Must not be any pine trees up north

[Squintacular]

Every load of firewood I sell, I give away a handful of fat lighter. For some reason all the northern folks don't have a clue what it is. So after a brief description and a quick demonstration of how well it burns I get that look of I performed some special magic trick.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

i got no clue what you're talking about. Moonshine in a spray bottle?

 

[Metals406]

Fatwood

 

[ReggieT]

Every load of firewood I sell, I give away a handful of fat lighter. For some reason all the northern folks don't have a clue what it is. So after a brief description and a quick demonstration of how well it burns I get that look of I performed some special magic trick.

Would osage orange also be a decent fatwood or starter...minus the sparks of course...just was thinking small slivers or pieces would seem to catch ablaze pretty easy?

 

[Metals406]

Fatwood is 'Fatwood' because of the pine resin in the wood -- as it begins to petrify.

I'm sure there are other oily wood species that would be good fire starters.

Birch bark is another good one. Burns even when wet. I've lit it and set it on the snow and it burns.

 

[jpj6780]

I love me some fat lighter. Best smelling stuff in nature.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

 

[ReggieT]

Fatwood is 'Fatwood' because of the pine resin in the wood -- as it begins to petrify.

I'm sure there are other oily wood species that would be good fire starters.

Birch bark is another good one. Burns even when wet. I've lit it and set it on the snow and it burns.

Hmm...I see now a use for the tons of abandoned pine logs in my region...does it have season before use...if so how long?

 

[ponyexpress976]

Hmm...I see now a use for the tons of abandoned pine logs in my region...does it have season before use...if so how long?

Been starting all my fires this year with some pine that Hurricane Sandy "delivered". I split it all into about 3-4" pieces. All I have to do it touch a match to it and POOOF.

 

[Chris-PA]

The local ACE sells bags of it, and I usually buy a bag for the upstairs stove in case my wife has to start a fire from scratch or I am in a hurry. I did lose a lot of pines in hurricane Sandy (it should be called the Pine Storm, it crushed pines all over the area). I understand it is from the center of the stump? Should it be from a big tree?

I just have not noticed any sap saturated wood in the stumps, but they were mostly pretty small. There were some larger ones I should check out more carefully.

 

[ponyexpress976]

The local ACE sells bags of it, and I usually buy a bag for the upstairs stove in case my wife has to start a fire from scratch or I am in a hurry. I did lose a lot of pines in hurricane Sandy (it should be called the Pine Storm, it crushed pines all over the area). I understand it is from the center of the stump? Should it be from a big tree?

I just have not noticed any sap saturated wood in the stumps, but they were mostly pretty small. There were some larger ones I should check out more carefully.

The white pines have a lot of sap and have been working the best for me.

 

[513yj]

I use dry white cedar. Starts fires better than any pine species round here.

 

[Preston]

I got enough lighter wood to last my lifetime and 30 other folks. Getting the stumps up could pose a problem, but I have about 30 large ones on my place, and hundreds more all around me on other properties. Most of um about 14 the 16 inches. That came from 36 to 40 inch diameter pines.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I found 2 or 3 rounds of fatwood in a load of lodgepole this past summer. Cut and split small for starters, it hardly needs the torch. I keep a Corona bucket full next to the stove.

 

[nk14zp]

Lots of pine up here but cedar works better.

 

[c5rulz]

Noodles dried in the sun and stored in feed sacks make excellent fire starter.

 

[Woody912]

true lighter really only comes from the heartwood of the longleaf pine, grows from the Carolinas maybe to East Tx, best produced when it dies on a stump. Have gotten some lighter like material from very old loblollies, not sure about the west coast pines. Guessing I am the only guy in Indiana using it for firestarter. This fencepost in the background is lighter, I set it 50 yrs ago and it was old then.

 

[kodiak]

I have boxes and boxes of 2x4 and 2x6 cutoffs that I split down to 1x2 or 2x2 size that I use for kindling. I can't imagine anything starting easier than these.

 

[Woody912]

Hmm...I see now a use for the tons of abandoned pine logs in my region...does it have season before use...if so how long?

probably not, most likely loblolly and they'll just rot. Go out and find the really old pine stumps and knots, make a cut and check for turpentine smell

 

[Woody912]

I have boxes and boxes of 2x4 and 2x6 cutoffs that I split down to 1x2 or 2x2 size that I use for kindling. I can't imagine anything starting easier than these.

soak them in turpentine for a month and you will be getting close but probably not the burn time of lighter

 

[zogger]

Hmm...I see now a use for the tons of abandoned pine logs in my region...does it have season before use...if so how long?

If you can find real old pine stumps, that's the best. Kick away or remove any remaining punky wood. What is inside and down into the roots is the fatwood. Unmistakable when you get it, looks more rock than wood. It's a block of near solid resin. with just a teensy bit of wood to it. Lights up and burns great. Just sliver it off or split small or break pieces up. I yank the fatwood roots out of the ground when I find them, from like 40 year old stumps.

I think there is where the old wives tale about not burning pine came from, someone loaded up a stove or fireplace with a big amount of pure fatwood.