Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) 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 | Lodgepole pine |
|---|---|
| Janka side hardness, 12% moisture | 480 lbf (2,135 N) |
| Janka side hardness, green | 330 lbf |
| Hardness rank | harder than 25 of the 168 woods with a 12% hardness value in our database |
| Density at 12% moisture | 28.7 lb/ft³ (459 kg/m³) |
| Weight per board foot (12%) | 2.39 lb |
| Specific gravity (ovendry weight, green volume) | 0.38 |
| Specific gravity at 12% moisture | 0.41 |
| Bending strength (modulus of rupture), 12% | 9,400 psi |
| Stiffness (modulus of elasticity), 12% | 1.34 million psi |
| Crushing strength (compression parallel to grain), 12% | 5,370 psi |
| Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial / tangential / volumetric | 4.3% / 6.7% / 11.1% |
| Tangential / radial shrinkage ratio | 1.56 |
| Dimensional change per 1% moisture (radial / tangential) | 0.00148 / 0.00234 |
| Impact bending (drop height to failure), 12% | 20 in. |
| Heartwood decay resistance | slightly or nonresistant |
What it is
Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), also known as knotty, black and spruce pine, grows in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast regions as far north as Alaska. Lumber comes mainly from the central Rocky Mountain States, with Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington also producing. The name comes from its long, slender, straight trunks, used by Plains peoples as lodge (tipi) poles.
The heartwood is light yellow to light yellow-brown and the sapwood yellow or nearly white. The wood is generally straight grained with narrow growth rings.
Working properties
Lodgepole pine is moderately lightweight and fairly easy to work. It is moderately low in strength, moderately soft, moderately stiff and moderately low in shock resistance; in our data it has 480 lbf of Janka hardness and 9,400 psi of bending strength. Shrinkage is moderately high, with tangential shrinkage of about 6.7% from green to ovendry. Small, tight knots are typical, which is where the knotty-pine name comes from.
The heartwood is in the slightly or nonresistant decay class of Table 14-1. In Canadian lumber grading, lodgepole pine is one of the species sold together as SPF (spruce-pine-fir), so many studs labelled SPF are partly lodgepole.
Weight and density
At 12% moisture content lodgepole pine weighs about 28.7 lb per cubic foot, so one board foot (144 cubic inches) weighs about 2.39 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 6.6 lb; an 8 ft piece 1-1/2 × 3-1/2 in. (a 2×4 size) weighs about 8.4 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 lodgepole pine they are 0.00234 across a flatsawn face (tangential) and 0.00148 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 × 0.00234 × 6 = 0.102 in. (about 3/32 in.). The same board quartersawn moves 0.064 in. (about 1/16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lodgepole pine | 480 | 28.7 | 9,400 | 1.34 | 6.7 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Jack pine | 570 | 30.1 | 9,900 | 1.35 | 6.6 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Ponderosa pine | 460 | 28.0 | 9,400 | 1.29 | 6.2 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Engelmann spruce | 390 | 24.5 | 9,300 | 1.3 | 7.1 | slightly or nonresistant |
| Eastern white pine | 380 | 24.5 | 8,600 | 1.24 | 6.1 | moderately resistant (old growth only); otherwise slightly or nonresistant |
| Douglas-fir (Coast) | 710 | 33.6 | 12,400 | 1.95 | 7.6 | moderately resistant |
Uses
Lodgepole pine has been used for lumber, mine timbers, railroad crossties and poles, and less often for posts and fuel. The Handbook notes it is used increasingly for structural lumber, millwork, cabin logs and engineered wood composites. Peeled lodgepole poles are also a staple of rustic furniture, fencing and log-home trim.
Frequently asked questions
Is lodgepole pine strong?
Moderately low in strength for a pine, according to the Handbook: 9,400 psi bending strength and 1.34 million psi stiffness at 12% moisture content.
Is lodgepole pine part of SPF lumber?
Yes. In Canadian grading it is one of the species marketed together as spruce-pine-fir. See our pine vs spruce vs fir comparison.
Is lodgepole pine good for log homes?
It is widely used for them, as its trunks are long, straight and slender. Like other pines, the logs need protection from standing water and ground contact.
How heavy is lodgepole pine?
About 28.7 lb per cubic foot at 12% moisture content, or 2.39 lb per board foot.
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: 24 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.