Dead pine tree finally fell over, what can I salvage

[silenthunterstudios]

Well, a dead pine tree in my fathers front yard came down due to high winds. He's going to be using the tree itself for lumber, the dead branches have gone to the bonfire pile. It's in his frontyard, he doesn't want a stump sitting there while I wait for fatwood (that really doesn't sound right on so many levels ). Anything I can do with the stump? Stupid question?

 

[missin_hobo]

Uh...wait for fatwood anyways?

 

[Chris Pierce]

Turn it into a table while you wait for fatwood?

 

[remmmm]

If it was dead for awhile, shouldn't the stump and roots be good to go? Maybe I don't fully understand the fat-woodification process?

 

[theedge13]

Believe you have it correct remmmm

 

[Rupestris]

How long are the needles? You could harvest them to make a Pine needle basket.

http://www.squidoo.com/pineneedlebaskets

http://www.knowitall.org/naturalstate/html/pinecone-interactive/Basket-Picture.cfm

 

[Skimo]

Depends on how long it was dead, the branches will most likely the better quality fatwood if it was standing dead.

 

[missin_hobo]

Also depends on whether it was dead before it came down. A tree needs to die violently to produce fatwood; say, by lightning or lumberjack. That way the resin that was meant to go into the whole tree is concentrated in the stump - that's what makes it fatwood.

 

[Skimo]

Not necessarily, you'll find trunks that are fatwood as well. Well, I have at least, just not "premium royal A+ #1" fatwood.

Next time I hike I'll take pictures of the fatwood trunks.

 

[raybadge]

I've heard that you can eat the inner bark. Slice it like potato chips and fry it, or shred it like spaghetti and boil it. But I don't think you can do it without killing the tree, so I've never tried it. Sounds interesting, though.