Species data
Shortleaf Pine
Pinus echinata - a softwood from southeastern United States. Also sold as southern yellow pine.
Properties at a glance
| Janka hardness | 690 lbf |
| Stiffness (MOE) | 1,750,000 psi |
| Specific gravity | 0.57 |
| Density | 35.6 lb/ft3 (570 kg/m3) |
| Weight per board foot | 2.96 lb |
| Shrinkage, green to oven-dry | 7.7% tangential / 4.6% radial |
| Indicative price | $3.50 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 Shortleaf Pine compares
Measured against the 113 solid woods in this database: it is harder than 32% of them, heavier than 40%, and stiffer than 62%.
What that means in the shop
A 4/4 board 8 inches wide and 8 feet long is 5.33 board feet, so in Shortleaf Pine it weighs about 15.8 lb. A stack of ten is 158 lb - worth knowing before you load a rack or a car.
Against red oak, the trade's usual yardstick at 1,220 lbf, Shortleaf Pine is about 57% as hard and 81% as heavy.
Its shrinkage is 7.7% tangential against 4.6% radial, a ratio of 1.7 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 Shortleaf Pine on hardness in this database: Loblolly Pine (690 lbf), Silver Maple (700 lbf), Sweet Chestnut (680 lbf), Sassafras (630 lbf). Similar hardness does not mean similar behaviour - check density and movement before substituting one for another.
Working with it
Workability. Cooperative under tools despite mild blunting; resin clogs paper, but glue and finish hold well
Durability. Heartwood rates only low to moderate against rot, so exterior use needs preservative treatment
Typical uses. bridges, beams, poles, railroad ties, plywood, wood pulp, veneers.
Related calculators
Sources
MOE (1,750,000 lbf/in2), Janka (690 lbf) and shrinkage (T 7.7%, R 4.6%) from The Wood Database, which cites the USDA FPL Wood Handbook. Specific gravity 0.57 is the 12% MC value (page lists basic 0.47, 12% MC 0.57). No dimensional change coefficient given: Shortleaf 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.