When you tune into Ax Men on the History Channel, a few things are certain. At least one big tree is going to almost kill someone, Craig Rygaard is going to want to fire someone, and Shelby Stanga is going to be running the river in some crazy looking souped up toy.
Just recently, Shelby’s acquired a couple of new toys: an excavator and a crazy looking paddle barge that is almost as wide as the river Shelby’s camp sits on. But, these new toys are just the most recent additions to his aresenal of log-pulling machines. Here’s a guide to some of Shelby’s most famous toys from over the years and, straight from Shelby himself, the word on which one is his very favorite.
In this first clip, Shelby walks us around his (then new) Big Log Dog. The little log dog just couldn’t stand up to the Stanga treatment, and . . . well . . . Shelby sunk it. This monster looks unsinkable sitting on the shore, but that’s what they said about the Titanic, too. Shelby loves him some Big Log Dog, but, is it his favorite?
Shelby has lots of love for the Big Log Dog, but it isn’t his favorite toy. You can’t get into too much trouble working a big wench sitting on two big pontoons, really, and Shelby needs a little excitement to round out his day. There’s no trouble finding adventure in Shelby’s next new toy, the Swamp Buggy. I have to admit, this one is my favorite. Look at those crazy wheels? And watch the way it bounces off the shore and onto the water. The Swamp Buggy has “don’t get in my way!” written all over it. But is it Shelby’s favorite? Check out this clip from when the Swamp Buggy was brand new to Shelby. Oh . . . there’s some shooting involved too.
Nope. No matter how cool the Swamp Buggy is (and it REALLY is), it isn’t Shelby’s favorite. Its got more possibilities for adventure than the Big Log Dog–lots more–but it lacks one very important Stanga pre-requisite: speed! That’s right. Shelby just couldn’t be happy if he couldn’t hurl himself (and others) down the river at ridiculous speeds. Check out the video below to see the fastest toy in Shelby’s box.
It’s the Jetboat! Ding ding ding ding! It’s Shelby’s favorite. We should’ve known it from the start. While there are lots of toys for pulling logs, only one of those custom log pulling machines is also a fast and furious fun machine.
Would you go on a ride with Shelby in the Jetboat? Plenty of folks have gotten hurt sitting in that passenger seat, but I’d be there in a second if it meant spending some time on the swamp with Shelby and Piss Willy. Heereweeego!!!
