NEAR BUXTON, Ore. -- On a rural road just a few miles off of the Sunset Highway visitors will find towering trees and a rugged landscape much like any local forest, but it can still be a foreign world.

Buzzing chainsaws break the silence. Complex machines standing as tall as a house work to move logs weighing hundreds of pounds.

Welcome to the world of the ax men.

History Channel

“We don’t mind getting dirty or sweaty, yep, different breed,” said Mike Pihl, owner of Mike Pihl Logging. “Everyday out here is exciting, it smells good, there are always big challenges.”

Pihl has been cutting trees for the past 30 years and for the last 25 he also runs a business.

The latest project for Mike Pihl Logging has crews harvesting a 100 acre plot near Buxton. Lumberjacks cut down more than 1000 logs each day. However, few people know what it takes to get the logs out of the forest and to places as far away as China and Japan.

The public is about to learn a whole lot more.

Pihl and his crew are the stars of a new television show called “Ax Men,” set to premiere March 9 on The History Channel.

Camera crews followed Mike Phil Logging and three other local outfits from August 2007 to December 2007. Photographers captured every moment on every job including some close calls.

The premiere episode, obtained early by NorthWest Cable News, shows loggers working in some of the most extreme winter conditions. “Ax Men” shows workers as they brave falling tree limbs and struggle with the intense pressures of the logging industry.

“Ax Men” is produced by the creators of popular cable television shows “Deadliest Catch” and “Ice Road Truckers.”

Pihl admits he was weary of the show’s intent, but he became more comfortable after getting to know the crew.

“Loggers have got a bad rap for so many years,” said Phil. “I think they’ll put a different spin to it so people will understand what loggers are really like and what we do everyday.”

This is a dangerous line of work where limbs and lives can be lost. In one of the episodes, a logger shows how he lost much of his left arm in a logging accident.

“It’s a tough, tough world out there,” said Pihl. It will not be long before many people will get a vivid look at that world.

Logging has been part of the Pacific Northwest ever since this region was settled.

Loggers and producers of “Ax Men” hope the series will entertain, educate and clear misconceptions about the industry. Viewers across the country will soon know what it takes to be ax men.