You say pecan, I say hickory

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You say pecan, I say hickory Pecan lumber is usually sold as hickory. June 20, 2000

Question
Since Hurricane Floyd, I have an abundance of pecan. I have cut it to 4/4 and am air-drying it. What are some possible uses, quality and market value? You never see it on the market.

Forum Responses
Pecan lumber is almost always sold as hickory -- this is legal and is traditional practice. There are four pecans and four true hickories that are sold as hickory lumber.

Hickory is used for tables, furniture, and a variety of other uses.
Gene Wengert

From the original questioner:
I couldn't find any info or anyone who knew what to do with it. I knew it was in the hickory family, but didn't know if the strength and characteristics where the same. It usually gets chopped up for the burn pile. I will have about 3000 board feet.

Sounds like it might be good for cabinet facings, doors, or floors.

Gentlemen, pecan is a hickory and is common all over the southern U.S. Pecan can either be sold as pecan or hickory, each has its own values/detriments. Here in southern Oklahoma we are blessed with massive amounts of pecan and hickory (and black walnut).

The comments below were added after this Forum discussion was archived as a Knowledge Base article (add your comment).

Comment from contributor A:
I retrieved a few pecan trees from a friend of mine who has a place on the South Llano River near Junction, Texas and took the logs to a sawmill near Cloudcroft, New Mexico. After they sawed them into 4/4 and 5/4 lumber, I stacked the lumber on strips for drying. It dries very slow. It also was bad to warp. After it dried, I made a trestle table (approximately 4' X 8') for the guy who owned the property where I got the logs. Also I have made several chests and other furniture. The lumber is very beautiful.

Comment from contributor B:
We used hickory in a custom built home that we used distressing on (hitting it with chains, ice picks). It was pretty difficult to work with but well worth the effort. When we started milling it my first thought was burning it was a good idea. But we got through it and when we were done, the cabinetry looked great. Plus, all the leftovers everybody took home and burnt in their fireplaces and smokers.

Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below?

KnowledgeBase: Lumber & Plywood: Wood Identification

KnowledgeBase: Primary Processing: Air Drying Lumber

KnowledgeBase: Primary Processing: Kiln Operation

KnowledgeBase: Primary Processing: Lumber Grading

KnowledgeBase: Primary Processing: Sawmilling

KnowledgeBase: Knowledge Base

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