Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) in numbers: hardness, weight, strength, shrinkage, movement and decay resistance, taken from the tables of the USDA Forest Products Laboratory’s Wood Handbook, followed by what the wood is like to work and what it is used for. The values are averages from small, clear, straight-grained test specimens; real boards with knots, sloping grain or a different moisture content will differ.
| Property | Shagbark hickory |
|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% moisture | 1,880 lbf (8,363 N) |
| Janka side hardness, green | 1,460 lbf |
| Hardness rank | harder than 144 of the 168 woods with a 12% hardness value in our database |
| Density at 12% moisture | 50.3 lb/ft³ (806 kg/m³) |
| Weight per board foot (12%) | 4.20 lb |
| Specific gravity (ovendry weight, green volume) | 0.64 |
| Specific gravity at 12% moisture | 0.72 |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture), 12% | 20,200 psi |
| Stiffness (modulus of elasticity), 12% | 2.16 million psi |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain), 12% | 9,210 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial / tangential / volumetric | 7.0% / 10.5% / 16.7% |
| Tangential / radial shrinkage ratio | 1.5 |
| Dimensional change per 1% moisture (radial / tangential) | 0.00259 / 0.00411 |
| Impact bending (drop height to failure), 12% | 67 in. |
| Heartwood decay resistance | slightly or nonresistant |
The species in this group
Lumber is often sold under a group name. These are the species the Wood Handbook reports for this group, with the same properties side by side.
| Species | Janka (lbf) | Density (lb/ft³) | Bending (psi) | Stiffness (Mpsi) | Crushing (psi) | Shrink T/R (%) | Decay resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shagbark hickory Carya ovata | 1,880 | 50.3 | 20,200 | 2.16 | 9,210 | 10.5 / 7.0 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Pignut hickory Carya glabra | 2,140 | 52.4 | 20,100 | 2.26 | 9,190 | 11.5 / 7.2 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Mockernut hickory Carya tomentosa | 1,970 | 50.3 | 19,200 | 2.22 | 8,940 | 11.0 / 7.7 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Shellbark hickory Carya laciniosa | 1,810 | 48.2 | 18,100 | 1.89 | 8,000 | 12.6 / 7.6 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Pecan Carya illinoensis | 1,820 | 46.1 | 13,700 | 1.73 | 7,850 | 8.9 / 4.9 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis | — | 46.1 | 17,100 | 1.79 | 9,040 | 8.9 / 4.9 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Nutmeg hickory Carya myristiciformis | — | 42.0 | 16,600 | 1.7 | 6,910 | 8.9 / 4.9 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Water hickory Carya aquatica | — | 43.4 | 17,800 | 2.02 | 8,600 | 8.9 / 4.9 | slightly or nonresistant |
What it is
Hickory lumber comes from two groups. The true hickories are shagbark (Carya ovata), pignut (C. glabra), shellbark (C. laciniosa) and mockernut (C. tomentosa). The pecan hickories are bitternut, pecan, nutmeg and water hickory. True hickories grow throughout the eastern half of the United States, and production has shifted toward the Southern and South Atlantic States.
The sapwood is white and usually wide; the heartwood is reddish. Lumber is often sold “calico”, with both mixed in a board.
Working properties
True hickory is exceptionally tough, heavy, hard and strong, and it shrinks considerably in drying. That toughness shows in the Handbook’s impact test: shagbark needs a drop of 67 in. to break a specimen at 12% moisture content, against 37 in. for white oak. It is hard on tools and needs sharp cutters.
Weight and density
At 12% moisture content shagbark hickory weighs about 50.3 lb per cubic foot, so one board foot (144 cubic inches) weighs about 4.20 lb. An 8 ft board of actual size 3/4 × 5-1/2 in. (a 1×6) holds 0.229 cubic feet and weighs about 11.5 lb; an 8 ft piece 1-1/2 × 3-1/2 in. (a 2×4 size) weighs about 14.7 lb. Green wood is much heavier because of the water it holds.
Density here is ovendry weight plus 12% water, divided by volume at 12% moisture content (Wood Handbook Eq. 4-12: density = specific gravity at 12% × 62.43 lb/ft³ × 1.12).
Wood movement
The Wood Handbook gives dimensional change coefficients for each species: the fraction of its width a board gains or loses for every 1% change in moisture content, between about 6% and 14%. For shagbark hickory they are 0.00411 across a flatsawn face (tangential) and 0.00259 across a quartersawn face (radial).
Worked example: a flatsawn board 7-1/4 in. wide (a nominal 1×8) that goes from 6% moisture content in a heated winter house to 12% in a humid summer changes width by 7.25 × 0.00411 × 6 = 0.179 in. (about 3/16 in.). The same board quartersawn moves 0.113 in. (about 1/8 in.). Allow for this in panels, tabletops and floors; the wood movement calculator works it out for any size and moisture range.
How it compares
| Species | Janka (lbf) | Density (lb/ft³) | Bending (psi) | Stiffness (Mpsi) | Tangential shrink (%) | Decay resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shagbark hickory | 1,880 | 50.3 | 20,200 | 2.16 | 10.5 | slightly or nonresistant |
| White oak | 1,360 | 47.5 | 15,200 | 1.78 | 10.5 | resistant |
| Sugar maple | 1,450 | 44.1 | 15,800 | 1.83 | 9.9 | slightly or nonresistant |
| White ash | 1,320 | 42.0 | 15,000 | 1.74 | 7.8 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Black locust | 1,700 | 48.2 | 19,400 | 2.05 | 7.2 | very resistant |
| Ipe | 3,680 | 64.0† | 25,400 | 3.14 | 8.0 | very resistant |
Uses
Tool handles that need high shock resistance, ladder rungs, athletic goods, dowels and gym equipment, furniture and flooring. Lower grades go into pallets, and hickory chips and sawdust are used to smoke meat.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is hickory?
Shagbark hickory averages 1,880 lbf (8,363 N) at 12% moisture content and pignut hickory 2,140 lbf, among the hardest domestic woods in the Wood Handbook.
Is pecan the same as hickory?
Pecan is one of the pecan hickories. Its wood is a little lighter and less tough than the true hickories, and the two are often sold together as hickory or pecan.
Is hickory good for outdoor use?
No. Hickory heartwood is in the slightly or nonresistant decay group, so it needs treatment or a protected location outdoors.
Sources
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook: Wood as an Engineering Material. General Technical Report FPL-GTR-190, 2010. Chapter 2 (species descriptions), Chapter 4 (Tables 4-3, 4-4 shrinkage; Eq. 4-7, 4-9, 4-12 density), Chapter 5 (Tables 5-3b, 5-5b strength and hardness), Chapter 13 (Table 13-5 dimensional change coefficients), Chapter 14 (Table 14-1 decay resistance)
- USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Wood Handbook, 2021 edition (FPL-GTR-282)
Last reviewed: 22 October 2026. Numbers are generated from our parsed copy of the Handbook tables, so every page uses the same data. Values marked * are estimates computed with the Handbook’s own equations. Spotted an error? Please let us know.