Pine (Southern Yellow)
Softwood used for structural framing, decking and general building work. Southern yellow pine is a commercial group rather than one species, and its high resin content makes it markedly denser and stronger than eastern white pine.
Properties
- Family
- Wood
- Category
- wood
- Species
- Pinus spp.
- Density
- 0.55 g/cm³ · 550 kg/m³
Densityhow pine (southern yellow) compares
Wood propertiesUSDA clear-wood values at 12% moisture content
- Species measured
- Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda)
- Specific gravity
- 0.51
- Janka side hardness
- 690 lbf · 3,069 N
- Modulus of rupture
- 12,800 psi · 88.3 MPa
- Modulus of elasticity
- 1.79 ×10⁶ psi · 12.34 GPa
- Shrinkage, green to oven-dry
- 4.8% radial · 7.4% tangential · 12.3% volumetric
Southern yellow pine is a trade group rather than one tree. These figures are for loblolly pine, the most widely planted member; longleaf pine is denser and harder (SG 0.59, 870 lbf).
Source: USDA Forest Service, Wood Handbook — Wood as an Engineering Material (FPL-GTR-190, 2010), Table 5–3b, for clear straight-grained specimens at 12% moisture content. The grey figures are converted at 1 lbf = 4.448 N, 1 psi = 6.895 kPa and 1 GPa = 145,038 psi; the inch-pound numbers are the published ones. Specific gravity is oven-dry mass over volume at 12% moisture content, so it sits about 12% below the working density at the top of this page (0.51 × 1.12 ≈ 0.57 g/cm³). The two come from different sampling programmes, so a few species differ by more than that.
Applicationswhere pine (southern yellow) is normally specified
Appearance & workabilitytrade experience, not measured values
- Origin
- Southeastern United States
- Appearance
- Yellow-orange heartwood with a sharp contrast between earlywood and latewood, giving a wide bold grain
- Working
- Easy to saw and nail. Resin can bleed through paint, so knots are sealed before finishing.
Unlike the USDA figures above, these lines are not measurements: they carry no units and no single source. They describe how the timber is generally found to behave rather than what it is guaranteed to do — read them as the consensus of the trade, not as a specification.
Practical notes
- Density is for air-dried stock at about 12% moisture content
- Eastern white pine is about 0.40 g/cm³ — specify the group, not just "pine"
- Weighs far more green; freight estimates must account for moisture
Lumber sizeswhat pine (southern yellow) weighs in each nominal size
Lumber size databaseDressed sizes are the same for every species — a 2x4 is 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 in in oak as much as in spruce. What changes is the weight, and that is derived here from pine (southern yellow)'s density of 0.55 g/cm³.
Tools used on itmatched on the wood family, not on this page
All toolsWhich tools work a material is a property of the family (Wood), not of the individual species — so this list is the same on every wood page, and changes when the tool data changes rather than when this paragraph does.
Used in these projectsbuilds whose bill of materials calls for it
All projectsFrequently asked questionsthe questions this page answers about Pine (Southern Yellow)
How hard is Pine (Southern Yellow)?
Janka hardness is 690 lbf — the force needed to push a steel ball halfway into the wood. Higher is harder; this is the number quoted when a wood is specified for floors, worktops or butcher blocks.
How dense is Pine (Southern Yellow)?
Density is 0.55 g/cm³, and the USDA table gives a specific gravity of 0.51.
How much does Pine (Southern Yellow) move when it dries?
Green to oven-dry it shrinks 12.3% by volume — 4.8% radially and 7.4% tangentially. Movement across the grain is what opens joints, so a species that moves a lot wants room to move.
What is Pine (Southern Yellow) used for?
Typical uses are Framing, Decking, General construction and Furniture.
How does Pine (Southern Yellow) work with hand and machine tools?
Easy to saw and nail. Resin can bleed through paint, so knots are sealed before finishing.