Thread: More wood in a pickup bed, split or unsplit?

Just like the title asks.

This is a tad better then 2/3 cord of Douglas Fir

Could I fit more in this shortbox if I split it? The truck's a full load, I hate sucking dust on logging roads, each trip counts.

Just bought a splitter, if that counts

You can put more split wood in a truck than you can in the round. Split wood will have less air space between each pc than a round whould have. I would bring the splitter a long, you will also leave most of the mess in the forest and less cleanup at home.

Beefie

Look at all the air space between the rounds.air space between the wheel wells.
If you split/stack it you can get more in.(or rip/ just split in 1/2) load it well you can haul more.(splitter in 1/2 -1/4) would be faster.
It looks just over 1/2 cord to me,2/3 cord?? (possibly)on a 6 ft box.
As i tell wood customers and how i make a cord is 3 sheets of 4 x 8 osb/plywood one on the back side.4 x4 x 8 BOX, the open end is to load.
On a 6ft box 2ft tall average load is 1/2 cord stacked to the top side mirrors.(2 loads) average.
Just my opinion.
Mark

I've never actually performed the experiment but I agree that split wood will make a bigger load. I've heard the same to be true as well. Less air gap between the pieces if carefully loaded. Easier to get loaded into the truck as well.

Those are some nice looking rounds you've got there, no rot. That'll make some good burnin firewood.

Originally Posted by gdhome2

I've never actually performed the experiment but I agree that split wood will make a bigger load. I've heard the same to be true as well. Less air gap between the pieces if carefully loaded. Easier to get loaded into the truck as well.

Those are some nice looking rounds you've got there, no rot. That'll make some good burnin firewood.

Thanks, I try and "timber cruise" for big snags. I've got my eye on a 150' tall 4' doug fir snag. It's gonna take more than 1 trip to pull it out... I like to stick to 2'-3' and under standing dead though.

Anyways, I think about it like this: If you peel a carrot, you end up with way more space taken up than if the carrot was whole. Same thing When you shred cheese. It takes more room.....

Looks like I loaded the bed of my truck fairly sloppy, but when I unloaded and stacked the rounds, then split them... it took up MORE room than just regular old rounds.

I had what looked like just under 3 cords turn into just over 3 tightly stacked, split cords. I think something has to do with the size of wood you stuff in your truck is too.

I have to agree with MW4DR as it seems I can get more wood in the truck when it is not split but it is easier to load with it being split. Plus as Beefie said, no mess at home which is a big plus for me.

I can haul more weight in the rounds so thats got to be more wood.Take a look at that pick up sure tells the story,but most pick-ups are limited by weight

Originally Posted by Beefie

You can put more split wood in a truck than you can in the round. Split wood will have less air space between each pc than a round whould have. I would bring the splitter a long, you will also leave most of the mess in the forest and less cleanup at home.

Beefie

hey now, i regret the comment about the 'mess'

i split nearly 18 cord this summer, right next to my burner. Everytime i finish splitting a cord or so, i scoop shoveled and pitch forked the 'mess' into the burner, packed as tight as i could, sometimes having to hercules the door & latch.. Spent the entire summer months heating my hot water with it. Always got 10-14 hrs on a load.... Never touched any that was split/stacked....

sorry, just had to comment, nothing is a waste with my burner.

Not sure I would want to cruise logging roads with that splitter in tow. They just don't look like they are built to rack up a lot of mileage. My .02

I can get 2/3 of a cord of split wood in the back of my 6.75' bed and still be able to use the rearview mirror and close the tailgate.

Originally Posted by MR4WD

Thanks, I try and "timber cruise" for big snags. I've got my eye on a 150' tall 4' doug fir snag. It's gonna take more than 1 trip to pull it out... I like to stick to 2'-3' and under standing dead though.

.

Carefull workin with that snag, we don't want to read your "Last post" in the papers!?

Paul

Originally Posted by MNGuns

Not sure I would want to cruise logging roads with that splitter in tow. They just don't look like they are built to rack up a lot of mileage. My .02

I agree. I'm more worried about the dust than anything. I don't drive more than 20k one way to get wood though. Still, it's a 3000' climb. The roads I run are smooth and vacant too. Just dusty! And steep! The other side of things, is I don't mind the mess. Just goes into the firepit.

Originally Posted by Paul61

Carefull workin with that snag, we don't want to read your "Last post" in the papers!?

Paul

I try and get em pretty fresh still, just dead or on the verge of...

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by MR4WD

Just like the title asks.

Could I fit more in this shortbox if I split it? The truck's a full load, I hate sucking dust on logging roads, each trip counts.

This is a good question that I have asked myself many times. The air gaps
between the rounds in your picture are large, but you will be creating more space when you split the rounds. If the rounds were square than it wouldn't be a question. I use to buy milled ends from a local saw mill. I could get almost twice as much wood on the truck by stacking it like bricks with very little air gaps. The wood was 6"x8" and 8"x8" that was 24" to 48" long.

A solid cord would be one piece of wood 4x4x4. If it is split into wedges and stacked it becomes a stack 4x4x8.

There is only one way to answer this question. Bring your next load home in rounds, take pictures, unload and split, reload and take pictures again, post pictures here. This would all be done in the name of science.

When I neatly stack my trailer full of rounds and then dump spit and restack neatly I always end up with a larger stack and a small pile that won't travel without being at risk of falling off. I would think that the higher overall density of the rounds would make up for the larger air gap over the multiple air gaps with the splits.

+1 The stack always grows when it is split.