02x03 - Raw Deal

[bunniefuu]

[narrator] Previously on
"The Last Woodsmen"...

Heads up.

After a two-week scramble
to fund access

to the Forever Claim...

We have to get every load
we can get.

...Jared surpasses
his $200,000 goal.

[Jared] We've worked really hard
to make this deal.

Everything is lining
up perfectly.

But the celebration
is short-lived.

You gotta be kidding me.

Somebody beat me.
Who?

[broker on phone] Looks like
John Mohammed.

[bleep]

[Jared] I don't want to see
people lose their jobs.

I can't.

If this doesn't happen,
I'm [bleep].

[ominous music playing]

[machine roaring]

[footsteps crunching]

[indistinct chatter]

A little trip, and it'll go
in the water,

and then we'll deal with this.

I'll put the grapple
up, though.

Yeah.

[Jared] Not getting
Forever Claim is devastating.

[ominous music continues]

[Jared] We are five weeks away
from ending the operation

in Float Camp.

I've got nowhere to go.

This could be catastrophic
for my business.

This was the hill to die on
for me, my company.

This was the end-all-be-all.
I'm gonna have to...

come up with some kind of deal
that John can't refuse.

I'm gonna have to go see him
in his office and try

to make something...

out of this that's gonna save
my company right now.

Feeling a little rough
this morning.

-Some crazy times, eh?
-Yeah.

[engine roaring]

[cars honking]

To the top.

John Mohammed is a very
big juggernaut.

Everything from his own logging
companies down to a huge log

trading business that he owns.

-Hey John, how you doing?
-[John] Good, Jared.

Good to see you.
How are you?

-[Jared] Good.
-It's good?

[Jared] Yeah.
How are things?

Oh, you know, hanging
in there.

Times are tough, right?
I don't have to tell you that.

-[Jared sighs]
-Yeah.

You got the bid
on the Forever Claim.

[John] Yeah.
Yeah, I'm happy I got that.

I was surprised you bid
it, actually.

[Jared] I know.

I really needed that for future
expansion for my business.

Wondering if we can somehow
work out a deal or work

together on it or...

Well, I know I had plans
for it, Jared.

We've got to make sure we get
that wood delivered on time

for the customers
we've committed it to.

You had anybody lined up
to do that work?

Yeah, I mean, we were looking
at several options.

Well, you know, I've got
the equipment and I've got all

the people to do it, so I
can front all the startup costs,

everything like that,

and...

[sighs heavily]

I need to make this
happen, so we --

can you work with me?

Well, I respect that you're
a businessman and you want

to grow your business.
I've been there.

I'm surprised you came here,
but, you know, I need cash back

on this for this season.
How soon could you start there?

I could pretty much
start immediately.

I could do something maybe...

per barge...

$120,000 in royalty per barge.

[Jared] OK, that's a big number.

I was thinking like 80.

[laughs]

Yeah, that's not gonna
work, Jared.

Can we meet in the middle?


If I agree to 100 and you
default, I need some backup.

If you default on any
payment of the royalties,

no questions asked,
I repossess the Float Camp.

-Well?
-OK.

[clears throat]
Yep.

-You got one shot at this.
-[Jared] I know.

The minute I leave this office,
I'll be going out there

to get started.

But I will ask,
would you consider selling

the Forever Claim to me
at the end of the season?

I mean, you're getting
ahead of yourself.

Let's focus on the production
and the season first.

Um...

I won't say no.

But I mean, I bid it hard
to get it for our business,

but I can't lose money on it,
Jared, so my number's gonna be,

you know, aggressive.

If I were to agree to sell it
to you, the number's gonna be

$2 million.
-$2 million, OK.

That's, uh...

[suspenseful music playing]

It's good wood.

OK.

OK, I think we can make
that work.

-$100,000 per barge...
-Yep.

...$2 million
at the end of the season,

and Float Camp as collateral.
-[John] As collateral.

OK, well I think
we got a deal.

[exhales heavily]

[Jared] Well, that was intense.

This deal might not be
the best deal,

but this deal is the only deal
I have right now.

If I don't raise
this $2 million,

at the end of the season,

I pretty much worked
a whole season for nothing.

And if I do not give John
the royalties, I lose the deal,

not to mention my Float Camp.

So, I'm in a major rock
and a hard spot.

I only have about a month
to get Forever Claim started.

To get this operation done
quick, I am going to have

to get every piece of available
equipment that I can find.

I have Float Camp,
the main operation, but I have

to split the crew in half.

This is going to be
the biggest test

that I've ever
put myself through,

and this is going to be,
for the ages,

one of the biggest logging
moves ever been done.

[Jared] The wind's blowing,
the tide's ripping, and we got

a huge barge to load.

On the outskirts of Float Camp,
Jared's race to ramp up

the Forever Claim is
at full sprint.

Priority number one,
barging every machine they can

spare from their current
operation 80 miles

up the coast.

[Jared] Well, you think we got
enough gear?

It's a big game of Tetris
trying to figure out where

everybody's gonna fit.

[bleep]

I have a lot of iron,

moving it is the challenge.

We have to get our equipment
farther than it's ever been,

across rougher water
than it's ever been.

[groans]

Very tippy, these ones.

It's good.

Logistics for the Forever Claim
are a nightmare,

crazy expensive.

After startup costs,
Jared has 600 grand

to put toward
the Forever Claim buyout,

but to reach $2 million
by the end of the season

and hit John Mohammed's
royalties in the meantime,

he'll need every
logging machine he can get.

This is a grapple yarder,

second-biggest machine
on this barge.

Uh, definitely worried
about the ramp,

the weight on the ramp.

But, we can't hold back now.
It's time to go.

What's that?

[Jack unintelligible]

put it in there and I can put
that crane truck

further in off to the side.

[Jared] Do you wanna walk this
[bleep] thing up that ramp?

[bleep] driving me insane.

Loading barges is
always a stressful time.

Especially for any owner,
because it's very expensive.

Everybody's had that grandpa
that was doing a project

and then he starts losing it
on everybody.

That's what I feel like
when I'm loading barges.

Stay out of my way,
listen to me,

and go give her hell
to get this done.

Damn the torpedoes!

But the last machine aboard is
the biggest by far.

The 150-foot tall
Super Snorkel.

Driven by veteran operator
Glen Baird.

[Glen] Running the snorkel,
it's a delicate operation.

You have to be aware.

You're talking about a couple
hundred ton of machine and it

has three inches of clearance.

One mistake in that thing,
over it goes.

Fingers crossed.

-[metal clanking]
-[bleep]

[Jared] Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa!

[suspenseful music playing]

[Jared] Before Glen got to the
barge ramp, I noticed right away

that his track was skipping.

If those chains broke
and that spud lock came off,

the machine would just be doing
circles, wiping out every

single piece of equipment
around it, and maybe toppling

off the barge.

So, we got to make sure this
track doesn't come off.

[Brendan] What have we got
here today?

-[suspenseful music playing]
-[chainsaw buzzing]

[Brendan] She's moving already.
Might not have a bunch of time.


at the Forever Claim...

The hunt for money trees is
already underway.

[Chris] Get going, old man.

[Brendan laughs]

With fallers Chris Hersics
and Brendan Bowman

on the front line.

[Brendan]
What have we got here today?

[Chris]
It's a nice tree.

It's like a tarantula,

all these arms and legs
off of it.

[Chris] With this tarantula
tree, Brendan's deemed it,

starting to die
from the top-down.

So we might as well harvest
this while it's still a good,

valuable piece of wood.

Just have to worry about these
marms, especially that

one on the backside.

[Brendan] Yeah, the one popping
off there, yeah.

[Chris] And they're gonna fall
off if you cut it.

Well, if anything, it ought
to just pop back out,

I would think.

Flick out and take
out your Chicklets.

Due to the many marms,
or branches, jutting

from its trunk, the 130-foot
cedar has an extremely low

center of gravity, which makes
controlling the direction

of its fall far more difficult.

To compensate, Brendan will
make an oversized face cut,

which should point the tree
toward a soft landing.

But doing so will add tension
to the marm growing

up the backside.
And if it's too much,

it could snap back on Brendan
with deadly force.

I got faith.

[Brendan]
All right, here we go.

[chainsaw buzzing]

[Chris] How's it look?

[Brendan] So far, so good.

I'm assuming when I cut this
thing, it's probably gonna --

it's probably gonna take
right off.

So I'm gonna try and work
around the front here and get

as much of this cut up before
I cut this back leg off.

[Brendan] My dad was always out
in the bush.

So I was out there cutting fire
with him quite a bit.

I don't know, maybe 13.

And just on the farm,
cutting stuff up

and started hand falling
in 1989.

I love it.
I've always loved it.

Kind of master
your own destiny.

You do it right or you do it
wrong, you made the decision.

[creaking]

She's moving already.

[slight cracking]

Yeah, I think I'll be going
up in there.

I think this is just going
to tear right out.

I might not have a bunch
of time.

All right, here we go.

[chainsaw buzzing]

[thud]

[Brendan] Ta da!

[Chris] Nice sh**ting!

Yeah, that's a dandy,
that one.

[Brendan] Yeah, that's some nice
wood in that thing.

It went exactly as planned.

I managed to get it
right where I wanted to,

saved right out
to the top.

Very little breakage.
That's perfect.

Yeah, if you add all those
marms in, probably almost

a highway truckload right there.

Boss is gonna make some good
money off of this one.

There's so much usable
fiber in it.

Go see if there's any more good
paying logs out here.

Further up the mountain...

The race to build roads that
will move logs to the water

is already underway,

with crewmen Will Stratton
and Ian Kennedy

leading the charge.

[Will] We're the front line.

We're the first heavy equipment
crew that comes in.

We've got to get in there
and build the road as quick as

possible for the loggers.

So far, Will and Ian are eight
miles into what will be

a 12-mile route carved
through solid rock.

[Will] There's a lot of planning
that goes

into blowing up these rocks.

You want to break it enough
that you can use it or move it

or whatever you need to do with
it, but you also need to make

sure that it's not going to
just launch it, become a crater

or a bigger problem.

Well, I've been doing it
for a few years now,

I've had tons and tons of shots.

And my favorite part of road
building is basically all of it

because you get to play with
heavy equipment, big machines.

I always loved that as a kid.

And you get to do rock
climbing, and blowing stuff up

never gets old.

So that expl*si*n at the end
of your hard work

just pays off every time.

-You leave your radio on?
-[Will] Oh, [bleep].

[bleep] me.

You put the detonator inside
of the primer.

In this case, we're gonna
put the primer right down

to the bottom
of the hole carefully.

Then we'll take our bag
of ANFO,

put a little bit of ANFO
in there.

Once you're done
loading the hole,

you just grab whatever material.

And what that does is it seals
off the expl*sives, so all

of the power stays inside
of the hole instead of just

rifling a bunch of it out.
-[Ian] Make a big boom.

[Will] Make a big boom.

Blasting sand.


One shot.
Five minutes.

OK, back in the truck.

[Ian] Sure that fuse is going?

Yeah, I can see
the smoke coming.

It's still going.

Probably feel the concussion
from here.

[fuse crackling]

[loud blasting]

[debris clattering]

[Ian]
Wow, you really annihilated
that one, didn't you?

[Will] Yeah, there's a little
bit of power behind it.

[Ian] There's some rocks
to play with.

[Will] Yeah.

Jared will be happy if we can
get this road done

sooner than later.



on the outskirts
of Float Camp...

[intense music playing]

[Glen] That track's doing
its floppy thing.

Jared's all-out race to load
a fleet of machines bound

for the Forever Claim has
stopped dead in its tracks.

I'll have to get Scotty
to get his [bleep].

[Glen] We better, Jared.

[Jared] The track's just about
to fall off.

That would have been
catastrophic walking up here,

pinching off the main route
for all of our equipment.

So we decided to get a mechanic
here to fix the track problem.

So we're gonna have to use
that black tank full

of nitrogen so we can tighten
the track and safely get

onto the barge here.

Otherwise, it could
be disastrous.

[Jared] Thank God we got Scotty
here to fix this.

-Got her?
-I think so.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Jared] So he's gonna have
to back on the barge.

Definitely a
nerve-wracking feeling.

[Glen] That should hold her.

That's a lot of iron, Jared.

I'm amazed that we got it on.

And now he's gonna go
through open water

and roughest seas.
Ugh.

[Jared] This barge should take a
day to get to the Forever Claim.

I'm hoping everything stays
on the barge.

Let's just hope not
a bumpy ocean.

High above the Forever Claim...

[Jared] Look at the cedar
trees there.

So much potential
for logging up here.

...Jared arrives ahead of
his fleet of logging machines.

With the crew spread thin,
there's a reported water issue

with his secondary camp
that could cr*pple

the whole operation.

[Jared] This whole job's
starting to snowball

to a whole bunch of problems.

Started with a barge problem,
now we have a whole bunch

of problems.

So, definitely one
of those days.

This camp consumes
a lot of water.

Everybody needs to shower,
we got to wash dishes,

got to do laundry.

You run out of water,
you're [bleep].

There's barely anything
coming in.

I got to go on the boat,
go up the creek.

We are in the most remote area
I've ever been to that's

riddled with grizzly bears.

I absolutely hate grizzly
bears, and I'm terrified

of those [bleep] things.

The water line is like
a Snickers bar for bears.

They love to chew the water
lines for whatever reason.

I'm a little worried
that we're gonna encounter

some wildlife on this little
mission, but I need to get

that water going.

What we do here is we hike this
big steel intake up there

and we run waterline all
the way down to the barge camp.

Seems to be
bears chewing on it.

I gotta take it apart here,
check it, make sure we got some

pressure down there.

I'm a little nervous to have
my head down here, grizzly bear

territory, so hopefully we can
make this fix

and make it happen quick.

[groans softly]

There we go.

Cleared some [bleep]
out of there.

Ah, [bleep].

Cut myself.

Probably gonna need
some stitches.

Definitely one of those days.

Further inland...

[Chris]
Got to put her in four low
to climb up this slimy [bleep].

The logging machines arrive
later today, so fallers Chris

and Brendan accelerate the hunt
for more money trees to haul.

[Brendan] Interesting.

[Chris] Yeah, kind of looks like
a crazy old cactus.

[Brendan]
Oh, it does.
Yeah.

[Chris] Big old desert
cactus on the West Coast.

Good lean to it.

-Bears?
-No bears.

Nice straight piece of wood
for the most part.

Doesn't have those big hooks
or nothing.

Yeah.

-Good pile of wood, actually.
-[Brendan] Yeah.

[Chris]
Falling trees, personally,
it gives me a lot of pride

that I can go
out there and do

one of the world's most
dangerous jobs.

There's nobody in their right
mind who would wanna do what

we do out here, I would think.

We all got that weird little
screw that's just been loosened

off a little too far.

I absolutely love
the exhilaration, the rush

I get out of the challenges
that I come across,

and I need that in life.

Uh-oh.

Danger tree out
in the back there.

I should take a look at
that and figure out

if it's a problem
for this thing.

A danger tree is just a dead
standing tree, a safety hazard,

and working below something
like that, it's just not

a smart thing to be doing
because they could be

compromised at any time.

Got a big, big crack in here.

Fairly rotten.

It could run off of itself
and be a hazard.

Got a nice opening over there
to slash her into.

[Chris] Just easier on a guy's
mind if it's gone.

This dead tree is too far gone
to have any value.

But if Chris were to leave it
standing by the cactus cedar,

any ground disturbance from
the fall could send it crashing

down on him from behind.

So, to hedge his bets,
he'll take it down solo before

turning to the main target.

It's not gonna hit the ground
talking about it.

[laughs]

[chainsaw buzzing]

[slight cracking]

[cracking intensifies]

[Chris] Right on, right on!

That thing was kind of gross.

It's laid out there like
a carpet now, so it makes

my brain feel a lot safer now.

Yeah, it'll be a much better
work environment.

Further up the mountain...

After having made steady
progress on their 12-mile

logging road...

[Ian] Shut it off.

Builders Will and Ian have hit
a major barrier

on the home stretch.

[Ian] It's not an everyday
occurrence you come across this.

[Will] It's a giant mess.

It would be nice just to put
the road down here,

but there's that creek
and that bridge.

We've got to build right
up there.

So, we kind of have to be in.

[Will] We're gonna have to be
very careful

with how we do this one.

It's gonna be an interesting
one to drill.

I can't see anything when
I'm drilling,

so Ian's gonna have to guide me
in and just make sure

I'm lined up, level, and set
my depth and everything,

so it's gonna be a challenge.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Ian] Hey!
[bleep].

-See where you want it?
-Yeah.

Guys like Ian and I were
always under pressure to build

road and get things done
as quickly as possible.

It definitely makes my job
quite a lot easier,

working with someone
that's really experienced.

[Will] Well, time
to load her up.

[Ian] OK, let's get going.

[Will]
These are the big primers.

They're two by 16.
They're twice as big

as the other ones.

It'll give it a little extra
kick for this big boulder

because we don't want
to come back to it.

Send them to the moon.

We won't have to deal
with them.

Yeah.

OK.
I think that should be good.

[Ian] If you're happy,
I'm happy.

[Will] Blasting sand.


One shot.
Five minutes.

[engine starts]

Always make sure the truck's
running before

you light the fuse.

There it goes.

[Ian] You ready?

Yeah.

[loud boom]

[loud boom]

Oh, that was a pretty
good bang.

[Ian] Yeah.

In the hills of the Forever
Claim, Will and Ian are in

the final stage of completing


so long as their latest blast
has managed to clear

their biggest blockage of all.

Oh, this looks good.

It's all fractured up.

We should be able to get it all
down, cleaned up, make it look

like it was never there.

[Will] This shot went exactly
how I wanted it to go.

Everything's fractured up.

There's no serious hazards
on top.

The road blocks out of our way,
and just got to clear debris

out from the last boulder
and get the road done.

[Ian] Let's get at her.

Back down by the water...

[Jared] It's D-Day today.

After a 24-hour voyage,
Jared's logging machinery has

finally arrived
at the Forever Claim.

[Jared]
A lot of equipment on that
barge, so how the snorkel gets

off here is gonna be
very interesting.

I'm a little concerned.

Hopefully your track's
not loose again, Glen,

because you're gonna come
up here and make a hard turn.

That's when you'd
lose the track.

[Glen] A track off anywhere is
bad, but right here would

be horrible.
-[Jared] The worst.

A barge load of equipment
sitting behind it

at $500 an hour.

-[Glen] Yes.
-Yeah.

-Let's see
your operating skills.
-Ha!

[suspenseful music playing]

[Jared, yelling] You want
me to watch you?

Just pray.

Come on, baby.
Come on.

-That went pretty good.
-Yeah.

Go up there
and head to the left.

-[Glen] Right on.
-[Jared] Thanks, bud.

[Glen] Here we go.

But the most difficult
machines have no tracks,

a pair of boom boats that are
essential for moving logs

in the water, but notoriously
unstable on land.

[Jared] Boat weighs a whole lot.

It's definitely maxing out
everything this machine has.

Just get that eerie feeling.

Like that.

That's not a good feeling.

Easy.

[Glen] Careful now, lads.
Watch it, don't fall on you.

Further up the road...

with a deadly danger tree
now out of their way.

[Chris] Get into
the big one here.

Fallers Chris and Brendan are
ready to bring down a red cedar

worth upwards of $20,000.

It's leaned more or less
straight, but if I put it

straight, it's gonna
catapult off that windfall

there and definitely
end up on the road.

So probably want to point it
a little higher than normal.

Just more or less worrying
about this

soft, mushy a*s ground.

Almost like you're standing
in a swamp.

Roots can pull very easily
in this kind of ground.

They've got the landslide
and all the debris behind us

that shows it's been
unstable before.

So...
Something to keep in mind.

[Brendan] Yeah, you bet.

With an entire fleet of logging
machinery already heading

uphill for work, the last thing
they need is a shattered tree

blocking their path.

So to counter
its downhill lean,

Chris will aim his face cut
higher up the bank for a softer

landing and hope the whole
thing doesn't uproot

from the waterlogged
soil first.

[Chris] Time's a tickin' here,
so I better get this thing

on the ground.

[chainsaw buzzing]

[slight cracking]

[cracking intensifies]

Right now I'm just putting
a little cut in here,

just splitting this undercut
so I can try and get it out,

make sure I have it lined up
properly.

A nice clean undercut here.

It's pinching me on this side,

because it wants to go
that way.

That's where all the weight
of the tree is.

It's gonna want to go quick.

[chainsaw buzzing]

[tree creaking]

Holy [bleep].

[Jared] You really have to be
careful on what kind

of equipment you buy.

I try to keep it the same,
same brands, same vintages.

The same size tires.

If you can get the same
equipment, you have to only

stock so many parts.

When you do lose a machine,
you can now salvage those

parts, and they will fit
the rest of your fleet.

Also, my mechanics,
if they work on the same brand

of equipment 24/7,
they know the quirks and what

goes wrong with that piece
of equipment.

So I'm very, very

mindful on what I buy,
so everything's the same.

The right equipment complement
will make you successful.

High in the hills
of the Forever Claim...

[chainsaw buzzing]

[Chris] Oh, holy [bleep].

[thud]

[Chris] Well, that's not
a bad one, eh, partner?

[Brendan] That was a gooder.

All the good wood's
still there.

-[Chris] It's not on the road.
-[Brendan] Yeah.

[Chris] As soon as trees hit
the ground, and especially when

it works out for you,
you know, your --

Your adrenaline's pumping.
You're stoked.

[Brendan] I'm gonna say
six foot.

-[Chris] Yeah, she's just under.
-[Brendan] Nice.

[Chris] You know, you got a good
log out of this thing,

and it's just, yeah,
it's what we live for

and why I do it.

[Brendan] That's a beauty piece
of wood, though, eh?

[Chris] Yeah, for sure.

It's still holding like five
feet in diameter up here.

It'll pay some bills.

That's what we're here for.

[Brendan] You just got
to show me the money.

[Chris laughs]

Back by the water...

[Jared] Hey!

[bleep].
Hey!

[Glen] Watch it.

Yeah, he wants to --

[Jared] Perfect!

Struggling getting a light one,

I can't imagine what the big
one's gonna be like.

Here we go.

[metallic creaking]

You can just hear
the tightening and the strain

of everything.

Fingers crossed.
Fingers crossed.

Come on, baby.
Come on, baby.

Gives you the goosebumps.

Nice and gentle.

Phew!

Enough of that
horse [bleep] for today.

Well, Glen,

pretty much got her.
-[Glen] Yeah, boss, right on.

-Pretty much done.
-Let's, uh...

Just a bit of scraping's left.

[Jared]
Everything's off and we can
get back to making some money.

[Glen] Yeah, for sure.

[Jared] Stop spending money
and time to make money.

By the end of this season,
I gotta get two million dollars.

Just one of these trees

could be worth
tens of thousands of dollars.

But I owe John a royalty.

$100,000 per barge,
every barge, without fail.

[Glen] Well, hopefully
we'll get some wood.

Ah, we will.

Next time...

[Jared] John definitely has
the upper hand.

I have all this money out,

this is a huge gamble.

We're definitely on target.

[John, on phone]
OK, well I'm looking forward
to that barge coming in.

[Jared] To keep
my people employed,

I have to make this work.

Anything that can go wrong
will go wrong if you let it.

[Jared]
Failure is not an option.

Oh, [bleep]!