I was running through the woods today and notice that there were thousands Pine cones on the trail. I was thinking that those things are dry enough that they can start a forrest fire and therefore start a Stove fire. Any Thoughts?
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Ghettontheball said:
Quotas? I were savin' those for the jukebox!
But seriously... how many drunk cops did the chief say he needed?
not to get too far back towards to the topic...we used to put a dozen pine cones in an cardboard egg tray and pour hot wax in them. They would work as perfect camp fire starters in the boy scouts
Since we're back on topic, not only do I use them as firestarters, I have actually put a whole load (a few gallons) in my stove. I did this a few times last winter, easy to do with a top loader. The stove had a good bed of coals, I shut the primary air down pretty quick, and the pine cones glowed and flickered against the glass for quite a long time. It was really mesmerizing. (And they threw some heat, but not as much as a load of really dry black walnuts.)
As mentioned, make sure they are brown, opened up and fully dry. Pretty easy to tell when they are closed, green and sappy.
As mentioned, make sure they are brown, opened up and fully dry. Pretty easy to tell when they are closed, green and sappy.
used to use them all the time when i was still burning logs, still collect some in case i dont find any when we camp they make great firestarters (especially cause they are free)
Surely you can afford better clothing than a burlap sack Kat. Seems like maybe we should form a clothing fund for you? 
Lol good one. The burlap sack is for gathering the cones not to dress in. I do that on the weekends
KatWill said:
Seems like this is a big year for pine cones . . . I've got a ton of them (well maybe not a ton, but a whole lot) around my place . . . I've got plenty of kindling with branches, pallets and slabwood, but I can't help myself . . . I gathered up a trash bag full of them the other night and a wheelbarrow full and will most likely go out and get some more since they actually work pretty well as fire starters.
As others have mentioned, go for the big, brown ones that have fully opened up . . . the ones with the dried sap (white and crusty) work especially well. You may end up with sticky fingers (and could of course burn your house down or burn in Hell for burning anything pine related in your woodstove
), but I've found that these do work half way decent for getting the fire going. I think I remember one guy here dipping cones in paraffin . . . and another soaks them in kerosene . . . not that I'm advocating these ideas, but it seems to work for them . . . for me just burning the plain ol' pine cones works pretty well.Incidentally, I don't think pine cones start forest fires . . . maybe a lightning strike, out of control burn or arsonist might use some pine cones or other dry debris to start a fire . . . but you don't hear of too many pine cones spontaneously bursting into flames.
Ghettontheball said:
No kidding Pook . . . which town . . . and don't worry . . . I won't be driving through the town looking for the Magic Heat!
I never realized you were up this way . . . heck, if you watch the news you might have seen me on TV.
Ghettontheball said:
Yeah, Pook is right . . . things have actually been quite nice and summer-like . . . today that is going to change . . . but we really can't complain. Honestly, I suspect Maine is not all that much colder or snowier than other places (with the exception perhaps of the County and in the Western mountains), but many folks seem to think of Maine as a northern frontier wilderness.
I grabbed a lot last weekend in VT. I was grabbing some branches for kindling and noticed they were all over the place. Most of the ones I found were closed and LOADED with sap. Thankfully I had gloves on. I just left them outside. Will they eventually open up and dry out?
I've used 'em plain, with paraffin, and kerosene soaked. The really brown, dry, open ones are good. Plain ones do fine. Wax dipped is a little better, and kero soaked, better still. All are good. Pine cones are great fire starters, so long as you're patient enough to build a tinder and small kindling- based fire. They're not as aggressive or long burning as the wax soaked sawdust types- the 'log's and Super Cedars, etc. You want these latter types if you want to get right into the big kindling and splits 'straight away'.firefighterjake said:As others have mentioned, go for the big, brown ones that have fully opened up . . . the ones with the dried sap (white and crusty) work especially well. You may end up with sticky fingers (and could of course burn your house down or burn in Hell for burning anything pine related in your woodstove
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