# How many cubic feet of loose wood to equal a cord?



## LAH (Oct 26, 2008)

A cord of tight stacked wood is 128 cubic feet. How many cubic feet of loose wood to equal a cord? Anyone have a formula?

Thanks & God Bless,
LAH


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## Petr51488 (Oct 26, 2008)

LAH said:


> A cord of tight stacked wood is 128 cubic feet. How many cubic feet of loose wood to equal a cord? Anyone have a formula?
> 
> Thanks & God Bless,
> LAH



take a look in my thread. http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=79065 I figured my dump trailer by stacking a cord, then throwing it in my trailer and just making a mental note on how high it is for a cord. Works every time. Once it gets to that line, i throw in a few extra pieces for the customer.


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## jeeptj19992001 (Oct 26, 2008)

4' x 4' x 8' it is still lose wood, nobdy is holding it back


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## blackdiesel (Oct 26, 2008)

Timberwolf told me 170. however i always found that a bit short, so i throw on 190 cubic feet of unstacked wood and call it a cord. This being 16" wood of course.


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## treemandan (Oct 26, 2008)

On average ( according to the almanac) you would get abot 80 to 90 cubic feet of actuall wood in a stack of split wood measuing 4x4x8. Dependant on how small or large it is split AND by how carefully it is stacked.

I think it should be sold by weight. I know that would really suck but that would tell you what is real wood and what is some punky maple crap. 
It really is something that should be looked over by the BWM, I think. And once established I even think it would give guys who really want to make a living at suppling heating fuel to those that need it an an oppurtunity to get its fair value. Also keep junk peddlers from dealing.
I think a firewood dealer presenting a stamp from the BWM would fair better than one without it. I still have NO real idea why I don't get certified myself as an arborist except that the lights would blind me.


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## blackdiesel (Oct 26, 2008)

treemandan said:


> I think it should be sold by weight.



Did the thought of seasoned vs unseasoned wood ever cross your mind?  

Everybody and their coon dog would be selling green wood


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## The Lorax (Oct 26, 2008)

*Moisture meter*

All you need is a moisture meter, have a specified upper level of moisture and the problem is solved.
I think 15-20% is the norm for firewood no?
Could be a good selling tool for decent firewood operators, show up with a meter and check a few pieces just to show that the wood is seasoned.


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## blackdiesel (Oct 26, 2008)

i have a lot of customers that dont even know what a rick is  

I'd hate trying to explain moisture content to them. Also, not everybody has axcess to a set of scales to weigh a truck...


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## redprospector (Oct 26, 2008)

LAH said:


> A cord of tight stacked wood is 128 cubic feet. How many cubic feet of loose wood to equal a cord? Anyone have a formula?
> 
> Thanks & God Bless,
> LAH



I don't believe there could be a real accurate formula, there are too many variables.
I sold wood last year to a wood lot. To save labor cost I didn't want to stack the wood in my trailer only to be dumped out, and the wood lot dosen't stack their wood (they measure it when it leaves the lot). So we decided to stack 5 loads from my trailer to get a good average. The wood was loaded with a conveyor, just let it fall in and then evened out the top. The 5 loads varried from a little over 3 cords to a little under 2 1/2 cords, we settled on a 2 3/4 cord average.
I guess you have a little more controll on how tight the "loose" load would be, but with a conveyor it just depends on how the wood lands.

Andy


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## drmiller100 (Oct 27, 2008)

it depends a LOT on the shape of the cubic feet.

i have an 8 foot wide, 4 feet deep, 2 foot sides bucket for my skid steer.

3 heaping scoops, which is 190 cubic feet, sort of, does not add up to one cord. I need to add about a half scoop to make a stacked cord. I've done this about 100 times in the past year, so think i have it about figured out.

On the other hand, if you could do 170 by doing a cube 5.5 on a side, i bet it would be an honest cord when stacked.

The more surface area on the outside of your "cord", the more space is lost to air.


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## LAH (Oct 27, 2008)

redprospector said:


> I don't believe there could be a real accurate formula, there are too many variables.
> I sold wood last year to a wood lot. To save labor cost I didn't want to stack the wood in my trailer only to be dumped out, and the wood lot dosen't stack their wood (they measure it when it leaves the lot). So we decided to stack 5 loads from my trailer to get a good average. The wood was loaded with a conveyor, just let it fall in and then evened out the top. The 5 loads varried from a little over 3 cords to a little under 2 1/2 cords, we settled on a 2 3/4 cord average.
> I guess you have a little more controll on how tight the "loose" load would be, but with a conveyor it just depends on how the wood lands.
> 
> Andy



Thanks Andy, and the size of your trailer is?........LAH


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## LAH (Oct 27, 2008)

blackdiesel said:


> Timberwolf told me 170. however i always found that a bit short, so i throw on 190 cubic feet of unstacked wood and call it a cord. This being 16" wood of course.




Thank you Sir. I'll try 190 & see how it goes.......LAH


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## Ohiowoodguy (Oct 27, 2008)

Several universities (including THE Ohio State University) say split 16" wood thrown is 180 cubic feet to a cord (128 cubic feet well stacked), 190 cubic feet for 18", and 160 cubic feet for 14" wood. The 90 cubic feet figure is for solid wood, with NO airspace. Do a Google for "thrown cord".


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## BlueRidgeMark (Oct 27, 2008)

blackdiesel said:


> i have a lot of customers that dont even know what a rick is



That's pretty dumb, since a "rick" is whatever you want it to be.


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## redprospector (Oct 27, 2008)

LAH said:


> Thanks Andy, and the size of your trailer is?........LAH



8' x 16' with 4 1/2 foot sideboards. This measurement looses a little with the 2x8's that make the sideboards being 1 3/4" thick, so the actual measurement inside would be 7' 8 1/2" x 15' 6 3/4" x 4' 6".

Andy


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## redprospector (Oct 27, 2008)

Ohiowoodguy said:


> Several universities (including THE Ohio State University) say split 16" wood thrown is 180 cubic feet to a cord (128 cubic feet well stacked), 190 cubic feet for 18", and 160 cubic feet for 14" wood. The 90 cubic feet figure is for solid wood, with NO airspace. Do a Google for "thrown cord".



Hmmm, Universities are not always the smartest places in the world. Sometimes the best information is obtained through the school of hard knocks. I don't have anything against higher education, but sometimes they're not as smart as they think.

The trailer I mentioned above has a "water level" capacity of just over 534 cu. ft. The average load was 2.75 cords which figures out to be about 194.25 cu. ft. to the cord. The wood was cut to 16" lengths and split for firewood.
The load that had 3 cords figures about 178 cu. ft. per cord, and the load that only held 2.5 cords figures about 213.71 cu. ft. per cord.

That's why I say there are too many variables to say there are X number of cubic feet in a loose thrown cord of wood. The only way to get a fairly accurate number for X is to get an average of several loads on your particular vehicle, with your particular style of loose throwing.

Andy


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## Outdoorsman (Oct 29, 2008)

redprospector said:


> The trailer I mentioned above has a "water level" capacity of just over 534 cu. ft. The average load was 2.75 cords which figures out to be about 194.25 cu. ft. to the cord. The wood was cut to 16" lengths and split for firewood.
> The load that had 3 cords figures about 178 cu. ft. per cord, and the load that only held 2.5 cords figures about 213.71 cu. ft. per cord.
> 
> That's why I say there are too many variables to say there are X number of cubic feet in a loose thrown cord of wood. The only way to get a fairly accurate number for X is to get an average of several loads on your particular vehicle, with your particular style of loose throwing.
> ...



Spot on man! +1

Unless you've hauled and stacked loads with a given truck/trailer it's just a guess.


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## eugene kirkvold (May 31, 2014)

hi I have sold firewood off and on for 30 yrs and an area forester told me that 150 loose thrown wood is about one cord and he is pretty darn close depending on how loose it is I try to throw it tight as possible as I have sold between 3 and 4000 cord over the yrs with only one complaint that's an exelant average people like what I bring they get what they pay for my loads are bigger than most other venders and at the same price same as thiers a loose cord is thrown it to 6 inches over the top of a cab on a 3/4 ton pickup better have helper spring or you may brake them. this was all done by hand but those days will be gone Im working on a firewood conveyer out of a grain farm elevater that my dad had might as well use it with some revamping the speed would be to fast the way it is so I will have to slow it down and a firewood processor is in the future I will build it myself have most of the stuff laying around already to build one it will be something like the twichnsplit but have 40 inch opening on the shute and 2 5 inch rams for the spitter part and cookie adjustable wedge up and down and a retriever to pull the chunk back if it to large to split the first time the adjustable wedge will be adgusted up and down according to how snarly the chunk is and the max height will be 18 inch and should be able to slpit 2 chunks at once I will have a 12000 lbs winch on it so almost nothing will stop the winch and travels 27 ft per minute on the first layer and forty with a near full spool empty happy firewooding and god bless


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