry and good reality TV are quite different.

 

[kennertree]

right on the money tom trees

I like you tom trees. You keep it pithy.

 

[sawinredneck]

If you look at it that way Sawinredneck , you're correct .

Hard to argue with you when you're right.

Sorry, I wasn't picking on you, I've watched all the videos, and hear him talk A LOT!!! It's a really neat idea, but not with those idiots!!!
That would be like me going out and teaching the world how to climb and fall trees!!! Yeah, not a good idea!!!!
But I at least have enough sense to know I am an idiot and ask for help when I need it, know what I mean?

 

[beowulf343]

And you are right!!!

BUT when the front outriggers come off the ground three feet because the crane is overloaded, that's not the right way to do it!

Awesome! Guess i'll have to watch the links now!

 

[reachtreeservi]

Sorry, I wasn't picking on you, I've watched all the videos, and hear him talk A LOT!!! It's a really neat idea, but not with those idiots!!!
That would be like me going out and teaching the world how to climb and fall trees!!! Yeah, not a good idea!!!!
But I at least have enough sense to know I am an idiot and ask for help when I need it, know what I mean?

I hear ya Andy, and I knew you weren't picking on me.

The sad truth is that if a TV crew followed someone like Tom Dunlap around for a month, we'd grove on it, but the general public would probably change the channel.

When you do it safely , the right way, it's not very entertaining.



I've told my wife many days when I walked in the door and she asked " How was your day? "

It was a good day. Nothing happened except making money.

 

[460magnumMOD]

HA! Nosak Raw, what a joke!

Nosak Raw is just good t.v. for the general public. Does it shed a good light on the rest of the industry to unknowing people? NO. Does Paul Nosak spend too much time talking himself up when he should just shut up and work? Yes. But the ultimate question for a t.v. show is does it, or will it make money? Yes. It interest unknowing people. But for all of us in the industry we see all the faults, face cuts way too deep, poor climbing and rigging safety, wheelieing around on the skidsteer on a job, not just once but all the time, and the list goes on. Personally I have done wheelies in skidsteers, but never on a job, and never getting the back end on one wheel, and bouncing all over the place. If I saw someone doing that in my machine they would be looking for another job very quickly. I don't take too kindly to hammer heads to equipment. The guy seems to be a bull#### artist. Thats how he got all his money and his new equipment. But people eat that up. It just frustrates me

 

[TreeDivision]

I had some success marketing this

I spent the end of the winter last year marketing this concept, and actually got pretty far along. It all started innocently with a Craigslist posting that got me a producer, actually alot of them, except one really had good input.

In the end I got sponsorship from LogRite Tools and a promise to consider and even some gear from STIHL, Carhartt, New England Ropes, Sherrill Tree, Kuntz Gloves, and best of all Burt Wilson or Bubba Whoop Ass Wilson as he is known on The Monsters of the Morning Real Radio 104.1 FM Orlando and XM 152, has added his musical genius in the form of our theme song Chain Saw Man, if you go to my web site http://treedivision.com/ the link is at the bottom of all the pages, a great song and this guy is the funniest Louisiana Coon Ass, look him up he is a great guy.

The concept ended up being a really good business plan, that if anyone is really interested we can talk, but series has three segments in each episode. The high skill tree work reality one that has the crew and work and nutty stuff, all safety concerns must be met. The commercial pandering to industry specific companies where I will visit them see their product of interst, STIHL's tree shaker, Bandit's whole tree chipper etc. and segment three for the tree huggers I will go and visit some cool tree ie. the underwear tree, tree houses, 100 year old bike up in a tree ect., (I have a whole list of these) I think this is a good platform to boost our visability and address the hackers and bumpkins, talk about pricing, topping, insurance, homeowner safety and pitfalls, what the homeowner should expect, how we avoid lawn damage, and why we charge what we do.

I chose my business name to be very generic on purpose as I get alot of leads from landscapers and contractors so Tree Division worked good for the show as well. The concept allows for other companies so if you are in a position to grow I would welcome any conversation about what we can do together. By the way someone marketing the same type of concept the way I did will probably end up running into road blocks at this point as all these companies will be worried about confidentiality involved with my pitch.

The only reason I didn't get further along was that my brother imploded after a rough year, DUI, girlfriend death, what else? Just a bad year for us and we parted ways in the business this past fall. So when I get back to earning money I will be making the marketing of this a priority; how can having a show based on your business on even local TV be bad for business?

If you are interested feel free to call or email me directly

Erik Poore
Tree Division, Inc.
Derry, NH 03038
http://treedivision.com/
[email protected]
603=235=1778

 

[slowp]

I'm a little late. Here's my thoughts on the show. I work around and am down in the brush with skyline crews. The show is pretty much right on.
I think different hooktenders dropped trees on the lines 3 times last year when I was out. Got a nasty bruise from diving behind a stump. All of the crews except one up here are gyppo outfits. The yarders are vintage 1970 models, the equipment held together with tape and JB Weld. The small outfits constantly have changing crewmembers. I think the faces change after every payday which makes for some stupid mistakes on the ground. Wages are the same as they were 20 years ago which might have something to do with it. The owners aren't logging the valuable trees like 20 years ago either so they aren't making as much profit so they buy the second, third or fourth hand equipment. I've also never seen a hooktender run up a tree. The show is right on with the speed they show. Sorry to disappoint you but except for the narration, the crew stuff is a good representation of this area. However, the owners say the farther west in the county you go, the better the crews are. I get a kick out of the show because I like to work with the skyline outfits. There's a lot of figuring and thinking to be done.

 

[pdqdl]

It'd never work..

...

I was a Smokejumper for over 20 years.
...

If they made a series on smoke jumpers, they would probably kill off all the cameramen, by accident. Then the smokejumpers would have to ignore the fire to save the camerament. Wouldn't that be great video ?

What I have seen on axemen looked like "fabricated for the camera" danger.

I really liked the tree dropped on the main line. That looked deliberate, to me. I couldn't see any reason to even come close to the line, much less hit it.

 

[smokechase II]

SJ's and cameras

"If they made a series on smoke jumpers, they would probably kill off all the cameramen, by accident. Then the smokejumpers would have to ignore the fire to save the cameramen. Wouldn't that be great video ?"

It’s been almost 16 years since I jumped. Permission to ignore everything I say granted.

********************

The Redmond Head SJ told me he thought some of the camera crew that did the Discovery Channel filming of Hotshots and Jumpers a year plus ago were on the History Channel AxMen crew.

I think working around a cable logging operation is a lot more dangerous than wildland fire and even parachuting.

********************

In the world I come from, (USFS), there is one group of workers in the woods that is respected more than any other.

Timber Fallers. Not Jumpers or Shots or Choker Setters or thinners etc.
Skill + luck - danger = respect if nothing else.

********************

I just saw the latest AxMen episode and I finally liked it. They are really capturing the guys and outfits and I'm gonna back up and say I'll tolerate the log loads contest and enjoy the rest.

 

[CLEARVIEW TREE]

Well understood

Last night did it for me while watchin AM! I could not believe my eyes, that kid was climbing that tree with only a reg lanyard, no secondary TIP, and a real sharp axe! The way he was flailin that axe round, he's darn lucky he didn't cut that little lanyard and sail to the ground! Man, i don't know if it's stupidity, lack of training, or a willingness to take dire risks, perhaps a combo of all though. The Arboriculture reality show is a great idea and would better represent the industry!

 

[Brush Hog]

Sure as hell beats dancing with the stars or the other garbage on TV.

 

[slowp]

I wish they would have shown the Lardy guys cleaning up the oil that was dripping out. The treehuggers will hear about that and want to shut everything down again. One thing they aren't conveying well is the noise level on the landing. It would probably blow the sound guy's ears out though.
I'm thinking that some of the cutters probably didn't want camera people around. Or maybe the camera people only trust a couple of the cutters to be around? I'm still entertained by it as there is still too much snow here for any operations to start up. The monthly index showed that Doug-fir and Hemlock prices went up in March. DF increased by a whole $1.76 and Hemlock went up 64 cents.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Sure as hell beats dancing with the stars or the other garbage on TV.

I'd rather watch Top Chef, or Iron Chef America

 

[M.D. Vaden]

I'd rather watch Top Chef, or Iron Chef America

I've seen oriental chefs.

Are there any oriental logging crews in the world?

Japan?

Do they even log there?

 

[Metals406]

Sorry to say guys... But working under a yarder is just like on the show (give or take)... Especially the cursing. The producers have made it a little 'Hollywood', but overall, that's the way it is. It is really dangerous... And you can't compare line-logging to tree removal. It's just two different worlds. Yes, a lot of the dangers could be avoided... But at the expense of time... And if you've learned anything from the show--time = craploads of money. If you're not getting loads out, **** hits the fan.

The operating costs of a line-crew, and the operating costs of most tree removal/arborist crews, aren't even close. When I worked around a chopper 10 years ago, it was $1,000.00+/- an hour to keep it in the air. And the Browning crew is flying sky-line with a similar Ranger.

There were many days when the new guy would do something to break a cable, or the yarder would breakdown, or the processor, or the loader... When one piece is down--it all goes down. Line-logging isn't a high paying gig... Not for the crew, and usually not for the boss--it just pays the bills.

So yes, they exaggerate (sometimes), and yes the voice-over guy is paid good money to make it all sound interesting and dramatic... That's why it's a show--with realism as it's basis.