# cord measure of unstacked wood?



## bodhaine1 (Mar 15, 2008)

I realize that a true cord is 4x4x8ft but does anyone know what the ratio would be to "thrown in" or unstacked wood. I want to build a dump trailer and am trying to figure out the right dimensions so that I don't have to stack a truck with side rails to ensure a true cord. Tired of breaking my back stacking a truck. Anyone?


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## tomtrees58 (Mar 15, 2008)

about 425 pc =4x4x8 tom trees


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## enjoys cutting (Mar 15, 2008)

next time you go get a load of wood throw on what you would call a good load and measure it when you unstack it.that will give you an idea


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## ericjeeper (Mar 15, 2008)

*Impossible to figure*

Considering all the pieces will never lay the same twice.
I know my son has a commanche pickup with a long bed.
We can stack the wood neatly in it and it will hold a Face just a little over bedside full. But to take the same amount and throw it in to a ladies fullsize dodge dually bed. It almost fills it up just tossed.


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## doubletodd (Mar 15, 2008)

yeah I would say a full size 8' box tossed in to the top should be pretty close


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## ant (Mar 15, 2008)

someone said 195 cf loose is 1 cord.


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## cabinman (Mar 15, 2008)

*weight wise*



doubletodd said:


> yeah I would say a full size 8' box tossed in to the top should be pretty close



Todd , what are your thoughts on selling fire wood by weight? there is a scale just down the road from me, Iam going to sell wood next year and dont plan on stacking anything, I do have a dump trailer and loader, Ive seen charts on what wood weights and btu"s equal,. And I think its a fair way to sell wood,. I dont plan on makin a living at it, as much as helping friends out, I have zero experince at selling fire wood, but I think the weight of the wood is more important than the size of the pile, considering its seasioned wood of course, Thanks Eric


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## STLfirewood (Mar 15, 2008)

I think 232 cubic feet is a cord. The is the measurement I use. I never have an issue.

Scott


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## Ole Farmerbuck (Mar 15, 2008)

STLfirewood said:


> I think 232 cubic feet is a cord. The is the measurement I use. I never have an issue.
> 
> Scott


Wow! I thought it was 128 cubic feet. I get about 225 logs per face cord. (1/3 cord) So about 675 logs per cord. 16" long


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## Ole Farmerbuck (Mar 15, 2008)

My 6.5' pickup bed holds 1/3 cord thrown in a little above the sides.


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## turnkey4099 (Mar 16, 2008)

This is the way to get the right answer for _your_ rig.

Make a tight stack of a full cord. One rick, three ricks whatever just so it will total 128 cu ft.

Now toss that cord into your hauling rig. Note what it looks like and take a picture so you can refer to it once in awhile to refress your memory.

You only have to do that drill once, but dumping the load and retossing a couple times will show you how much variation you can expect.

I know of no practical way to accurately determine the cu ft of wood in a loose pile of wood on the ground anyhow.

Harry K

Harry K


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## bassman (Mar 16, 2008)

I just bought a cord from a farmer that he had stacked 4x4x12 and that is a full cord he said and i said it was 4x4x8 .
he said that he has been cutting and selling for years and I was wrong.
oh well ....
if I have to buy an oversized cord for less than others so be it.
the odd thing was he only takes payment in grocery items and after he loads the wood with his wife and 2 kids and I stay in the truck as by his rules he then gives me a list of food and I am to return it to him by the end of the day .
buy the way I had a truck with 30 inch sides and a trailer that was 5 wide and 10 long with 36 inch sides all heaping when I left.
very weird wood guy .


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## doubletodd (Mar 16, 2008)

cabinman said:


> Todd , what are your thoughts on selling fire wood by weight? there is a scale just down the road from me, Iam going to sell wood next year and dont plan on stacking anything, I do have a dump trailer and loader, Ive seen charts on what wood weights and btu"s equal,. And I think its a fair way to sell wood,. I dont plan on makin a living at it, as much as helping friends out, I have zero experince at selling fire wood, but I think the weight of the wood is more important than the size of the pile, considering its seasioned wood of course, Thanks Eric



I really don't know all that much about it. I've bought some wood this year from a pole company at $10 ton wet. people are telling me it should work out to about a face cord per ton. Would probably have to split and stack a load to see whats really there. I would think once you get it zero'd in it would be a good way to go.
I work in a scrapyard so it would be easy for me too, but I probly would'nt sell unless someone I knew needed wood.


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## JackD_ME (Mar 16, 2008)

The original measure of a "CORD" of wood was only used with "CORD-WOOD" which is 4 feet long and consists of a pile 8 feet long and 4 feet deep! 
Any other measure or configuration was considered illegal in the early days of logging in America.

So when selling firewood, a stacked pile of 'cut-up & split firewood' means nothing. The only legal measure was when it was 4 feet long and in the round!

Only recently, have the State and Federal Government created 'standards' of weights & measures. The "NEW" measure of a cord of wood is 128 cubic feet in ANY CONFIGURATION!

I use the same method OldFarmerBuck uses and have a 128cf box to 'proof' check it. 6.6 bed on my Toyota loaded three times slightly higher than the bed equals "more than" 128cf or what is know as a cord of firewood.


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## ant (Mar 16, 2008)

bodhaine1 said:


> does anyone know what the ratio would be to "thrown in" or unstacked wood.




he was talking about loose not stacked.


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## Ole Farmerbuck (Mar 16, 2008)

ant said:


> he was talking about loose not stacked.


When i split, i just throw in in the pickup box. When its full (just above the sides) its a 1/3 cord. I've 'thrown in' enough that has been stacked by now to know how full to fill it. I think!! lol


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## bore_pig (Mar 16, 2008)

That's exactly how I measure it Buck.


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## Zodiac45 (Mar 16, 2008)

Ole Farmerbuck said:


> Wow! I thought it was 128 cubic feet. I get about 225 logs per face cord. (1/3 cord) So about 675 logs per cord. 16" long





STLfirewood said:


> I think 232 cubic feet is a cord. The is the measurement I use. I never have an issue.
> 
> 
> Scott


Nope.

You thought right Farmerbuck, a cord is 128 stacked. Do the math, 4x4x8.


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## STLfirewood (Mar 16, 2008)

Zodiac45 said:


> Nope.
> 
> You thought right Farmerbuck, a cord is 128 stacked. Do the math, 4x4x8.




Your right it is 128 stacked. But if you read the post the man wants to know about a LOOSE cord meaning thrown in. My figure for that is 232. I have a 14x7 dump trailer with 4ft sides. For me to get a little over 2 true cords I stack the back row and throw in the rest. That gie me a bit over 2 cords with a mounding it a little. But like the origional topic said LOOSE

Scott


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## spike60 (Mar 16, 2008)

bassman said:


> the odd thing was he only takes payment in grocery items and after he loads the wood with his wife and 2 kids and I stay in the truck as by his rules he then gives me a list of food and I am to return it to him by the end of the day .



That is a strange way indeed to buy wood. I guess they really don't like going to the grocery store.  

Concerning the original post, loose thrown wood outside my woodshed seems to reduce itself by half when I stack it inside. The idea of a dry run or two with a known cord sounds like the best idea, but if it varies to much each time you throw it then you might be better off selling it by the trailer or truck load, and not worry about hitting the mark on each cord.


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## Blazin (Mar 16, 2008)

Here's a face and a quarter thrown in...All cut 2 foot


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## bodhaine1 (Mar 16, 2008)

Mathematically, I think that somewhere in-between ant's 195 cf and STLfirewood's 232 cf sounds right. I think that I'm going to have to stack one and then toss it in to find out the ratio for sure, but I think that a 5x10 dump trailer with 4' sides with a little mound is probably what I will end up with. Thanks a lot for all of your input.


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## Ole Farmerbuck (Mar 16, 2008)

Blazin said:


> Here's a face and a quarter thrown in...All cut 2 foot


Uh......at least!


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## doubletodd (Mar 16, 2008)

that's a load!!


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## Zodiac45 (Mar 17, 2008)

STLfirewood said:


> Your right it is 128 stacked. But if you read the post the man wants to know about a LOOSE cord meaning thrown in. My figure for that is 232. I have a 14x7 dump trailer with 4ft sides. For me to get a little over 2 true cords I stack the back row and throw in the rest. That gie me a bit over 2 cords with a mounding it a little. But like the origional topic said LOOSE
> 
> Scott



Ok I understand that but it's so "open to interpretation" that I wonder why anyone would ever buy wood that way? I suppose as a way of estimating it might be valuable, and for the seller. My buddy has a small F350 dump truck that he fills as a cord load off a conveyor. We took a stacked cord and threw it in then used that as the "prototype" measure.


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## Husky137 (Mar 17, 2008)

A loose thrown cord is going to differ based on the length of the wood. 24" wood will take up more loose volume than 16" wood for the same stacked volume. For loose thrown (or conveyored in my case) I go with 190 cubic feet. I have never had anyone complain about getting shorted and that's the way it should be.


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## redprospector (Mar 17, 2008)

There is a lot of variable's to consider.
The only way to have a good educated guess is to load it, dump it, stack it 3 or 4 times and take an average. 
I'm loading a 16' x 8' gooseneck with 4' 6" sideboards, I loose just a little area from the 1 3/4" sideboards being on the inside of the stake's. After 6 loads the buyer and I settled on an average of 196 cu ft per cord. That's 16" wood loaded with a conveyor, your results may varry.
 
Andy


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## user 19670 (Mar 17, 2008)

*Take good care of this guy*



bassman said:


> I just bought a cord from a farmer that he had stacked 4x4x12 and that is a full cord he said and i said it was 4x4x8 .
> he said that he has been cutting and selling for years and I was wrong.
> oh well ....
> if I have to buy an oversized cord for less than others so be it.
> ...



You should buy a policy on this man and his whole family :hmm3grin2orange:


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## drmiller100 (Mar 17, 2008)

three heaping scoops with my big blue snow bucket is a cord when you stack it.


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