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Collecting pitch ?

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Hawkdancer:
Had to remove some large limbs from my pine trees to rescue a compost bin, question is - Is it worth is to hang a bucket or can to catch the pitch from the cuts or will the cuts seal quickly?  Another tree in the row took a big hit this summer and the pitch seems to have sealed slowly and is drying.  Hate to waste the pitch if I can retrieve it.  Also, can pine tar be further reduced by boiling?  Thanks for the input.
Hawkdancer

paulc:
I've tried exactly that with a soup can nailed to the tree beneath damage.  My can filled with rain a lot faster than with sap...I poured off the water but never got much more than perhaps 1/4" in bottom of sap along with some bugs and general crud. 

I wonder if you could take the bark/wood just beneath the bark and distill that in a paint can?  Ought to have sap/pitch running just under the bark.

I have done both pine and birch distilling in paint can.  Once the pitch runs and collects in the soup can I rearrange the fire and try to just simmer the pitch a while.  I've only done it successfully twice now but it worked well I think...fwiw.

Paul

Hawkdancer:
I checked the scar on the damaged tree, and it seems to be hardening some.  I think I will rescrape it to get what has leaked and let it seep some more. 
Hawkdancer

DC:
Since pitch takes so long to dry I think your time would be better spent looking for dry pitch.

Allyn T:
Don't you want gooey sap so you can make it straight into pitch?

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