# Whats a face cord weigh?



## whitedogone (Jan 12, 2008)

I know there is a lot of variation. But what would say a face cord (4'x8'x 16-18") weigh. Say a had a trailer load of this amount in say real dry Elm. Or the same in wet white oak.


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## toolhawk (Jan 12, 2008)

Try this is should help out

http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1554/build/g1554.pdf


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## windthrown (Jan 12, 2008)

What you want to know is the weight of 1/3 of a full cord of wood. That depends entirely on the species of the wood, and on how dry it is. For example, grand fir weighs about the same as doug fir when they are both green, but grad fir weighs about half what doug fir does when it is seasoned. 

A cord of wood can weight up to 2 tons. This site has the weight of some, but not all species of seasoned firewood by the cord: http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html


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## Brushwacker (Jan 13, 2008)

I remember weighing 1/3 cord of green pin oak with some blocks up in the 20inch diameter range. I can't say I remember the exact weight but it was well over 2000 lbs and under 2400, I think something like 2150. I believe I did some unsplit whiteoak at something like 1950 . Split was considerably less and well seasoned split more in the neighborhood of 1/2 those figures. I imagine elm would be considerably lighter. Sassafras doesn't feel like it loses a lot of weight like the oaks after drying...
I weighed mine at a grain elevator.


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## whitedogone (Jan 13, 2008)

Thanks for the info. The reason I ask is that I have a 5x8 trailer that has a 2000# cap. That leaves around 1700# payload. I can stack 3 rows wide of 16-18" spilt wood on it with some room to spare. I was going to make some plywood side boards that were 20" or so high. That way I could just stack wood till it was within 4" of the top and know I had a face cord. It appears that I would still be way under the capacity of the trailer even with wet wood. Maybe I could even make them 24" high and still haul that much wet white oak. We have a LOT of huge white oaks that are laying down on the farm that need cut. WDO


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## nitromusky (Jan 13, 2008)

Oak wieghs roughly 4500-5300 lbs per cord seasoned thats red oak white is close to the same


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## Mad Professor (Jan 13, 2008)

Isn't a face cord 96 cu ft? E.g. 8' X 4' X 3'.


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## Freakingstang (Jan 13, 2008)

Mad Professor said:


> Isn't a face cord 96 cu ft? E.g. 8' X 4' X 3'.



A face cord isn't actually a determined unit of measure, that is why you legally can't sell a face cord, but if you advertise a 1/3 of a cord, then you are good.

using your example, 4x8x3 is actually 96 cubic feet, but......

You could have a face cord of 4' logs, 8x4....that still equals a full cord. 

Face cords are generally 16-20" length. a face of 16" logs = 42 2/3 cubic feet.

a face cord of 8x4 at 24" is what?.....64 cubic feet, or half a cord.

See what I mean? it is harder to figure in the oddball inches, but it still can be done.

a face cord of 28" pieces is how many cubic feet?

hint, it equals .58 of a cord


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## windthrown (Jan 14, 2008)

Mad Professor said:


> Isn't a face cord 96 cu ft? E.g. 8' X 4' X 3'.



As Freak says, a face cord is non-depth dimentioned. Generally a face cord, or a 'rick' as they are called around here, are 8' x 4' x 16" or so (8 x 4 x one log length). Thus, it is about 1/3 of a cord (cord is 8' x 4' x 48"). My ricks are half cords, as I cut my logs 2' long for burning in our OWB.


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