facecord ratio to pulpwood cord

[thor97]

Does anyone have experience with buying wood by the pulpwood cord(full cord-100" logs on a logging truck, 10-12 full cords at a time. ) I can get all the oak I want delivered to my yard but am not sure how many face cords I can get out of a full cord. I know the usual ratio is 3 to 1 but am not sure that's how it works out in reality with scraps and waste. 6 16" rounds out of a log with a 4" piece left over may not equal 3 face cords. What do you think?

 

[svk]

If one considers a face cord as 1/3 cord then yes. However those logging truck loads often are less than 12 cords suggested depending how tightly stacked the logs are. Especially when you are getting mixed loads of big and small diameter logs it can be less than 10 cords on there, closer to 8 or 9. So 9 cords times three face cords is 27 face cords. You may get more though as well.

 

[chucker]

unless they are picture perfect in diameter, you will come up with 2.5 -2.75 face cords to a pulp cord. ends @ 100" are always extras...

 

[muddstopper]

I like to cut my logs at 120 in which give me 6 20in rounds. My preferred length even tho my stove will take longer wood. 100 in would yield 5 rounds. Three face cords would equal 1.25 cord. Either way, no shorts at the end of the log. Face cords can vary greatly in lengths so 3 face cord can be more or less than a cord, just depends on how long your rounds are. I guess if I was selling the wood in the preferred 16in length, I would make 5 16 in rounds and leave the extra 4in on the 6th round and stack it separate for my personal use. Never know when a customer might want a little longer stick of wood to go in their stove so having 20in long splits on hand might be some advantage. Trucks loaded heavy with crooked trees seldom have the stated amount of cords, 8-9 cords is about right, If you get all trunk wood, stacked nice and neat, you should get close to the 10-12 cord advertised amount.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

After you figure saw kerf it won't be 4".

 

[muddstopper]

Splitting hairs Valley? I dont know many people that measure an exact length for every round they buck. Check the lengths as they come off your processor and see how precise your cuts are.

 

[sirbuildalot]

I was thinking the same thing Mudd,

I "process" to 20", but many of the splits may end up at 19.5" or 20.5". If I'm within an inch of the 20" mark either way its close enough for me. My stove like yours will take a longer log, up to 26", but over 20" gets to be unwieldy imo.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I did an experiment this spring based on Curly Cherry's workbench dowel project.
Only I did it with 100" cord wood this spring based on two cord. Curly cut dowel into rounds, then split and restacked. Log form to rounds, volume is lost. Rounds to splits, volume is gained, which is what Curly observed. Logs to rounds, to splits, volume is lost. In my case I found 21% loss. (Face cord without dimensions is very ambiguous term.)
Check out the thread "Buying a load of logs" 300zx_tt May 09, 2016 (three pages) to follow start to finish.

2 cord of logs = 1 1/2 cord of rounds
1 1/2 cord of rounds = 1.58 cord of splits, and scrap.

A 20 cord load should give me 1.58 x 10 = 15.8 cord split, and that's actually pretty darn close to what I'm experiencing.
Taken the first week of Nov. The cut-offs and junk add up to a box a week, or more. The saw kerf ends up under my feet and get shoveled out twice a week when the cut table gets 5" lower.

 

[cantoo]

Sandhill, I cut my logs at either 12' or now at 13'4" so that I can cut 32" or 16" rounds. I'm cutting ash and most of it is fairly straight so I would assume my volume of splits would be higher than yours as your logs look to be pretty curvy. I also pile the logs in 2 different piles, 7" and bigger on one and 7" and smaller on the other. Usually the smaller stuff is tops and branches and is more crooked than body wood. Trees are from inside the bush so they are also straighter than edge of the bush or fenceline trees. I think tree species also make the amounts vary. End view showing branches and side view showing straight body wood. Around here lots of people tell log suppliers that they only want body wood as they feel it's straighter wood and better heat (BTUS) than "branches".

 

[muddstopper]

I would say your numbers are pretty close with the wood you received. I have found small crooked stuff can look like a lot of wood until you get it worked up. Thats the reason I said if you get stem wood, loaded and stacked nice and neat, you should get pretty close to the same amount, log or firewood. I have observed, but not actually measured, nice size rounds seem to take up more space once split.