Poplar vs pine
Yellow-poplar is a hardwood and pine a softwood, but that does not make poplar the harder wood: it beats eastern white pine and loses to longleaf pine.
- Yellow-poplar is about 42% harder than eastern white pine.
- Yellow-poplar is about 20% heavier than eastern white pine.
- Yellow-poplar has about 36% more movement across a flatsawn board than eastern white pine.
- Longleaf pine is about 61% harder than yellow-poplar.
- Longleaf pine is about 40% heavier than yellow-poplar.
- Yellow-poplar has about 17% more movement across a flatsawn board than longleaf pine.
Each column is the species its page leads with: yellow-poplar for poplar, longleaf pine for southern yellow pine.
Side by side
| Property | Poplar | Eastern white pine | Southern yellow pine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Janka hardness, 12% MC | 540 lbf | 380 lbf | 870 lbf |
| Weight, 12% MC | 29.4 lb/ft³ (470 kg/m³) | 24.5 lb/ft³ (392 kg/m³) | 41.3 lb/ft³ (661 kg/m³) |
| Specific gravity, 12% MC | 0.42 | 0.35 | 0.59 |
| Tangential shrinkage | 8.2% | 6.1% | 7.5% |
| Radial shrinkage | 4.6% | 2.1% | 5.1% |
| 12 in flatsawn board, 6% → 12% MC | 0.208 in | 0.153 in | 0.179 in |
| 12 in quartersawn board, 6% → 12% MC | 0.114 in | 0.051 in | 0.099 in |
| Bending strength (MOR), 12% MC | 10,100 psi | 8,600 psi | 14,500 psi |
| Stiffness (MOE), 12% MC | 1.58 million psi | 1.24 million psi | 1.98 million psi |
| Crushing strength, 12% MC | 5,540 psi | 4,800 psi | 8,470 psi |
One source: USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the authority for species properties it measured
Wood Handbook Tables 5-3b, 4-3 and 13-5; weight and movement worked with its Eqs. 4-14 and 13-3. A dash means the Handbook prints no value.
What sets them apart
- Hardwood is not a hardness
- The Handbook warns that the names can confuse: some softwoods are harder than some hardwoods, and it names longleaf pine and Douglas-fir as typically harder than basswood and aspen. It calls yellow-poplar moderately soft and longleaf pine hard. (Wood Handbook, p. 2-2 and 2-11 to 2-15)
- Stability
- Yellow-poplar has moderately high shrinkage from green but is not hard to dry and is stable once dried. Eastern white pine has low shrinkage and ranks high in stability. (Wood Handbook, p. 2-11 and 2-13)
- Color
- Yellow-poplar heartwood is yellowish brown, sometimes streaked purple, green, black, blue or red; the streaks do not change its properties. It is generally straight grained and fairly uniform in texture. (Wood Handbook, p. 2-11)
- Uses
- Yellow-poplar goes into furniture, molding, siding, cabinets and musical instruments. Eastern white pine goes into patterns, sashes, doors, furniture and paneling; southern pine into framing and plywood. (Wood Handbook, p. 2-11 to 2-15)
For any other pair, open each species page from the wood hub; every page uses the same layout and the same sources.