Ash fat wood?

[Ashful]

So, this past weekend I was splitting a few of the "rounds" from the base of this monster:



This smell hits me like a ton of bricks... it has the strong pine-tar odor, and same slippery feel, as the fatwood firestarters I've used in the past! I had always been of the assumption that fat wood came from coniferous trees, and primarily standing dead ones, at that. This was an unhealthy, but still mostly alive, ash.

 

[Woody Stover]

Must be some kind of funky rot smell....that ain't no fat lighter wood.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That beast will make you a lot of firewood! Looks like it may have rolled a bit when it hit the ground. No doubt made a bit of noise too. I love that! lol

I do believe fatwood does come from pine but perhaps someone will correct me if I am wrong.

 

[basod]

That beast will make you a lot of firewood! Looks like it may have rolled a bit when it hit the ground. No doubt made a bit of noise too. I love that! lol

I do believe fatwood does come from pine but perhaps someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Most of the fatwood sold in the states is from south America could be some odd species that has resin.
I made a good pile off it from the butt of a longleaf I split today, lit a patch of the bark that was sapped up from a beetle hole and it distilled out the resin - turned hard as glass and a nice Amberbock color

 

[ScotO]

only one way to tell, Joful.....take a sliver, put it in the microwave to dry it out, and light it with a match....
If it's got any kind of resin in it, it'll take off like mad and put out a pile of black smoke.....

Highly unlikely it's fatwood, that comes from coniferous trees.....

(P.S. The wife will probably KILL you for the microwave thing, if she gets mad you didnt' hear it from me!)

 

[Augie]

 

[BobUrban]

That's a Bigun

 

[Ashful]

Just to be clear, I understand you can make something that burns like fatwood, but it's really a naturally occurring phenomenon, and I think I'm looking at some here. I've never smelled ash as sappy (not punky, as someone above suggested... but fresh, clean, and resinous). I should've marked it when I put it in my stacks, as now it's likely lost among the vast cordage!

Bob, that tree measured 44" DBH, based on the rounds I brought home and measured. I think it was over 50" diameter where I made the cut, but I forgot to bring a measuring tape to the cutting site with me. It was the biggest tree I had cut as of last October, but I've since taken two others much larger!