I'm learning to process fatwood for various uses, but I'm curious if anyone here goes out of their way to find it.
We just usually find the stumps innthe woods while out cutting wood...then sometimes we find them where a farmer has dug them from the fields.
I'd love to go hunting for fatwood.....but being as I'm in NY the best I can get locally is some nice pine sapwood that has a nice resin content....but it ain't no fatwood.......but makes amazing kindling. Thus I have to resort to Plowhearth.com for a 50lb box. Locally they try to sell 15lbs for $45........I got my 50lb box for $72.55 delivered.
Yes. Several years ago while camping in Florida, found fatwood and collected as much as we could. Awesome stuff, still have a 5 gallon bucket full of it. Cut into 6" long pieces, split down fine, great natural fire starter.
That one in the picture went on a little trip... We cut it up and gave a good bit away at Backwoods Savage GTG in May '19.
That stuff looks so awesome. That was really great of you to hand that out. Truly a gift to those who know what to do with it.
See now. Had you shown up at a great GTG, you could have had some free! Next GTG scheduled for May 1 plus a few days before. We usually say the Saturday date but they begin showing up Wednesday or Thursday. Then Sunday morning is a huge exodus!
YOU BET!! I take my stihl 193 put it in a loggers pack a extra pint of gas, a hatchet and cruise the clear cuts looking for Pitch from downed fir's or fir stumps
Very interesting! What kind of tree is that? I buy the stuff by the bag at the big box stores. By my calcs, it's cheaper than what I've seen online. Love the stuff! One stick with some dry pine/hemlock kindling will get things going pretty good in a cold stove. On a somewhat related note, we were given a wax coated box to carry some items home when we purchased them at the local farm stand (not exactly a stand...more like a store!). Boy, do those cut up bits of wax cardboard burn nicely!
I don't hunt for it specifically. Most of the older Doug Firs I cut for firewood have a lot of pitch wood near the base so it is just a by product of cutting Fir firewood. I save the straight grained pieces to process into kindling. When I bring a bunch in and load the kindling caddy, it sure makes the house smell good!
I know a couple of retired loggers who would carry gallon milk jugs in the crummy, so, that if they hit a super pitchy tree they could save it. There was times they told me when they'd get several jugs, 5 or more, totally full of clean pure pitch. I had some good pitch the other night, so good i could not get it off my finger even with butter. But, finally got it, but, not before i'd stuck my hand in my pocket a couple of times before i realized it was on my fingers. lol
Better be careful. Get both hands stuck in the pockets and you'll have to get the wife cut your pants off to get out of them!
They call it Lighter Knot here in NC, works great but I don't have time to scavenge it so I use Strike-A-Fire from Home Depot.