Cord of wood

[pea]

I think I understand what a cord is. Pretty much a cord is 4'x8'x 4' high (meaning the sides of a truck with rails) ?? Is this right? and a face cord or half cord would be about 4'x8'x about 2' high (up to the top of the sides of a pickup with no rails????

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

i think that is pretty close, only stacked on the ground to those dimensions.

Looking at a fireplace transom as 25" wide; cut pieces at 24"/2' to assure clearance and lil'fergiveness. 8' long x 4' high rectangle of these pieces is one side, or a face of the chord; stacked on ground fairly tightly, without a bunch of airspace.

8' long stack along ground, 4' high of the 2' pieces; then doubled to 2 vertical layers to form 8' x 4' x 4' of the 2' pieces stacked on ground solidly in 'cube' (not too much air space) would make both faces of, or a full chord.

Different bed lengths, widths, boxes, stacking habits etc. make quoting a truck a lil more difficult. Small wood burners, might only take 16" pieces etc.

 

[brent denny]

You are right on the cord measurements. A cord or pulp cord is 4x4x8. A "face" cord is 4' high, 8' long and the width is whatever is really requested. Usually around here, that means 16". Most people that say cord really mean face cord.

 

[TreeJunkie]

I cut all of my wood 16'', that way it fits all fireplaces and sell a cord measured 16' long 4' tall by 16", might be a little short of a true cord, but it works. 1/2 cord is 8' x 4'.

 

[glens]

In most places that care, it's illegal to sell a "face cord", a "rick", a "rack", etc. since they are arbitrary terms.  Only full or fractional cords are allowable units of measure for trade.  The measurements are taken on a neatly-stacked pile, not one that is loose-thrown.

A cord is a dry measure, so air space is figured in (I believe it's about 14% of the total volume).  128 ft³ is the overall volume of the unit.  If you had a solid block that size it would actually be more than a cord of wood.

Hey TreeJunkie, those units are a <i>little</i> short only if you call 1/3 a little.&nbsp; I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but it should be 24' &times; 4' &times; 16" for the full and 12' &times; 4' &times; 16" for the half.

Glen

 

[glens]

Dang, I just remembered I'd forgotten to remember the attachment.&nbsp; Dan's comment will be verified by it.

It's a PDF file with a list of cordwoods sorted in various ways.&nbsp; The original document is indicated within.

Glen

 

[dbeck]

Half cord is not a face cord. There are three face cords in a ful cord...right? 16" wide times three = 48". A full cord is 48" wide.

 

[Stumper]

Dbeck, A face cord is a 4'x8' stack. The length of the wood will then determine what fraction of a cord it is. 16 inch wood would make a face cord one third of a cord. 24" wood would be a half cord . 4 foot wood would mean the face cord is in fact a full cord.

 

[TreeJunkie]

Glens, I hear ya. Doesn't hurt my feelings. I've spoken w/ most of the major firewood distributors in our area, and this is what they are selling as a cord. I just tell the customer the dimensions exactly, this way i'm not hiding anything, and they know what they'll be getting.

 

[a_lopa]

when you guys talk in yards of chips how does that relate in metres?as in 10cubic meters equals?in yards thanks

 

[ray benson]

You got it Dan.
Here is a neat on-line converter
http://www.onlineconversion.com/


Ray

 

[rmihalek]

google converter

For a conversion engine, just type in a plain english phrase into the Google search engine. Like "cubic meters in yards" or "liters in cubic inches" and you'll get your answer.

 

[dbeck]

I see what you mean stumper...16" is what we cut all our firewood to. That would be where my mental bolck came from, thanks!

 

[Abbershay]

Just remember a cord of dried wood will weigh around 4 to 5 thousand pounds. Not many pickup trucks will carry that weight so when you wood man shows up in a Ford F150........

Better think about this one i dont see how in the world this could be true...

 

[Nickrosis]

Originally posted by Abbershay
Better think about this one i dont see how in the world this could be true...

He meant it as a joke.

If you've ever seen someone pull up with a small pickup truck to deliver your full cord, keep the wallet in your pocket and pull out your tape measure instead.

 

[glens]

Stumper said:
Dbeck, A face cord is a 4'x8' stack. The length of the wood will then determine what fraction of a cord it is. 16 inch wood would make a face cord one third of a cord. 24" wood would be a half cord . 4 foot wood would mean the face cord is in fact a full cord.

Dbeck, that quote explains in detail my statement "[a] face cord ... [is an] arbitrary term".&nbsp; It's not a unit of measurement in and of itself.&nbsp; It may become one if the length of cut is specified, along with the resulting fractional part of a cord it represents.

Abbershay said:
Better think about this one [a cord of wood weighing 4 to 5 thousand pounds] i dont see how in the world this could be true...

There are a few types of wood where that's true when the wood is dry; many more when the wood's wet.&nbsp; Did you fetch my attachment "fuelwoods.pdf"?&nbsp; Since wood has 6 to 7 thousand BTUs per pound, the heaviest wood is, all else being equal, the best firewood.&nbsp; Who's going to want a cord of balsa when they can have shagbark hickory?

Nick, most <i>large</i> pickups will fail with a cord of [decent fire]wood, even if they're configured to be able to contain the volume.

Glen

 

[Stumper]

I've but a full cord on full size pickups with 8' boxes many times.-They were always severely overloaded (Well, the 1 tons were just loaded ) I have always thought that American loadrating terminology is rather strange. A 1/2 ton pick-up will haul a ton. A 3/4 ton will easily handle a ton and a half. 1 tons are good for at least a couple.

 

[Abbershay]

its better to advertize the sale of the wood by the size of what is hauling it., Rather than deal with cord and all the details , its just easier to say by the pick up load. i was thinking it would be nice to sell wood by the pallet load. perfect for fire places.

Plus it would be easier for the home owner and you fetch much higher price.

I havent really sold much fire wood... so i really dont know how much it goes for though. i would thind it goes for about 60 bucs a pick up load. where as i think i could get about 75 for a pallet of split and wrapped firewood.


I am not sure but it seems a regular pallet of would 4' high shink wrapped wood ,would be a great deal it would stay in a small area and would stay dry too.

Please anyone done this and what are the prices?

 

[Nickrosis]

Advertising by the pickup load might work well for the seller, but the Federal Trade Commission might have other ideas - and your local Commerce department. Cords are widely understand dry measures for wood and should be used accordingly, in my opinion.

I've seen plastic wrapped firewood outside convenience stores at a premium price, but I can see pallet-sized versions being good for people with posh cabins or not a lot of pace for stacking, etc.

I believe a 4 foot high pallet would be 1/24th of a full cord. For our company that would be $8.33 worth of wood plus a lot of labor and plastic wrap. My estimate on plastic would be $.30 per pallet plus a heat gun. What's a pallet cost? Well, one of those...

You'd need a truck that can handle pallets....maybe if you had a deal with a brick/stone delivery company. I think it would be too expensive to manage, personally. If you could do it, though, that would be a good way to create a value-added service.

 

[rbtree]

Back to school for ya Nick!

A 4x4x4 pallet of wood is 1/2 cord.