We use hemlock quite a bit. It is one of my favorite woods, I really like the grain and the color of hemlock. It is heavy and stronger than pine. We always use it green. We also spend quite a bit of time grading the timbers. Our sawyer knows what we require, and is great about sending good quality timbers to us. But we still check for extreme shake in every timber. If you look at the butt end of the timber, check the growth rings. If there is a separation in the rings, there will be a problem with shake...don't use the timber for anything structural. Make sure you check both ends.

As the good timbers dry in place there will be minor shake,small paper thin areas where the top ring has separated. These aren't a problem. We have never had a timber in a house shake beyond that because we are careful.

In our area, hemlock is around the same price as pine. There is a lot of hemlock where we are. It is used for pulp wood, and as the number of paper mills diminishes in our area, the loggers have a hard time getting rid of it, so it is easy to get.