Timber Kings kicked off Season Two this week with Old Dog, New Tricks, another fun-filled look behind the scenes of Pioneer Log Homes.
In the episode, which aired Jan. 4 on HGTV and is available to view on the Internet, Bryan Reid Jr. heads up the construction of a fishing cabin for the Gustafsons at their Central Coast Adventures fishing lodge in Shearwater.
When Reid Jr. and his crew arrive they discover the foundation hasn’t been completed and there’s no crane in sight.
Despite the setbacks they get to work although that involves using an excavator to move large timbers in place.
Things improve a bit when Bryan Reid Sr. arrives by boat with a rusty crane on board.
“Let’s see if this old dog can learn a new trick,” Reid Sr. says as he gets behind the controls.
Meanwhile, Beat Schwaller is scrambling back in Williams Lake where he has two large projects on the go in the work yard.
When he adds the finishing touch — a carved eagle — to the front of one of the homes, he learns it was supposed to be a bear.
Because his regular carver is out of commission he asks someone else to get the job done, which he does with satisfying results.
Behind the scenes Peter Arnold is determined to participate in the Williams Lake Stampede Parade.
He tells his co-worker they are building a picnic table, but unless he’s thinking of Jack and the Beanstalk, the table is definitely out of proportion.
In the end it’s a float, carrying logs.
During the parade Pioneer Log Homes staff and young family members walk alongside, slicing discs from the logs with chainsaws and Arnold brands them with the Timber Kings logo then and there.
And the discs fly off his hands as quick as he can make them going to eager parade watchers.
Kerry Gustafson, whose son Trevor runs Central Coast Adventures, said traffic to their website has increased since the show aired.
Everyone who comes into the show room at Gustafson’s Chrysler Jeep makes a comment about how nice the new cabin at Shearwater is, Gustafson added.
“The old crane made the show, but people have a hard time believing it wasn’t made up,” Gustafson said. “We had a crane coming from Port Hardy, but it was late and we couldn’t wait for it.”
He said when the crane finally did arrive on the ferry, the Pioneer Log Homes crew was getting on the ferry to depart.
“From the time Reid Jr. brought me the design plans, everything was heading out on the ferry six weeks later,” Gustafson said. “They custom built it in six weeks.”
Gustafson said they loved the final product, which was built with the help of many local contractors from Williams Lake.