Jack Pine question

[123maxbars]

I had a logger call me tonight who has a few truck loads of what he called 'Jack Pine", anyone ever heard of this before?

[WDH]

Jack Pine does not grow in Tennessee.  It is almost certainly Virginia Pine which has the same form and growth habit as Jack Pine, very gnarly and limby with little twisty needles and small golf-ball sized cones.  It does not meet the strength requirements to be sold as SYP (Southern Yellow Pine) lumber cut for framing by the big commercial mills, so there is not much of a market for it. 

[barbender]

Up here Jack pine goes to the stud mill, or for pulp. If grown in dense stands it can have decent form and make nice lumber, open grown stuff is gnarly.

[SwampDonkey]

I agree with barbender on the jack pine. Plantation jack pine that I see along the highways are junk. Forest grown, thick jack pine from fires are the best for stud wood because they grow straight. But it does look similar to Virginia pine.

[MotorSeven]

It's called Jack Pine here too by lot's of folks. Yep, lot's of branches & knots but they do grow big and straight in certain stands. I have some on my place that I am using for barn wood(beams and rafters) and so far it behaves like SYP. Off the ground and covered from rain it should last forever.

[sealark37]

It is known by several names in Carolina, but the proper name is Virginia pine.  Most mills will not take it here.  It was once used to make "Knotty pine paneling".  It is OK for non-code farm uses.  Regards, Clark

[barbender]

Like WDH said, it isn't strong enough to be grouped with SYP, but wood doesn't have to have SYP strength to make construction lumber. Jack pine is grouped in SPF, my house has commercialy produced jack pine studs in it.

[lumberjack48]

Here in the Chippewa National Forest i've cut many MBF of 24" ,70' to 80' tall Jack Pine for saw logs. There used to be a lot of Dandelion Jack, 40 yrs. ago, they were 80' with no limbs just a little crown on top.

I've all so cut many thousands of cds of plantation Jack, that the C.C. Boys planted. Rajala Timber Co. bought this tree length for pulpwood price, and when they processed it they sawed as many 2/4's they could out of it. The rest went for chips.

1996 Rajala's paid me $10.00 a cd, about $4. a ton, for TL Jack on the landing.

[levans]

I am using Virginia Pine  2x6 for the roof joist for my mill shed and just used it for the siding on my new pig house. The only thing I've found to be a problem is if you let it dry in the sun it will twist and curl up, you just have to put tin or something on top of it.

  

  

[WDH]

Those pigs have long curly hair  :D.  Nice looking building!

[levans]

the sheep were acting as the pigs agents.

[bugdust]

In these parts we don't have "Virginia" / "Jack" pine. So I'm curious, what is "Loblolly" pine? Or is there a difference?

[Banjo picker]

A bluegrass song by the name of Henry Walker done by the Del McCoury band has a line in it about an ole Jack Pine....Banjo

[barbender]

Loblolly is a Southern Yellow Pine.

[WDH]

Virginia is also a southern yellow pine, along with loblolly, slash, shortleaf, longleaf, pond, pitch, spruce, table mountain, and sand pine. 

Loblolly is the most predominate and is the most important commercial species.  Longleaf is the densest, and spruce pine is the least dense.

The four "commercial" southern pines that make the SYP grade by the Southern Pine Inspection Bureau are loblolly, slash, shortleaf, and longleaf.

[shelbycharger400]

that tree clearing job i did in feb/march.. 
cutting white and norway pines..no prob
when hackin into a 10 to 15 in dia jack pine.. those things were like cutting oak!
(planted in the 1940's)
boss got $3 a running foot for the jack pine logs
about 2 for everything else