log vs split

[starter]

if i take a round that fits into a bucket, split it, i can't get all the split wood back into teh bucket.
if i take a half cord of rounds, and split them, then restack, the pile will "grow" and be bigger.
if I take a cord of rounds, split them, then restack, the pile will grow and be bigger.
if i take 13 cords of 8 foot logs, buck them up, split them, i will have more then 13 cords of split wood.
if i take 60 cords of 50 foot logs, buck them up, split them, i will have more tehn 60 cords of split firewood to sell.
the more you split the wood, the more it grows.
the bigger the logs were to begin with, the more it grows.

No offense Doc but I think we are effectively miscommunicating. Ya gots ta think of a delivered cord of logs here... not one single log.

If you could buy cords of logs without the air gaps, you would be right, but try to get delivery of logs compensated for stacking gaps, let me know where to buy it, we all want some.:hmm3grin2orange: You just can't buy firewood logs by the cubic foot (around here anyway). If you could then you would be charged more than buying them by the volumetric cord.

Here's the math using a 12 inch diameter logs 8 feet long:
-one log = 6.3 cubic feet of wood
-so by your reasoning when you order one cord of wood like this it would take about 20 logs to make up a cord (128 cubic feet per cord/6.3 cubic feet per log).
-the dilemma: the guy delivering gets to your home with his 8 foot long by 4 foot wide by 4 foot deep trailer (one cord by volume) and you see that it can only hold 16 logs... Is he ripping you off? No, he brought you one cord of 8 foot long 12" diameter logs...:biggrinbounce2:

 

[redprospector]

I haul a lot of firewood log's in 16' leingth's. I don't have quite as good a deal as your haulers. I deliver to the wood yard, they cut & split it and I get paid for the yield. Works for me.
One thing I have noticed is that any log's with a slight crook or sweep will cause the yield to go down quite a bit. If I have good straight log's about 10" to 12" and load them alternating the butt's I can get about 4 cord's on my gooseneck. If I have 4 or 5 log's with a sweep or crook, that load will yield about 3 cord's. I have hauled full load's that only gave up 2 1/2 cord's.

Andy

 

[drmiller100]

look at all those air gaps in the stacked logs.

they are huge.

now if i take a 12 inch diameter log, and split, I get at LEAST 4 pieces. for those 4 pieces I get like 16 gaps, where before i only had 4 gaps.

in any case, 12 or 10 inch is about the limit. any smaller, and the pile doesn't grow. any bigger then 10 inch, and guaranteed when you split it, the pile gets BIGGER. for sure you get to 16 inch logs, and split wood takes a LOT more room then the logs did.

 

[starter]

Ya gots ta think of a delivered cord of logs here... not one single log.

I respect your wood cutting knowledge and what you are saying but you're still thinkin' like a guy hauling his own wood, not like a guy taking delivery of a volume based cord of logs, like the originator of this thread.

look at all those air gaps in the stacked logs.

they are huge.

now if i take a 12 inch diameter log, and split, I get at LEAST 4 pieces. for those 4 pieces I get like 16 gaps, where before i only had 4 gaps.

Now your stackin' like my teenager if your split wood air gaps equal that of the picture... just joking ... the gaps would of course be much, much smaller and overall less wasted volume than the delivered logs.

I agree that you can't put a split log back into the same volume as the whole log. I just happen to know, based on experience, that a delivered "trailer based" cord of average logs doesn't split and stack out to the volume that was delivered.

If I have good straight log's about 10" to 12" and load them alternating the butt's I can get about 4 cord's on my gooseneck. If I have 4 or 5 log's with a sweep or crook, that load will yield about 3 cord's. I have hauled full load's that only gave up 2 1/2 cord's.

What size is your gooseneck trailier Andy? Have you ever thought of chopping them to a shorter length to reduce the wasted space and get more on your load?

 

[Husky137]

In my area, truck loads of logs are sold by the truck load. Loggers will give you an estimate of what you should end up with cut,split and stacked. A triaxle will generally generate 6-8 cord, depending on how gnarly they are. Remember, the nice logs go to saw mills and the straight firewood logs usually go to someone with a processor. The rest of the worst usually go to harry homeowner.

 

[redprospector]

What size is your gooseneck trailier Andy? Have you ever thought of chopping them to a shorter length to reduce the wasted space and get more on your load?

It's an 8'x16' deck over dump trailer.
I'm basicly lazy, so I was hauling them in log lengths to the wood lot.
In the time it would take to cut it down I figured I could make more money cutting and skidding. We get paid for land treatment, the wood is just value added.
I've got a small processor now and am working on the 100 or so cords I have left. I still think the same way though. I could stack the split wood on the trailer and get about 4 1/2 cord's, but I just let the conveyor drop it in and settle for 3. I figure in the time it takes to stack it on the trailer I can get the 3 cords hauled and get back.

Andy

 

[starter]

I hear ya, go with the least effort (or $$) for the most payback (or less sore back) !

Let's call that efficiency, not laziness

 

[StihltheOne]

Well... It looks to me like I am going to have to figure out a time and just stack, measure, cut, measure, split and measure a few cords very accurately, using the same wood and stacking area and just see once and for all how much it changes from state to state, I will just have to convince my wife that it is all in the interest of science, and that I am really slaving away with my new ms660, and that I really am miserable out working the wood pile and that she will "owe" me for my efforts to save us some cash.