Ax Men Episode w/Diver lost in cavern/cave

[Benderr]

I know of a 'lesser known' cave on a river in NFL that has a HUGE dense tree in it. It is inside the cave but definitely "old growth" log. Hmmm.... I have a boat maybe I just need a good winch...

There's mention in the series about "legal logs". I got the impression that the logs had to have been cut already (like a log that was cut a decade ago, and somehow lost in the river, either falling off of a logging barge, or floating off from a logging operation). It also wouldn't surprise me that a permit was needed for such an enterprise....

Imagine some yahoo trying to tow off the log at Devil's Ear while you decompress....

[Wizard]

You been looking through my window? Before Netflix, my wife used to complain our TV only got History and Discovery channel, except she called the History channel, the Hitler channel.

LMAO!!! My wife calls it the Hitler Channel! When I grab the remote all I hear is "I'm not watching any Hitler tonight!"

[DA Aquamaster]

Back in the day (100-200 years ago) logs were floated down river as as many as 10% would "water log" and sink during the trip. Under the right conditions the wood can be in exceptional shape even after hundreds of years so you potentially have three things happening:

Large old growth logs that are no longer found anywhere else, and wood that has some very special properties due to the long soak in a low O2 / no O2 environment.

Some are highly prized for making musical instruments. As an example it's thought that Stradivarius soaked the wood he used for his violins for a long time changing the structure and giving them a unique tonal quality. In that context some logs are very highly prized and sought after.

Old growth logs are not just big either. In an old growth forest they grow slowly in the shade of taller trees so the growth rings are much closer together than in the case with modern tree farmed lumber, or trees grown in managed forest where trees are thinned, etc. that makes the old growth timber much more desirable in terms of density and strength as well.

Finally, over the decades hardwoods have been cut and replaced by much faster growing pine to turn a faster profit - but the resulting pine is generally used for paper pulp, often not being well suited even for general construction due to the wide growth rings and reduced strength. So logs recovered from rivers often represent a source of increasingly rare types of wood.

[DA Aquamaster]

LMAO!!! My wife calls it the Hitler Channel! When I grab the remote all I hear is "I'm not watching any Hitler tonight!"

My EX wife called it that....

[WEPIV]

The floor in our house is reclaimed old heart pine that was lost just as described in the above post.

[Garyd]

FWIW I am about realitied out myself. I would rather see how lawn chairs get made or watch WWII battle footage than any reality show.

Ditto

[Line Squirrel]

FWIW I am about realitied out myself. I would rather see how lawn chairs get made or watch WWII battle footage than any reality show.

Lawn Chair Wars!!!!

[Sludge]

Remember when The Learning Channel was about learning? When The History Channel showed history? Discovery was about discovering nature and science? Arts and Entertainment actually showed arts and entertainment?

I tell the kids at school that MTV used to show music videos all day long and they look at me like I'm crazy.

[JamesK]

Remember when The Learning Channel was about learning? When The History Channel showed history? Discovery was about discovering nature and science? Arts and Entertainment actually showed arts and entertainment?

I tell the kids at school that MTV used to show music videos all day long and they look at me like I'm crazy.

Those were the days! Now TLC is horrible. History and Discovery still have some decent shows though. MTV just plain sucks.

[Leslie Sapp]

My first set of gear was bought for me by my older brothers so I could hook up logs while they towed them to the ramp. I'll give you guys a little background on this if you'll bear with a rather long post...

During the vast logging operations of the early 20th century, many thousands of logs were lost in the rivers, mostly due to the old growth wood being so dense it sank, in the case of pine. Cypress was usually ringed and deadened some time before it was cut down in order to make it lighter, so it was not as prone to sink unless it stayed in the water long enough to become waterlogged.

For many years, any logs in Florida rivers were considered part of the environment and there was no legal way to retrieve them. As there were few law enforcement officers on the river, and most of them seemed to have little interest in bringing a case against people pulling logs, many people took logs whenever the opportunity presented itself.

At some point, someone realized that these logs were lost property, and it was decided that they fell under the rules for marine salvage. At this time the state began issuing permits, and within a few years most of the logs were cleaned out.

If a log does not show signs of having been cut by humans, it is not a legal log, as it is not salvage.

To give you an idea of how many logs there were: Just above Fanning Springs, the is a turntable railroad bridge. The first time I dove it, there was a pile of old growth pine logs the size of a house lodged against the upstream side of the turntable. Snaking them out of there was like playing a giant game of zero gee pickup sticks.