Fatwood harvest

[bambam]

Stump lighter.

 

[tdi_g]

Any tips for finding it? I know it's a pine tree but what part of tree?

After reading this thread I got really interested in it and took the kids with me to a park on Lake Lanier today to go find some. I found a pine tree that had blown over a while back and started working on it near the root ball. Got some decent pieces out of it. The money piece was a fairly large log that had been rotting for a long time. I started pulling off the rotted pieces and sure enough it was full of "fatwood" (I'm a transplanted yankee). The best pieces were where the branches were. I found the most effective way to get it out was to split the stubs down the middle then break them off the trunk. Most of the stuff I brought home today came from the branch stubs.

 

[Uwood52]

I agree. Branches that have either been cut or broken off. I found some recently off a dead branch that had been struck by lightening. I knew where to look because the sap was still oozing from the lightening wound.

 

[roundhouse]

Standing dead pine trees

It's usually noticeable when there's only a few feet of tree trunk left standing

We were doing some arsenic surveying in ft valley and we saw dozens of them in a swampy kind of spot near a good sized creek

I've never seen so many in one place

I don't know how or why some stumps turn into lightered fatwood and some just rot
Not sure anyone knows

If you do find some and don't split it all up
Keep it separate from your regular wood
Do not keep it in the house or near your other wood

If someone tosses it in your wood heater or fireplace thinking its normal wood it will probably set your chimney on fire

 

[bambam]

The tree dies and all the "juice" goes down into the stump. Pine beatles have left a lot of standing and draining pines.

 

[jloneill17]

lighter knot is what we call it. Got about 3 wheelbarrows of the stuff under the barn shed. Burns hot and long.

that's what my buddies from NY call it. I've always called it Fatwood. We have a ton of it on our hunting property.

 

[SOLGardener]

We always called it rich pine. My son found a small pine tree a few years ago near our house that was about 20 feet tall, maybe 6" diameter at the base. The WHOLE thing was rich. I took a hand saw and cut it into 8" lengths and split it into sticks and put it in a 7 gallon bucket.

We have a few roots we dug up drying in the back yard too.

It's primarily from yellow pines (long needle), but white pines will produce it too. Just not as strong.

 

[heystranger]

I got a swamp full of cat faces (where the catch cup was nailed into the tree under the gash they made when they were doing turpintine). These are your good fat lightered logs.

 

[Larry floyd]

I've got a log on my property that is solid fat lighter. Heard it sells good but got 8 rods in my back and not capable of doing the busting. Curious if anybody would be interested in buying it at like half what it will sell for. Maybe a stupid question. But figured wouldn't hurt to ask.

 

[woodstock]

My family always called it lighter wood. And I'm not a Yankee.

Yeah but you probably have a blue shirt somewhere....