What's a cord nowadays?

[Polish hammer]

It doesn’t matter how it’s stacked your short not by some by a lot if he wants to make it right let him could be honest mistake.. maybe have him help stack next load? Everyone is quick to jump that he is a bad person and anyway who delivers is a crook but he offered to make it right shows his character why not let him? I mean you paid for it

 

[krc2019]

KRC I am glad you are not my customer. When I encounter any problem with a customer I smile at them and say wood will be loaded up immediately for removal. After trucks or trailers are loaded I again smile please do not call me again. Or you could say I do not take complaints well. If I beleive that there are any issues with the initial phone call I let customer know that we will not have any agreement. What does all this mean? When you call some one on CL you know that they are not likely pros. I am sure you have a phone book that lists people who have been in business for many years. If you tell them that you want a full measured seasoned cord you will get it. They in turn will tell what the cost will be likely twice as much as some one from CL will quote you. So who is right? If you shop around you will make the best decision that will give you the best value. Seeing that you made a post in September likely means that your transaction occurred recently. Your concluded transaction for wood should be completed in April or May. When customers call now I know they are much more desperate than earlier in the year. Last winter wood sold for in excess of $1200 a cord here as a result of a long cold winter. If you called asking for 16'' wood that means paying an extra $100 a cord. Yes my biggest seller is good seasoned Oak. My normal size is 18'' with some times 24''. Cutting selling and delivering wood for wood stoves or fireplaces is not very lucrative so after 50 years I know that I am not going to give my effort for free. The competitors throw a pile into their pickup and deliver away. It is rare that any one sells a full cord regardless of price. Maybe 1/2 cord for a cord. Now and then a customer calls telling me that they tried the rest and never got any where near a cord of junk. I am glad you are here welcome. I am looking at at reality from a vendors point of view. You are responsible for getting the best value possible from your hard earned money. Thanks

I would be happy if he came back and loaded up the wood and gave me my $500 back. That would probably be the best resolution.

I have this years wood already in the basement and next years wood is dry, covered, and ready to burn. I don't need more wood until 10/2021, so I want to start drying green wood this fall. The wood came 16" long. That's pretty much how everyone around here cuts it unless you ask for something special.

I appreciate your opinion as a firewood vendor. Your experience, however, is not indicative of how things work in rural MN.

 

[krc2019]

It doesn’t matter how it’s stacked your short not by some by a lot if he wants to make it right let him could be honest mistake.. maybe have him help stack next load? Everyone is quick to jump that he is a bad person and anyway who delivers is a crook but he offered to make it right shows his character why not let him? I mean you paid for it

I sent him the picture. He took issue with me stacking the wood and measuring it when it was stacked. He feels the wood I received is 2.5 cords. When he sells 2.5 cord loads that is exactly what people receive.

He doesn't feel he made a mistake at all. He's willing to make me happy for this one load, but for him that is a 2.5 cord load so any future loads would be exactly the same amount of wood.

 

[Cowboy254]

I sent him the picture. He took issue with me stacking the wood and measuring it when it was stacked. He feels the wood I received is 2.5 cords. When he sells 2.5 cord loads that is exactly what people receive.

He doesn't feel he made a mistake at all. He's willing to make me happy for this one load, but for him that is a 2.5 cord load so any future loads would be exactly the same amount of wood.

Could be he reckons it's 2.5 cord loose thrown from the sound of it. Measured the dimensions of his trailer and it's 320 cu ft and then just chucks it in there? Guess you needed to ask him his definition of what a cord is before you agree to a purchase.

Anyone who has a firewood business in Oz gets visited by the weights & measures police at some point who will fine you handsomely for dudding people.

 

[al-k]

Maybe he is figuring his cord in log form then cut and split would be less I would think.

 

[Mad Professor]

Whats a 2x4 measure now a day boys?

not 2 X 4" unless it comes off my mill

 

[Mad Professor]

I started selling wood when it was $40/cord delivered, that was 128 cu ft. How it stacked depended on the lengths requested, but it was 128 cu ft.

There is the term , face cord, and that is a 4' X 8' stacked row, volume depends on length. 1' lengths would be 32 cu ft

Best way to avoid any BS , is to ask what the stacked volume is per dollar. If they can't provide that don't buy it. Some states do require that firewood be sold by volume, so there is no controversy of what someone thinks a "cord" is.

 

[NSMaple1]

KRC I am glad you are not my customer. When I encounter any problem with a customer I smile at them and say wood will be loaded up immediately for removal. After trucks or trailers are loaded I again smile please do not call me again. Or you could say I do not take complaints well. If I beleive that there are any issues with the initial phone call I let customer know that we will not have any agreement. What does all this mean? When you call some one on CL you know that they are not likely pros. I am sure you have a phone book that lists people who have been in business for many years. If you tell them that you want a full measured seasoned cord you will get it. They in turn will tell what the cost will be likely twice as much as some one from CL will quote you. So who is right? If you shop around you will make the best decision that will give you the best value. Seeing that you made a post in September likely means that your transaction occurred recently. Your concluded transaction for wood should be completed in April or May. When customers call now I know they are much more desperate than earlier in the year. Last winter wood sold for in excess of $1200 a cord here as a result of a long cold winter. If you called asking for 16'' wood that means paying an extra $100 a cord. Yes my biggest seller is good seasoned Oak. My normal size is 18'' with some times 24''. Cutting selling and delivering wood for wood stoves or fireplaces is not very lucrative so after 50 years I know that I am not going to give my effort for free. The competitors throw a pile into their pickup and deliver away. It is rare that any one sells a full cord regardless of price. Maybe 1/2 cord for a cord. Now and then a customer calls telling me that they tried the rest and never got any where near a cord of junk. I am glad you are here welcome. I am looking at at reality from a vendors point of view. You are responsible for getting the best value possible from your hard earned money. Thanks

Glad he isn't your customer? Not sure where that is coming from. I am not seeing anywhere in this situation how this is the fault of the customer.

A cord is 4x4x8 = 128 cu.ft., stacked. That is the only real definition. Anything else is something made up. If you are advertising cords, that is what you should be delivering. OP got shorted - by a lot.

 

[svk]

@krc2019 where are you at in Minnesota? I’m south of International Falls.

 

[U&A]

4’x4’x8’

128 cubic feet


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

 

[Mad Professor]

The wood I cut for self use is ~20". I make my stacks 5' high, double wide (40"). A cord is 7.7' long double stack.

When I sold wood, I would have covered stacks in the woods. I would transfer them to a truck, sometimes loose, but I knew what I transfered.

If I was selling again, I would provide customer a picture of the stack(s) I delivered.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Back when I was buying my wood, I always measured before they unloaded. If it was loosely thrown, I sent them away. If it was a stacked load, the tape measure and calculator came out. When they brought .85 cord, I offered them .85 x $/cord. If they complained, I patiently explained that they had set the price, I was just determining how much they had brought. All this was done before unloading. In California a cord is 128 cu/ft stacked. The only legal units of sale are cords, fractions of cord and cu ft. Face cords, ricks, pick-up loads and other undefined units are not allowed.

 

[sevensandeights]

The statue also covers cut and split wood. Then it is supposed to be 120 cubic feet stacked or 175 cubic feet thrown irregularly. I bought it cut and split.

Is 175 cubic feet the commonly accepted amount for a loosely thrown cord?

 

[svk]

Is 175 cubic feet the commonly accepted amount for a loosely thrown cord?

I’ve heard anywhere between 160-180

 

[sevensandeights]

Interesting - I cut my wood to 18" and put it on racks that are 10' long and 52" tall. 10' x 4.33333' x 1.5' = 65 cu ft. Just over a half cord. The wood is all stacked the same way - no criss cross towers on each end to hold everything together.


If I load 2 racks (one cord) on my 6 x 12 dump trailer it heaps up over the 30" sides. 6x12x2.5 = 180 cu ft. and that doesn't account for everything above the side boards.

 

[grizz55chev]

Interesting - I cut my wood to 18" and put it on racks that are 10' long and 52" tall. 10' x 4.33333' x 1.5' = 65 cu ft. Just over a half cord. The wood is all stacked the same way - no criss cross towers on each end to hold everything together.
View attachment 761380

If I load 2 racks (one cord) on my 6 x 12 dump trailer it heaps up over the 30" sides. 6x12x2.5 = 180 cu ft. and that doesn't account for everything above the side boards.

My math says 2x65= 130.

 

[panolo]

KRC I am glad you are not my customer. When I encounter any problem with a customer I smile at them and say wood will be loaded up immediately for removal. After trucks or trailers are loaded I again smile please do not call me again. Or you could say I do not take complaints well. If I beleive that there are any issues with the initial phone call I let customer know that we will not have any agreement. What does all this mean? When you call some one on CL you know that they are not likely pros. I am sure you have a phone book that lists people who have been in business for many years. If you tell them that you want a full measured seasoned cord you will get it. They in turn will tell what the cost will be likely twice as much as some one from CL will quote you. So who is right? If you shop around you will make the best decision that will give you the best value. Seeing that you made a post in September likely means that your transaction occurred recently. Your concluded transaction for wood should be completed in April or May. When customers call now I know they are much more desperate than earlier in the year. Last winter wood sold for in excess of $1200 a cord here as a result of a long cold winter. If you called asking for 16'' wood that means paying an extra $100 a cord. Yes my biggest seller is good seasoned Oak. My normal size is 18'' with some times 24''. Cutting selling and delivering wood for wood stoves or fireplaces is not very lucrative so after 50 years I know that I am not going to give my effort for free. The competitors throw a pile into their pickup and deliver away. It is rare that any one sells a full cord regardless of price. Maybe 1/2 cord for a cord. Now and then a customer calls telling me that they tried the rest and never got any where near a cord of junk. I am glad you are here welcome. I am looking at at reality from a vendors point of view. You are responsible for getting the best value possible from your hard earned money. Thanks

You don't find much in the phone book around here. Matter of fact I don't think you get one anymore. CL and facebook marketplace are where you find most resellers. I see some every time I am on there. Know a few and most are very reputable. If I was buying firewood I would not hesitate to buy off them. The issue here is more of a disagreement on cord size vs anything else. Maybe he is in the cities and some folks think they can sell short cords because the buyer has no idea. Your market is a little different than ours and I'm guessing you don't need to be a problem solver or deal with problems to have a good client base. But I am also guessing when you deliver a cord it's a full cord. Doesn't sound like you would have had issues in this situation because you deliver as promised.

 

[sevensandeights]

My math says 2x65= 130.

And a cord is 128 cu ft. Just to the top of the rails of my trailer would be 180 cu ft - the upper end of what most people say is a loosely stacked cord. Whatever is above the sideboards is much more than 2 cu ft.

I have another load to deliver tomorrow so I'll take a picture.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Whats a 2x4 measure now a day boys?

From us, roughly 1 7/8" by 2 7/8"

 

[grizz55chev]

And a cord is 128 cu ft. Just to the top of the rails of my trailer would be 180 cu ft - the upper end of what most people say is a loosely stacked cord. Whatever is above the sideboards is much more than 2 cu ft.

I have another load to deliver tomorrow so I'll take a picture.

If your customers are happy, and you’re happy, that’s all that counts. Happy customers are return customers, I’m retired now and haven’t sold wood for at least 10 yrs, it’s like money in the bank!