# Pine Cones as kindling??



## Monkey Wrench (Oct 9, 2010)

Just a question. I have a 60 acre horse farm. I have 17 acres of planted pine trees as a wind block. We use the pine needles mixed with horse manure as mulch around our plants. We also use 3-4 pine cones as kindling to start the morning fire. We have a 10' X 4' x 4' above ground screened and solid top rabbit hutch that we store them in. The grand kids load it every year.

1st question if we shouldn't use pine cones to start the fire please advise, and don't read the rest of this post.

2nd If you have access to pine cones they make Great Fire Starters. No paper needed.

 Thanks,
Stay Safe.


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## jeff_t (Oct 9, 2010)

Pine cones work even better if you dip them in melted candle wax.


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## Backwoods Savage (Oct 9, 2010)

Monkey, it sounds like you are doing just fine. Continue on!  Yes, if you dip them in melted was or even pour some wax over them they make even better fire starters. 

I am curious why you mix the needles with the manure?


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## Monkey Wrench (Oct 9, 2010)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Monkey, it sounds like you are doing just fine. Continue on!  Yes, if you dip them in melted was or even pour some wax over them they make even better fire starters.
> 
> I am curious why you mix the needles with the manure?



So you don't smell the horse chit!


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## Backwoods Savage (Oct 9, 2010)

Well, it might help that but so would some lime. It all depends upon what you want to use the manure for. If for vegetable garden, pile that stuff for at least a year before spreading on the ground. 

Beware that the pine needles will sour the ground so if you do use it for fertilizer, you will need to use more lime.


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## Monkey Wrench (Oct 9, 2010)

Thanks for the info.
We try not to buy anything that we can produce or create here at the farm. Barter here is a way of life.

Pine needles mixed properly with manure is better than mulch purchased at stores.


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## katwillny (Oct 9, 2010)

I just picked up three huge burlap sacks full of pine cones. These will last for most of the season. I also use it to burn wood outside in the backyard on a fire pit. they smell great. Times are hard friends, save your money, fatwood is expensive.


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## Monkey Wrench (Oct 9, 2010)

What the Hell is FATWOOD?


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## katwillny (Oct 9, 2010)

Monkey, Fatwood is sold as a fire starter. Its made from the heart of pinewood. its a resin filled wood and it lights quickly. see the link below. 

http://www.amazon.com/25-lb-Box-of-Fatwood/dp/B0002IWGGG


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## firefighterjake (Oct 10, 2010)

I have all kinds of kindling . . . but I still can't help myself . . . I too usually grab a large trash bag full of pine cones to keep on hand for kindling.


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## AbeAinPa (Oct 10, 2010)

We have relatives that live near PINEhurst NC, whom we visit each Summer.  We always leave with a few grocey bags full of pine cones, makes for about half our fire starting needs for the year.


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## Valhalla (Oct 10, 2010)

Pine cones work great. Why buy fatwood?


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## RoseRedHoofbeats (Oct 11, 2010)

OMG, that is freaking fabulous. My in laws have three huge pine trees and have more pine cones than they know what to do with! I'm gonna start asking them to save them for me!!

When I had a fireplace in my first apartment, I used to use pine shavings, like for animal bedding, mixed with lard. Worked like a charm.

~Rose


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## maplewood (Oct 11, 2010)

Burn the cones - they're a super starter.
Never tried the wax on them, though.  Never needed to - a couple extra cones didn't bother me.
I use cedar for kindling.  Dries in about 15 minutes.


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## CJW88 (Oct 11, 2010)

How much wax do you put on them?  Do you really want the wax burning in the stove?


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## Cluttermagnet (Oct 11, 2010)

I've been using pine cones for starters 3 years now. They work great. I did try the candle wax dip at first, and it was a lot of work and really just a pain. One of our members from TX, I forget his ID right now, said to try soaking the cones in kerosene. Turns out I have many gallons surplus of old, stale, kerosene, only good for car parts washing otherwise. So I got a larger size coffee can with a lid, as he suggested, and put a few in to soak. Turns out they are darned good starters. Fabulously good, in fact.

Oh BTW I have access to several sites where I can pick up cones off the ground for free. I can probably get 5-8 big paper grocery bags chock full of them every year, no problem. I actually have a good bit more than I need.

For those who want to point out that their stove manufacturer warns against using any 'accelerants' in the fire box, I have an older steel stove with no such constraints. In any case, Kerosene is not explosive near as bad as the other types like gasoline, charcoal lighter, paint thinner, etc. Those should be *avoided at all costs! * Very explosive, very dangerous. But kerosene is well behaved. Ever light a candle or a kerosene lantern? Notice how it takes a few seconds to get them going? It's like that. Used from a cold start, or even over a small number of surviving coals from your last fire, I believe they are pretty safe. I've never seen anything in 3 years of using them to persuade me otherwise.

I doubt I'll change my method now, the cones work so well- and the price is right. One other member reminded everyone that cones need to sit and season, just like wood does- and I agree with that. But OTOH our TX friend says that the kerosene soak even allows using fairly 'new' cones just fine as starters. I don't doubt that either.


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## billb3 (Oct 12, 2010)

Pine cones do make decent fire starters.
Last year the white pines here had a very generous crop, so I saved 8 bags ( recycled 50 pound sunflower seed bags) and put them in the old garage.
The cones were all 'open' so I figured all the seeds had dropped , but I found a huge pile of shredded cones  and empty bags.

They work better as firestarters when they're not all ripped apart.


They are a bit of work to collect.
Probably easier for little tykes who are closer to the ground.


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## tonelover (Oct 12, 2010)

Last year was my first experience with pine cones from dozens of huge pines on my 7 acre property. I sure am glad that they don't fall like that every year. They are like big tree turds and they never stop falling. It has been a year and the wind is still jarring some loose that have been hanging in the branches.   Maybe next time I'll try them as firestarters instead of the StarterLoggs that I usually buy, but the starter logs only cost $10 per box and go a long way. I hate pine cones.


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## BellaMia (Oct 25, 2010)

We also use manufactured logs as kindling, it works every time no matter the conditions. You can even cut them down. We find that we can use a quarter of the fire log at a time to easily get the fire going.


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## vvvv (Oct 25, 2010)

Monkey Wrench said:
			
		

> Just a question. I have a 60 acre horse farm. I have 17 acres of planted pine trees as a wind block. We use the pine needles mixed with horse manure as mulch around our plants. We also use 3-4 pine cones as kindling to start the morning fire. We have a 10' X 4' x 4' above ground screened and solid top rabbit hutch that we store them in. The grand kids load it every year.
> 
> 1st question if we shouldn't use pine cones to start the fire please advise, and don't read the rest of this post.
> 
> ...


how do u set a pine cone on fire without paper?


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## stejus (Oct 25, 2010)

~*~vvv~*~ said:
			
		

> Monkey Wrench said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I use a small peice of firebrick (about the size of an icecube) with two small pine cones resting on it.  Within a minute, they are flaming.  I get about ten cubes out of each firebrick.


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## Valhalla (Oct 29, 2010)

Pine cones are natures free gift to wood-burners!


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## tonelover (Oct 29, 2010)

The grocery store across has small mesh bags of pine cones for sale at $4.99 for about ten cones. To think that I just leaf blow all of mine in to the woods, I could have been rich!


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## adrpga498 (Oct 29, 2010)

tonelover said:
			
		

> The grocery store across has small mesh bags of pine cones for sale at $4.99 for about ten cones. To think that I just leaf blow all of mine in to the woods, I could have been rich!


 Some people  just have money to burn ,or they are just not my kinda person to hang out with. I may smoke a $5.00 cigar now and then ,but I ain't lighten it with a $20.00 dollar bill if you know what I mean.


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