Durability of pine timber

[Squaredy]

I have always considered pine timber to be non-durable.  I have noticed however a number of instances where it resists rot surprisingly well.

 

I am not talking about pitch pine or oregon pine (Douglas Fir) but the types of pines we get here in the UK - I guess: scots, lodgepole, ponderosa, radiata.

 

Can anyone guide me - are certain ones known to be durable?  Or are they all more durable than I imagined?  

 

I would have said they are not much better than spruce, but I am thinking they are actually closer to larch.

 

What do you think fellow Arbtalkers?

[Muddy42]

I don't have any experience with ponderosa or radiata, which I have not seen planted commercially on scale, more species trees.  Logepole pile used to get planted in commercial blocks as windbreaks.  The timber was never amazing - slow growing so small by time of harvest and not very straight.

 

Scots pine and particularly the heartwood is great stuff and very durable.  And yes I agree much better than spruce and very similar to larch in the same condition.  Of course small sappy pieces of either species with the bark left on will be rubbish.

[Squaredy]

3 hours ago, Muddy42 said:

I don't have any experience with ponderosa or radiata, which I have not seen planted commercially on scale, more species trees.  Logepole pile used to get planted in commercial blocks as windbreaks.  The timber was never amazing - slow growing so small by time of harvest and not very straight.

 

Scots pine and particularly the heartwood is great stuff and very durable.  And yes I agree much better than spruce and very similar to larch in the same condition.  Of course small sappy pieces of either species with the bark left on will be rubbish.

Interesting.  Sadly the pieces I have which have confounded my expectations of fast rotting are of an unknown variety.  

I mean I don’t know the exact species, not that they are new to science.

[Welshfred]

Scots is pretty durable I think, Corsican and lodgepole are appalling outdoors in my experience.

[Mike Hill]

Scots pine is durable if its heart wood.

[topchippyles]

I stick to larch or Douglas fir myself bomb proof 

[Squaredy]

Further update on the pine I have milled in the last four or five years.

 

It develops nasty grey patches in the sapwood really easily, which makes it difficult to sell.  But it is stunning timber nevertheless.  As well as being far more durable than I expected it is super stable and the large knots are stunning.

 

However, it is incredibly hard around the knots, and absolutely full of sticky resin, so a pain to work, and difficult to sand.

 

And lastly it is really heavy.  Heartwood is way heavier than oak.  About 60lbs per cubic foot (not far off a ton per cubic metre).  By comparison I usually recon on oak and ash being around 44 to 45 ponds per cubic foot.  And yes, this is thoroughly air dried: about 18% moisture.  

 

By the way it is fantastic burning!  And the smell as you work it is amazing.  

I have now added a photo  of a piece I recently just managed to plane (the thicknesser has a two foot capacity) and this is now a work surface in a kitchen.

Edited Saturday at 21:04 by Squaredy

[AHPP]

Let's see some pictures please.

[Stubby]

Monterey Pine is supposed to be quite durable . ( 3 needle groups I think ) Oh EDIT Radiata has been mentioned already . Soz .

[Squaredy]

10 hours ago, AHPP said:

Let's see some pictures please.

Both these pictures are of rough sawn boards before any treatment.  I will try and remember to take a photo of the finished article also.