Making Pine Tar - FHC Farm Bulletin #11

The rosin-rich inner wood of the pine tree (often called “fat pine”, “lighter knot” or “kindling”) is used in the making of pine tar-a dark, sticky substance which, historically, had many uses on the small farm or homestead: a wood or fiber rope preservative, an insect repellent, a topical antiseptic treatment for livestock wounds, and a sticky substance for baseball players to grip the bat or ball. The process also produces the byproduct charcoal. Pa Mac demonstrates the making of pine tar on a small scale in this edition of The Farm Hand’s Companion Farm Bulletin #011.
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[@onebackzach]

In my area they used what they called "tar kilns" to extract the tar from pine knots and stumps. They were basically big pits they dug out, loaded with pine, started a fire, and covered it over with dirt to smother the fire and hold in the heat. The tar would run out of a channel they'd dig in the bottom of the pit. You can still find the depressions left by the kilns if you know what to look for.

[@Fgway]

Earth kilns were indeed common. This is similar to the old way to make burnt lime for paint or mortar.

[@kalliste23]

Pine tar was used in tarring and feathering of politicians. I think there's a world-wide need for huge quantities of it.

[@LogHewer]

I fully agree.

[@EthanPDobbins]

Pine tar is a valuable antiseptic especially for burns. I have not found a better salve for burns. Also good to add to soap for natural antiseptic and anti-dandruff qualities. And Also good for painting wounds and grafts on fruit trees, and when a small amount is mixed with boiled linseed it makes a excellent wood finish especially for tool handles. I love the stuff. Hadn't ever really thought of making it myself but I'm glad for your video as i figured youd need a LOT more wood to make usable quantities.

[@DWerner7822]

Thank you for another wonderful and educational video. Those with a solid grasp of the past are best prepared to lead us into the unpredictable future.

[@BillDavies-ej6ye]

Well, if the future is unpredictable, probably not.

[@threeriversforge1997]

I use pine tar for all my wood handles. Thinned with turpentine, it's a great preservative and stain, really making white woods pop. I also tar all of my natural-fiber ropes to keep them healthy. I'm trying to get away from using plastic ropes, especially when it's a throw-away item. Tarred butcher's twine is an excellent thing for around the homestead, lasting very long and plenty strong for any application. The cotton twine rots away to nothing in a few years, but lasts for ages even if it's not tarred. Still, tarred cotton, jute, hemp, cordage has proven a real boon around the homestead. Far better than parachute cord or bank line that so many people are using. I got to a point where I was just sick and tired of all this plastic rope I was finding on the side of the road, out in the woods, etc. Every time I turned around, I was finding bundles of junk plastic discarded and blown away by the wind. So, now I preach the gospel of tarred lines however I can. You can buy pine tar from places like Tractor Supply. The Tenda brand is pretty good stuff, and it's really easy to tar a roll of cotton twine. I've found that if I'm careful and pre-cut lengths, I can use the same cotton twine several seasons in a row for things like tomato stakes and such. Just gotta be careful about collecting it up at the end of the season and storing it in the shed. When it does finally give up the ghost, I don't feel a bit bad about throwing it off in a ditch somewhere because I know it'll be rotted to dust in a few months! Can't say the same for nylon, polyester, and all the other plastics people are using around the house.

[@Iamnothereijustsee]

I love this rant, Godbless

[@johnsonr9]

Used to have pine plantations in S Ga and N Fl. Truly amazing the amount of hard work the old timers used to do.

[@maddash9070]

My wife owns a pretty old house from the late 1800s. In the basement I noticed the sill beams and the joists were black colored. I found out later they were painted with pine tar to preserve them. If that’s correct it’s really interesting.

[@debluetailfly]

Could be, but some people sprayed creosote under their houses also. Creosote stinks forever. I have a block of wood that was used in a factory floor in a Ford factory. They are still in use today. Pine tar is a great wood preservative, and is safe to use.

[@olddawgdreaming5715]

Good morning and thank you for a good video on gathering fat wood for making pine tar. Really helps when you live way out of town. Thanks for sharing with us, stay safe and keep up the fun around there. Fred.

[@aloberdorf4579]

Pine tar, Goose grease and Bear grease, in equal thirds...mixed well results in a superior boot dressing similar in smell to Hubbard Boot Grease....and works better (I think). Warm boots, rub in by hand..and enjoy the result....Dry feet.

[@EthanPDobbins]

I'd never considered adding it to boot grease but I may have to try it. I have just been using bear fat and beeswax with a little rendered deer tallow thrown in that I made years ago. Actually mainly using neatsfoot oil. The bear stuff I don't use as often but it's a decent waterproofer. Quit using it as much whenever I got some waterproof boots that I didn't have to grease up every other day.

[@sambulate]

Greetings, from the Tarheel State!

[@happilyretiredmark2964]

I remember back to my early quail hunting days about 50 years ago here in Georgia and you'd always see these metal tray "thingys" attached to the big pines and the tree would be scraped or something that caused tar to fill the trays. Don't see it any more but used to alot. Lots of uses for pines! As always thanks for the video buddy

[@cellerfeller1474]

You can also distill out birch oil from birch bark using the can over can method. If you don't want to dig a hole you can put some soil in your galvanized tub, put cans in and build fire around the cans. You can get a nice bit of oil out of a paint can stuff with birch bark. Some put a hole in the lid of the paint can so water vapor can escape and you don't get water in your oil.

[@jrrarglblarg9241]

Neandertals glued their stone points to spears with birch bark glue. It was robust enough technology they used it all the way to the end, never changing to tying spear tips on with cordage. Archaeologists don’t know specifically how they made the glue but they were probably using a method like you describe, only with hides and dirt. There’s been no archaeological find because, yeah, hides and dirt somewhere in a birch forest.

[@edhondo4447]

you can get more than just pine tar if you improve the process . if you refine the gases further you can run engines

[@Paxtonwife]

Thank you!

[@joseamilcarsalgadolainez3586]

Excellent

[@douglasvantassel8098]

Great episode, thank you for making these!

[@stephenrice4554]

Excellent description, I'll save this for reference 👍

[@WeebRemover4500]

i did the one with buried ceramic cup, i washed it out with a bit of acetone and bottled it i found it useful in kitchen as i took ... a few drops i believe, and about 100g paprika powder, mixed up with some water and oven dried that at maybe 50*C now i still years later have very strong smoke-flavored paprika powder, just a few drops i believe it was. it can probably be used to soak into meat as well to preserve it much like bacon, or smoking is done- as the smoking simply puts tar into meat which then preserves it

[@fimethr6248]

btw resin (rEsin) isn't the same thing as sap. Sap is 2 kinds of water-based fluids (raw sap and elaborate sap) that flow through the xylem and phloem vessels of a thracheophyte and participate in exchanges of mineral and organic matter throughout the plant. Resin is a complex lipid-based fluid that hardens by evaporating its therebentine compounds once exposed to air. It's a defense mechanism used by resinous gymnosperms (pines for example) to fill lesions and protect themselves from insects and infections like rot (mushrooms). Hope this helps !

[@jimmymcgaughey2827]

I have used the can over can method and yielded a quart and half out of a 2 gallon pale of fat pine packed tightly. I ended up buying some commercially derived to finish my project. I coated all of the boards and battens of a building a now use as an iffice in my back yard. Not to mention all od my tool handles.

[@elizabethjohnson475]

resin. Thanks, PaMac. I never knew about pine tar! Yes, also produces biochar.

[@PatrickKQ4HBD]

I suppose one would collect the pitch first and make the char.

[@awldune]

Very educational, thanks

[@RS-sl5ko]

Thanks for the informative video. Now you must make a part 2. Please show more detail on heating the fat lighter. Should it stay a liquid if heated to the correct temperature?

[@farmhandscompanion]

Hey RS, yes, if not overcooked it should stay a somewhat viscous liquid (kind of like syrup)

[@peacefulscrimp5183]

Very cool 👍

[@JakobHoldensen]

Mix it with chalk powder and you have a product that can be used for filling up holes in Wood to prevent rot. Translated it would be called some Thing like “tar putty” in english.

[@user-bj3zz4ul7z]

I remember tar and feathering going on in Erwin, Tenn, but victim was not politician.

[@royevans7793]

Since we don't have that many pine trees in my part of Missouri, but a lot of Eastern Red Cedar, I'm curious if we could do the same thing with cedar?

[@jameshoma8885]

I know this doesn't have to do with this video and I know you are extremely busy but by any chance do you have any old cabins plans I really dislike the new cabin plans none of them look right or are laid out with a wood cook stove well thanks really appreciate your videos and time

[@TheRedneckprepper]

TY

[@KevinHillier-ru5pp]

on a small scale probably be easier to cut into a living pine and nail a can under the wound and comeback a week later.

[@Siiello]

PA MAC You were incorrect in referring to the tree sap as rosin. RESIN COMES FROM THE TREE ROSIN COMES FROM THE STILL. Every single of your mentions of the word rosin should be replaced with resin because it does not become rosin until AFTER it has been cooked in a still and had the turpentine extracted from it.

[@frobeuszoinks7429]

I dont know if it was mentioned on here or not but please be mindful of the smoke, some of the methods ive seen and one that i used on here call to heat it up to a temp right before it smokes, i didnt catch it in time doing it over an open flame and got hurt from smoke inhalation.

[@user-bj3zz4ul7z]

In the low country, each village had a turpentine operation .

[@user-bj3zz4ul7z]

Off topic, my grandpappy worked on blue ridge parkway. I think he made 50 cent a day

[@digelander]

Thank you Pa' Mac for the great video, as always. I was wondering if there's a way to "cook" it indoor, maybe on a cast iron stove that we already use for heating and cooking, so to make the process also economical. Did anybody try with success? Thank you

[@farmhandscompanion]

There'd be a lot of smoke;. If you tried that, it'd need to be inside the stove and not on top of it; but in reality, there probably wouldn't be enough room to do it well.

[@stacihill2528]

Wonderful video. I’ve never attempted to do this. Looks like something fun to do. The bad thing is pine knots are getting harder and harder to find.

[@TheIntermont]

I assure you that pine trees are still making as many as ever, but they’re getting craftier about hiding.

[@stacihill2528]

@@TheIntermont Here in Southwest Arkansas the Pine trees are harvested so quickly that they are not allowed to get large enough to produce the rich pine knots they used to. Also, the yellow pines are not as popular as they used to be, and fast growing loblollies are planted in their place. You can go to public land and acquire some pine knots. Just don’t get caught 😉

[@SouthWestIron]

What exactly is a pine knot? @@stacihill2528

[@PatrickKQ4HBD]

Make friends with a logger however seems best. They can drag up a truckload of pine stumps and might be nice enough to load them too.

[@saltybildo9448]

Waterproofing?

[@dalemeyer8207]

Would it make Pine Pitch Glue if Ya kept heating a batch of the oil.....that pine glue that ya heat to make it back into a gel ??? Thanks 😎

[@David-kd5mf]

What about bleeding the tree and just using sap to make tar?

[@farmhandscompanion]

That would probably work...if you could get enough of it

[@onebackzach]

That would work, but you can make more commercially valuable products such as turpentine and rosin from fresh pine resin, so it was frequently pine knots and old stumps used to make tar

[@David-kd5mf]

@@farmhandscompanion appreciate the reply. Thanks

[@David-kd5mf]

@@onebackzach ok good to know

[@jamestregler1584]

THAT is some FAT pine SIR ! 😇

[@josephsimeon6117]

Does pine need to be relatively fresh cut to make pine oil and tar?

[@farmhandscompanion]

No, it doesn't. It stays in the heartwood indefinitely.

[@josephsimeon6117]

@@farmhandscompanion thank you for letting me know

[@jasonplant5432]

😊

[@lomax117]

Is pine tar the same thing as pitch? Used in the Bible Noah used to coat the ark?

[@farmhandscompanion]

Probably at least somethin' similar. This would surely have worked, I bet, if you got it a little thicker than normal.

[@BigPhilsSaws]

I bet the creator does the music as well.

[@farmhandscompanion]

farmhandscompanion.com/fhc-on-youtube/music-of-farm-hands-companion/

[@kitasuhill9667]

Nookie wood

[@cornballmcgoo7174]

these dabs taste terrible im sticking to marijuana