tar removal from wood floors

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I'm in the same bind and about to try this seemingly brilliant solution (found on www.thehomeguild.com web site) excerpted as follows:

"I recently removed three layers of sheet vinyl and linoleum from a 1940s red oak kitchen floor. Under that was a black layer that looked and felt like tar-paper, but I believe was the underside of the linoleum. Under that was a lighter-brown mastic laid thinly with a notched trowel.

The black stuff was dense and more viscous than papery. We scraped at it with every type of tool: a 5ft floor scraper with a 6in razor blade head, chisel-type paint scrapers, various putty knives, chisels, wall-paper scrapers, and the tile-lifter head on my Fein multi master. The goal was to have long ribbons of material sailing up over your blade, so only push-motion tools worked . Choose your tool and stroke that fits - it varies across the floor, and by depth.

Here's the clincher! Once we got a lot of black off, We boiled pots of 3parts water to 1part white vinegar. Mop it on very hot and heavy on a 5 or 10 sq ft area. Now scrape like mad. In our case it came off like chocolate pudding. This solution completely dissolved the brown mastic. The black stuff was stuck to that, so it came off too. It was so gooey, that we could use pull-type paint scrapers here. Warm water does not work, so wipe it up once it cools, and hit again with super-hot every time. We used 2 gallons of vinegar on a 200 sq ft floor.

In the early scraping you will gouge the floor. That turned out to be no prob. The hot water solution also caused no problems or staining of the wood. I realize your situation may be different, but I hope this helps."