Pine Tar

Part of Petroleum and Tar

Making pine tar from resinous wood — one of civilization’s oldest and most versatile chemical products.

Why This Matters

Pine tar is perhaps the most universally accessible tar product available to a rebuilding society. Unlike petroleum, which requires specific geological conditions, pine tar can be produced anywhere that coniferous trees grow — which covers vast portions of the temperate and boreal zones across every continent. Scandinavia, Russia, and the Baltic states built entire industries around pine tar production for centuries, exporting millions of barrels to maritime nations for ship maintenance.

Pine tar serves as a waterproofing agent, wood preservative, rope treatment, leather conditioner, medicinal antiseptic, and adhesive. It was so essential to maritime civilizations that control of pine tar supply was a strategic military concern — without it, wooden ships rotted and ropes deteriorated within a single season. The British Royal Navy’s dependence on Baltic pine tar was a significant factor in international politics for centuries.

For a rebuilding community, pine tar is likely the first tar product you will produce, since it requires nothing more than resinous wood and a simple kiln. It bridges the gap until petroleum resources are developed and continues to be valuable even after petroleum becomes available, particularly for applications where its natural antiseptic properties and compatibility with organic materials are advantages.

Selecting Wood for Pine Tar

Not all wood produces good tar. The key is resin content — the higher the better.

Best Sources

Wood Type	Resin Content	Tar Quality	Notes
Pine stumps (fatwood)	Very high	Excellent	The absolute best source — stumps left after logging concentrate resin over years
Pine heartwood (old growth)	High	Excellent	Dense, resinous heartwood from mature pines
Pine roots	High	Very good	Rich in resin, often available from windfall trees
Spruce	Moderate	Good	Works but lower yield than pine
Fir	Moderate	Fair	Usable but produces less tar
Larch	Moderate-High	Good	Good resin content, especially heartwood

Fatwood: The Premium Source

Fatwood — also called “lighter wood,” “fat pine,” or “heart pine” — is the resin-saturated heartwood found in old pine stumps. When a pine tree is cut or dies, the sapwood rots away over 5-15 years, but the resin-impregnated heartwood remains and becomes increasingly concentrated with resin as moisture leaves. A single old stump can contain 5-10 kg of premium fatwood.

Identifying fatwood:

• Found in old pine stumps and fallen trunks
• Amber to orange color, much darker than normal pine
• Very hard and dense — heavier than fresh pine
• Splits with a waxy, resinous surface
• Strong turpentine smell when cut or scraped
• Ignites easily with a spark and burns with a bright, sooty flame

Fatwood Collection

Survey your area for old pine stumps. A single logging site abandoned 10-20 years ago can yield enough fatwood for hundreds of liters of tar. Split the stump with an axe and extract the dense, resinous heartwood. Leave the soft, white outer wood — it has minimal tar content.

The Tar Kiln

Pine tar is produced by pyrolysis — heating wood in the absence of air. Several kiln designs work, from the simplest pit to permanent masonry structures.

Pit Kiln (Simplest Method)

1. Dig a bowl-shaped pit 1-2 meters across and 0.5-1 meter deep on a slight slope
2. At the lowest point, dig a channel leading to a collection vessel (a clay pot or hollowed log set below grade)
3. Line the pit bottom with flat stones or clay to create a smooth surface for tar to flow
4. Split the resinous wood into pieces roughly the size of your forearm
5. Stack the wood tightly in the pit, with pieces angled so tar flows downhill toward the collection channel
6. Cover the woodpile with a thick layer of fresh green branches, then earth and sod, leaving a small opening at the top for igniting
7. Light the top of the pile through the opening
8. Once burning is established, seal the opening with earth
9. Monitor for 12-48 hours depending on size. If flames break through the earth covering, patch with more earth
10. Tar flows out the bottom channel into your collection vessel

Expected yield: 15-25 liters of tar per cubic meter of good fatwood.

Above-Ground Funnel Kiln

More efficient than a pit kiln and easier to monitor:

1. Build a cone-shaped framework from green poles or metal, about 2 meters tall
2. Stack split resinous wood around and within the framework
3. Place a metal or stone funnel beneath the center of the stack, connected to a pipe leading to a collection vessel
4. Cover the entire stack with earth, sod, or clay, leaving a top vent
5. Light from the top and seal
6. Tar drips down through the stack, collects in the funnel, and flows to the vessel

Permanent Masonry Kiln

For regular production, build a permanent kiln:

1. Construct a stone or brick chamber (1-2 cubic meters capacity) with a sloping floor
2. The floor slopes toward a drain hole at the lowest point
3. A pipe leads from the drain to an external collection vessel
4. The chamber has a door for loading and an adjustable vent at the top
5. An external firebox heats the chamber from below or outside (indirect heating gives better control)
6. Load the chamber with wood, seal the door, and heat for 12-24 hours

This design allows you to produce tar without burning the wood itself — all the heat comes from the external firebox. This gives better control, higher yields, and also produces charcoal as a valuable co-product.

Refining Pine Tar

Raw pine tar from the kiln contains water, wood particles, and varying amounts of light volatiles. Refining improves its performance:

Settling and Decanting

1. Let raw tar settle in a tall vessel for 48-72 hours
2. Water sinks to the bottom (pine tar is lighter than many people expect, but denser than water)
3. Wood particles and debris also settle
4. Carefully decant the clean tar from above

Cooking (Concentration)

1. Heat settled tar gently in an open vessel — a wide, shallow pot is ideal
2. Stir occasionally as water and light volatiles evaporate
3. The tar thickens and darkens as it concentrates
4. Stop when it reaches the desired consistency
5. Overcooked tar becomes brittle pitch; properly cooked tar remains flexible

Fire Hazard

Pine tar vapors are flammable. Heat gently with indirect heat or a controlled fire. Never leave cooking tar unattended. Keep a lid or sand nearby to smother the vessel if the tar ignites. If it catches fire, cover the vessel — do not add water.

Turpentine Recovery

The light volatiles that evaporate during cooking are primarily turpentine (spirits of turpentine) — a valuable solvent and thinner. If you fit a condenser to your cooking vessel, you can capture this turpentine:

1. Use a closed vessel with a vapor pipe leading to a condenser (identical to distillation setup)
2. Heat gently
3. The first condensate is mostly water with dissolved turpentine
4. The turpentine layer floats on the water — separate by decanting
5. Continue until vapor flow stops
6. The residue in the vessel is refined, concentrated tar

Turpentine is useful as a paint thinner, cleaning solvent, lamp fuel additive, and medicinal ingredient.

Applications of Pine Tar

Wood Preservation

Pine tar is a superb wood preservative, particularly for exterior applications:

• Brush hot tar onto fence posts, dock timbers, and structural wood
• Mix 1:1 with linseed oil for a thinner, more penetrating treatment for siding and trim
• The phenolic compounds in pine tar are naturally fungicidal and insecticidal
• Reapply every 3-5 years for optimal protection

Rope and Cordage Treatment

• Soak ropes in warm, thinned pine tar for several hours
• Hang to drip-dry in a warm, ventilated area
• The tar penetrates the fibers and protects against rot, moisture, and UV degradation
• Tarred ropes last 3-5 times longer than untreated ropes
• Essential for marine, well, and outdoor rigging applications

Leather Treatment

• Apply thin pine tar to leather goods (boots, harnesses, belts) to waterproof and preserve
• Warm the tar and leather slightly for better penetration
• Mix with beeswax and tallow for a blended leather dressing
• Particularly valuable for work boots and horse tack

Caulking and Sealing

• Mix pine tar with plant fibers (hemp, oakum, cotton) to create caulking compound
• Drive into seams of boats, barrels, and water vessels
• Apply hot tar over the caulked seams to seal completely
• This technique has waterproofed vessels for thousands of years

Medicinal Uses

Pine tar has traditional medicinal applications due to its antiseptic phenolic compounds:

• Diluted pine tar soap for skin conditions (eczema, psoriasis, fungal infections)
• Pine tar ointment (mixed with animal fat) for minor wound protection
• Pine tar steam inhalation for respiratory congestion
• Veterinary use for hoof care in horses and livestock

Medical Disclaimer

Pine tar is a traditional remedy, not a modern pharmaceutical. It is an irritant in concentrated form and should never be applied to broken skin undiluted. Use the minimum effective concentration and discontinue if irritation occurs.

Production Planning

Yield Estimates

Source Material	Tar Yield (by weight)	Turpentine Yield
Good fatwood	15-25%	3-5%
Pine heartwood	8-15%	2-4%
Pine roots	10-18%	2-3%
Average pine wood	3-8%	1-2%

Seasonal Considerations

• Best production season: Late summer through autumn, when wood is driest and resin content peaks
• Wood collection: Can be done year-round, but split and stack wood to dry for at least a month before tar burning
• Storage: Pine tar stores indefinitely in sealed containers. It thickens slightly over time but can be re-liquefied with gentle heating

Labor Requirements

A two-person crew operating a medium pit kiln (1 cubic meter capacity) can produce:

• One batch every 3-4 days (including wood preparation, burning, and collection)
• Approximately 15-25 liters per batch from good fatwood
• 100-180 liters per month with consistent effort

This is sufficient for a community of 50-100 people for general maintenance, with surplus for trade. Communities near abundant pine forests can scale production significantly by running multiple kilns.