How to Harvest, Process and Use Rich Pine

Pine tree bark

Fat or rich pine is far superior to the costly fire starters bought off the rack. Loblolly pine inhabits states ranging from New Jersey south to Florida and west to Texas, while southern yellow pine is found throughout the southern and southeastern states. Grab a few tools and hit the woods to collect a supply of fat pine for quick starting your winter fires.

Things You'll Need

• Ax
• Safety glasses
• Pocket knife
• Leather gloves
• Post hole digger
• Splitting maul and/or sledge hammer
• 1 or 2 steel splitting wedges
• Length of chain, come-along winch or tractor with a front end loader (optional)

Instructions

1. Locate a quarry and find a pine stump. Pine stumps rot very quickly except for the center portion, which is pitch filled and very dense and hard. Knock and pull away the soft, rotted outer portion of the stump, leaving only the center part. Don't let the small size of some pine stump center fool you: There may be a 100-pound or larger mass of rich pine stump hiding below the surface of the ground.

2. Whittle off several shavings from the hard stump core with the pocket knife. These will have the unmistakable heavy scent of turpentine, similar to Pine Sol cleaning products.

3. Get the stump out. If you are going to dig out the stump manually with post hole diggers, the work will be far easier than with many other trees. The stump goes straight down with few if any side roots. Most stumps that have been decaying for awhile can even be moved back and forth by hand with some effort. If there is a tree of any kind close by, you might be able to use a come-along hand winch to pull up your prize.

4. Make your work easier with a tractor of any size with a front-end loader. After removing the rotted portion of the stump, place a chain around the solid core and hook it onto the bucket of the tractor. With a straight-up lift, even the larger stumps of fat pine will come out of their socket.

5. Break your stump into smaller chunks with steel wedges and a splitting maul or sledge hammer, then use the ax to reduce these into splinters and pieces suitable for use in your fire. Some chunks as large as a fist are OK; very small pieces are not required but also can be used. The pitch-filled wood is very brittle and many small slivers will be produced in splitting up the larger chunks.

6. Store your fat pine near your stove or fireplace in a wood box or other container

7. Place some splinters and perhaps a larger chunk on the very bottom to start your fire. On top of this, add small dry kindling pieces, about 16 inches long or so, that have one end propped on an andiron. Place the split hardwood above the kindling. Light the fat pine in more than one place -- that is, light the ends of several of the splinters. In a few minutes the burning pitch-filled pine will have your fire off to a roaring start.

Tips & Warnings

• Gathering rich pine can be a family outing and the children can be a big help.

• If a rich pine stump proves to be too heavy to lift, make a rudimentary "A" frame over it from saplings and use a come-along hand winch to jack it out of the ground.

• Wearing safety glasses while splitting fat pine is a good idea since the brittle wood sends small splinters and shards in every direction.

References

• Great Green Apple: Just Fatwood