Species data
Longleaf Pine
Pinus palustris - a softwood from southeastern United States. Also sold as southern yellow pine, longleaf yellow pine.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 870 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,980,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.65 |
| Density | 40.6 lb/ft3 (650 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 3.38 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 7.5% tangential / 5.1% radial |
| Indicative price | $4.50 per board foot (estimated) |
Values are at about 12% moisture content. Density is specific gravity times 62.4; a board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so weight per board foot is that density divided by twelve. Anything marked estimated is our own figure, not a measured one.
How Longleaf Pine compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 42% of them, heavier than 52%, and stiffer than 76%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Longleaf Pine it weighs about 18.0 lb. A stack of ten is 180 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Longleaf Pine is about 71% as hard and 93% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 7.5% tangential against 5.1% radial, a ratio of 1.5 to 1. The wider that ratio, the more unevenly a flatsawn board moves across its width as humidity changes, and the more it wants to cup; anything near or above 2 to 1 is worth quartersawing or restraining for panels and wide tops. This one moves comparatively evenly.
Woods of similar hardness
Closest to Longleaf Pine on hardness in this database: Hackberry (880 lbf), Red Elm (860 lbf), African Mahogany (850 lbf), Bigleaf Maple (850 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Machines reasonably well, though heavy resin tends to clog abrasives and gum cutters; bonds and finishes nicely
Durability. Heartwood offers moderate decay resistance, fine for general framing but not lasting ground contact
Typical uses. construction stringers, roof trusses, poles, joists, piles, subflooring, sheathing.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE (1,980,000 lbf/in2), Janka (870 lbf) and shrinkage (T 7.5%, R 5.1%) from The Wood Database, which cites the USDA FPL Wood Handbook. Specific gravity 0.65 is the 12% MC value (page lists basic 0.54, 12% MC 0.65). No dimensional change coefficient given: Longleaf Pine has no exact row in the FPL/Hoadley table reproduced by Popular Woodworking, so CT/CR are omitted. Region, uses, durability and workability summarized from The Wood Database. Price indicative.
These calculators are for planning and estimation. Engineering results (shelf sag, wood movement) use published average material properties; real boards vary by grade, grain, moisture and defects. Verify load-bearing designs with a professional.