Strength and Related Properties of Plantation Red Pine Grown in Indiana

Little is known of the strength properties of red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) grown outside its natural range in the Central States Region. This paper reports the results of strength and related property tests conducted on red pine wood of 20 trees from two relatively immature stands in the western half of Indiana and of 10 trees of about the same average size from a natural stand in Wisconsin for comparison. Tests were conducted according to standard ASTM procedure, where possible, for specific gravity, volumetric shrinkage, static bending, toughness, compression parallel to grain, and shear parallel to grain. Average specific gravity of Indiana-grown material at both green and 12 percent moisture contents equaled that grown in Wisconsin. Average green toughness of Indiana material, combining tangential and radial load values, was 30 percent greater than that of the natural grown. However, at the 12 percent moisture content level, the combined toughness value of the natural grown red pine was 20 percent greater than that from Indiana. Modulus of elasticity for static bending and compression parallel to grain of Indiana red pine at 12 percent moisture content was about 76 percent and 62 percent, respectively, as great as that of the natural grown. Shear strength parallel to grain of plantation wood, green condition, equaled about 93 percent of that from Wisconsin. The strength properties of plantation-grown red pine from Indiana compare much more favorably with those published by others for red pine grown in plantations in Connecticut.

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