9.4/106 votesLoading...#1 - Shelby Strikes Back
Season 9 Episode 1 - Aired 11/22/2015
Swamp Man receives an order from furniture designer Brandon Morrison to find logs for a table and benches that he plans to donate to the local Boys & Girls Clubs of America chapter. After the search gets off to a slow start, Shelby and Brandon venture deep into the swamp and start finding valuable wood for both the table/benches and some lamps that one of Shelby's neighbors needs for her house. Brandon assembles the pieces with help from an old friend; after he and Shelby deliver them, he suggests that the two may be able to work together again in the future.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.7/107 votesLoading...
#2 - Chopping Block
Season 3 Episode 7 - Aired 2/28/2010
Loggers are fired, and one disappears; Shelby takes a risky job searching for a sunken raft of logs; and Jay Browning gets some bad news.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.6/106 votesLoading...
#3 - The Close Call
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 4/20/2008
The season is halfway through, and the gap between winners and losers is widening. Stump Branch tests a new but more dangerous logging strategy... and it poses great danger to the men in the rigging. The Pihl men play while the bosses are away. Browning Logging is a team divided. Jesse struggles to prove himself to his father... but faulty equipment isn't helping matters. A mistake on the Gustafson crew may end one man's career.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.6/106 votesLoading...
#4 - The Final Haul
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 6/8/2008
The loggers toughest season begins to wind down; Jesse begins to wonder about the family business; rumors begin to spread, to the other crews, that the Gustafson crew is pulling out.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/106 votesLoading...
#5 - Loggers Under Fire
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 4/27/2008
In the wake of the plummeting logging market, the Ax Men are barely surviving. The Gustafson bosses have a close call while taking over for their laid-off crew. An old hook tender returns to the Browning team, stopping Jesse's ascension to company management. Pihl loses a crucial member of the team as it struggles to finish Pig Farm. At Stump Branch, the young guns take matters into their own hands when Melvin has to leave the site.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/106 votesLoading...
#6 - A Logger's Thanksgiving
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 5/4/2008
Thanksgiving arrives; winter weather strikes and the men of Pihl lose one man after another to illness. The younger crew members of Gustafson blow off steam while the bosses toil away. Jay is forced to ax some of the Browning gang staff. The season's first snow is a warning of things to come for the Stump Branch crew.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/109 votesLoading...
#7 - The Reckoning (1)
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 5/18/2009
The crews rush to meet their goals as logging season nears it's end, and one logger is let go.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.4/106 votesLoading...
#8 - Manhunt
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 1/2/2011
At Papac Alaska, time is running out for missing logger Van Huffman. At Rygaard, Gabe gambles on a helicopter... and loses. At Pihl, rigging slinger Eric Davis is rushed to the hospital after a gruesome fall. In Louisiana, Shelby pulls an all-nighter to save his dog P* Willy. And in Florida, Collins puts the Smith boys in their place.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.3/107 votesLoading...
#9 - Storm of the Century
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 5/18/2008
The town of Vernonia is declared a disaster area as the worst storm in 25 years pounds the Oregon coast. Members of Pihl and Stump Branch are forced to flee. Jay Browning can't be found. Darrell must act fast to save his house from falling trees as the town of Astoria descends into a blackout. The future of the logging industry is in jeopardy.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.3/108 votesLoading...
#10 - Damage Control
Season 5 Episode 2 - Aired 1/15/2012
Swamp Man Shelby Stanga is hired to remove a log from private property, but complications lead to disaster. Infighting reaches a fever pitch at S&S Aqua Logging, while the competition has a run-in with Mother Nature. A familiar face returns to Papac, much to Coatsy's dismay. Gabe Rygaard takes Dave out cutting, but things go awry. And the rookies of Big Gun Logging are adding to their ranks.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/106 votesLoading...
#11 - Black Friday
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 5/11/2008
Thanksgiving is over, but the return to work brings more trouble for the Ax Men. The Gustafson crew now faces a nearly impossible deadline after returning from a devastating two-week layoff. Pig Farm is close to its deadline, but half of the Pihl crew skips work, leaving greenhorn Cody to pick up the slack. Mistakes and inexperience at Stump Branch put profits and lives at risk. Jay Browning makes a troubling discovery about his next job.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/106 votesLoading...
#12 - Lost in the Fog
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 4/13/2009
A helicopter is trapped when a fog rolls over a mountain; Jimmy's barge is threatened to be destroyed; and a crew of a downhill logging site faces challenges.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/109 votesLoading...
#13 - Storm Season Strikes
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 3/23/2008
As a storm closes in on the Oregon coast, the Ax Men race to stay one step ahead. Jesse continues to push the J.M. Browning crew to meet its looming deadline, while muddy roads trap trucks on their way to the Stump Branch site. Robby battles for control of the Gustafson crew. Pihl Logging feels the effects of the slumping lumber market.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/109 votesLoading...
#14 - The Reckoning (2)
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 5/18/2009
The season two finale finds a fight erupting within one crew. Elsewhere, Jimmy has trouble with his barge, and a pair of crews are facing disasters.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1010 votesLoading...
#15 - Ax to Grind
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 1/10/2010
The third-season opener introduces new locations as crews begin work in the summer. In addition to sites in the Pacific Northwest, loggers will battle the terrain and heat of Florida and Louisiana.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/109 votesLoading...
#16 - The Big Hit
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 3/30/2008
Across Northwest Oregon, the Ax Men continue to grind it out. Storm season arrived with a vengeance--shutting some crews down while others struggled to stay afloat. Now a bigger storm is brewing. The stalled housing market's effects are hitting the Ax Men hard. Jobs will be shut down; men will be put out of work. This week, the housing market hits home.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/108 votesLoading...
#17 - Initiation Day
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 3/9/2009
After just starting the race, men from the groups begin quitting; Jay Browning's big financial gamble shows that it won't pay out; the Aqua Logging crew attempts to reel in what could be a once in a lifetime catch.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/108 votesLoading...
#18 - "By Air, Land and Sea"
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 3/16/2009
A helicopter logging company makes it's presence know in the competition; Dustin tries to convince his father into returning to Pihl Logging; a member of the Rygaard team must face his fear when he has to climb a 100-foot tall tree; Jimmy and James watch their prized log fall through their hands.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/108 votesLoading...
#19 - Moby Dick Strikes
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 3/23/2009
R&R Conner Aviation have to make a decision to either keep their workers safe or to amp up production; Jimmy and James battle a deadhead log known as "Moby Dick."
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/106 votesLoading...
#20 - One Weak Link
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 4/20/2009
Jimmy discovers a once-in-a-lifetime log, as the Pihl Logging team is challenged by formidable lumber. Also, the helicopter's team finds their weak link in their operation, the new pilot.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/107 votesLoading...
#21 - Fresh Meat
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 5/4/2009
The crews receive some new loggers. Then, a search is conducted when a cutter disappears. Also, tempers flare among the aqua loggers.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/107 votesLoading...
#22 - Clash of the Titans
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 5/11/2009
A new pilot endangers the helicopter when he becomes reckless. Bad weather delays the aqua loggers; and a greenhorn attempts to prove himself.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/106 votesLoading...
#23 - Showdown
Season 3 Episode 6 - Aired 2/21/2010
Tempers erupt, especially among the Pihl loggers; Jay Browning suffers shock from an allergy; and a Rygaard greenhorn is let go.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/107 votesLoading...
- 7.9/109 votesLoading...
#25 - Risk and Reward
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 3/16/2008
Just days into the fall logging season, the Ax Men are already being put to the test. J.M. Browning races to meet a big deadline. Stump Branch Logging tempts fate by jury-rigging their old equipment. The Gustafson Company races mother nature as they attempt to build a road to access their logging site. Father teaches son the lessons of logging as the men of the Pihl Company haul in the forest's cash crop.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Ax Men
Every episode of Ax Men ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Ax Men!
Danger is a full-time job for these brave men who put everything on the line each and every day to retrieve the Pacific Northwest timber...
Genre:Reality
Network:History
Best Episodes Summary
"Shelby Strikes Back" is the best rated episode of "Ax Men". It scored 9.4/10 based on 6 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 11/22/2015. This episode scored 0.7 points higher than the second highest rated, "Chopping Block".