# How many board ft in a full cord (128 cft)



## mifirewoodguy (Feb 25, 2009)

Can anyone tell me approx. how many board feet are in 1 full cord (128 cft)


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## willt1981 (Feb 25, 2009)

seems like ive heard 500bf per cord. i was doing the math this past fall on what price you get per MBF if you sell a cord of firewood for $120. I came up with $240 per MBF. I was trying to figure out at what price at the mill I should quit selling the logs for timber and keep them for firewood. For the lowest grade hardwood i was getting $200MBF. I decided to keep taking large logs (>25" diameter on little end) to the mill but keep the smaller logs for firewood. at some point the man-handling of large pieces to split them wasnt worth the extra $40 per thousand.


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## lfnh (Feb 25, 2009)

*recent thread on this*

Maybe this ?

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=80963&highlight=cord+board+feet


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## rbtree (Feb 25, 2009)

A full cord of wood is typically about 80 solid cubic feet....thats 960 bf...


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## rdbrumfield (Feb 25, 2009)

4x8 is the footprint of a cord. times 48 inches high, so 4x8x48=1536bd ft


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## redprospector (Feb 25, 2009)

It's going to depend on what scale you use, and the size of the log's.
The mill I used to sell to used the Scribner decimal C scale. I got curious once and scaled a load I was hauling for firewood (real time consuming). I can't remember exactly, but I think it was around 1300 bd ft on that load. The guy at the wood yard was interested in what I was doing, so he cut, split & stacked that load to help me figure it out. It stacked out to just under 2 1/2 cord's. 
That was small wood, nothing over about 10 or 12 inches in diameter. I think the results would change with bigger wood.

Andy


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## rdbrumfield (Feb 25, 2009)

The cord I did, was a solid block of wood, the 4x8x48 cord, wood split is a big difference.
That was interesting of what 1300 bd ft stacked up to.


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## davegster (Feb 25, 2009)

The correct answer is 1536 bf.

1 BF = 12" X 12" X 1" thick 
1 cubic foot = 12 bf
12 bf X 128 cubic ft = 1536 bf


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## willt1981 (Feb 25, 2009)

davegster said:


> The correct answer is 1536 bf.
> 
> 1 BF = 12" X 12" X 1" thick
> 1 cubic foot = 12 bf
> 12 bf X 128 cubic ft = 1536 bf



this assumes that there is NO air in the stack. In other words, a solid piece that is 128 cubic feet. in the real world you wont get this. i think the load that was 1300 bf and cut to 2 1/2 is alot closer.


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## rdbrumfield (Feb 25, 2009)

for sure


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## redprospector (Feb 25, 2009)

rdbrumfield said:


> The cord I did, was a solid block of wood, the 4x8x48 cord, wood split is a big difference.
> That was interesting of what 1300 bd ft stacked up to.



I wish I could find the scrap paper I wrote all that down on so we wern't depending totally on my memory from 2 or 3 years ago, but those figures are pretty close. I do remember it was almost 2 1/2 cords. 
I was going for figures that would work in my little world. Not too many 4x4x8' blocks of wood in New Mexico.

Andy


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## mifirewoodguy (Feb 26, 2009)

*The reason I ask this question*

We're in the market to buy firewood logs, anything 8" to 24". I have two timber buyers that are always coming accross land owners that will sell their tops,undesireable saw logs, and dead ash trees. These timber buyers measure everyting in bft, I buy firewood logs by the Pulp cord (128 cft). We're trying to come to a happy medium on price per Cord/bft. I found a lumber conversion calculator and it says 1536 bft per cord, Ive talked to other loggers that say approx 500 bd ft per cord, big difference when your on the buying end and their trying to sell it by the bd ft or mbd ft. 

Example A.
Timber buyer Tom has 12,700 measured brd ft of dead ash in the woods he'd like to sell me, at 1536 bft per cord thats 8.26 pulp cord. If we use 500 bft per cord we get 25.4 pulp cord. Big big difference when I'm paying by the pulp cord. 

So thats my dilema gents we're just trying to figure out a win win for both of us. Any suggestion would be helpful... Thanks...Lee


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## Wood Doctor (Feb 26, 2009)

mifirewoodguy said:


> Can anyone tell me approx. how many board feet are in 1 full cord (128 cft)


500 to 600, depending upon (1) how tight you pack it, (2) thickness of almost worthless bark, (3) number of small limbs, and (4) tree species within the cord.

If it were all a bunch of small limbs, reduce the amount to zero because practically none of it could be salvaged into lumber that a woodsmith could use to make furniture, mill for trim carpentry stock, glue up for lathe turnings, or anything else. That's all tinder, kindling, mulch, smokin' wood, or dumpster fodder for the land fill.


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## redprospector (Feb 26, 2009)

mifirewoodguy said:


> We're in the market to buy firewood logs, anything 8" to 24". I have two timber buyers that are always coming accross land owners that will sell their tops,undesireable saw logs, and dead ash trees. These timber buyers measure everyting in bft, I buy firewood logs by the Pulp cord (128 cft). We're trying to come to a happy medium on price per Cord/bft. I found a lumber conversion calculator and it says 1536 bft per cord, Ive talked to other loggers that say approx 500 bd ft per cord, big difference when your on the buying end and their trying to sell it by the bd ft or mbd ft.
> 
> Example A.
> Timber buyer Tom has 12,700 measured brd ft of dead ash in the woods he'd like to sell me, at 1536 bft per cord thats 8.26 pulp cord. If we use 500 bft per cord we get 25.4 pulp cord. Big big difference when I'm paying by the pulp cord.
> ...



If your timber buyer's will work with you, make a deal to take 1000 bd ft of log's cut it, split it & stack it. That would give you both a good idea of how many cubic feet of split stacked firewood is in 1000 bd ft of log's. Who know's, it might be valuable information for the timber buyer too.

Andy


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## blackdiesel (Feb 27, 2009)

guy i used to buy pulp wood from told me that a semi load would scale 4000 board feet. i could cut 7-8 cords per load. so i think 500 bf is pretty close


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## wkpoor (Feb 28, 2009)

I'm looking at this a little different. Same answer
1BF = 144 cu.in.
1cord =221,184.00 cu.in.
221,184/144=1536
Answer: 1536BF


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## StLuke (Aug 10, 2022)

mifirewoodguy said:


> Can anyone tell me approx. how many board feet are in 1 full cord (128 cft)


1 cord = 1536 board feet


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## StLuke (Aug 10, 2022)

mifirewoodguy said:


> Can anyone tell me approx. how many board feet are in 1 full cord (128 cft)


Logging​International 1/4-inch Log Rule (Grosenbaugh) Calculator​





Calculate the amount of board feet in a log using the International 1/4-inch Log Rule online.




The first result listed is what the calculator is intended to calculate. 
The conversions for the other volume measurements are derived from the first one.
Board Foot * 0.0833333 = Cubic Foot
Board Foot * 0.00235974 = Cubic Meter


International 1/4 - inch Log Rule
*The rule assumes a taper of 1/2 inch in 4 feet*. All calculated values are rounded to the nearest 5 board feet. This rule is generally used in timber sales in eastern national forests and state forests in Tennessee. This is the most accurate rule of the three discussed.


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