Season 2
Ax Men is an American docu-reality television series produced by Original Productions that follows the work of several logging crews in the second-growth forests of Northwestern Oregon, highlighting the dangers encountered by the loggers.
Following in the footsteps of other shows from Original Productions like Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers, the series is considered part of a "real-men-in-danger" television programming trend.
The series premiered in the USA on the History Channel on 3 March, 2008. There are 26 hour-long episodes in two seasons to date.
Ax Men premiered in South Africa on DStv's The History Channel on Wednesday 13 August 2008, at 19h35. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 2 premiered on The History Channel on Thursday 5 November 2009, at 21h15. New episodes air weekly. There are 12 episodes in the second season.
Repeats
Fridays: 05h25, 13h25
Sundays: 00h05, 08h05, 16h05
Season 2
The Ax Men are back, and they're bigger, badder and tougher than ever.
Going deeper into the forest, high into the sky and even down into the sea, the new season follows two leading teams from last season along with three new companies, racing to fall the most timber during logging's most dangerous season.
For more than a hundred years, larger than life characters, many of whom are members of logging families who go back to the time when the West was being settled – have spent their days among towering trees and powerful machines and their nights in outposts far from the comforts of civilization.
Ax Men tells the remarkable story, detailing the history of the logging industry and how technology has transformed life for today's logger, while the struggle of man versus nature stays the same.
This season, Ax Men picks up with two of Oregon's top logging companies from last year, J.M. Browning Logging of Astoria and Vernonia's Pihl Logging.
Adding to the competition are three newcomers, each bringing something different to the table.
Rygaard Logging of Port Angeles, Washington, a fiery father-son team; R&R Conner Aviation of Conner, Montana, which utilizes helicopters to maximize its output; and S&S Aqua Logging of Aberdeen, Washington, a team of diving loggers who fish for timber in some of the Pacific Northwest's most treacherous waters.
Over the course of 12 episodes, Ax Men will follow these five logging crews through a season of fighting mechanical failures, relentless weather and unpredictable terrain.
We'll witness how loggers battle the elements, picking up where their fathers and grandfathers left off, to conquer America's final frontier.
Danger is a full-time job, as these brave men put everything on the line each and every day to retrieve the timber with which we build our country. Snapped cables, runaway logs and razor-sharp chainsaws are just some of the dangers that threaten their lives daily.
Even with new technology that should make the job easier, it all boils down to the toughness and perseverance of the logging crews. Anything and everything can and does go wrong.
Not everyone will survive, but those who do will earn their place in a long line of men who call themselves "Ax Men".
Seasons
(All seasons air exclusively on The History Channel)
Season 1 (14 episodes)
Premiere: 13 August 2008 | Finale: 12 November 2008 | Wednesdays, 19h35
Season 2 (12 episodes)
Premiere: 5 November 2009 | Finale: 21 January 2010 | Thursdays, 21h15