Quantify a "cord"?
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ciscoguy01
Addicted to ArboristSite
Heck yes
And so you know, under the NYS units of measure, a face cord is recognized as 1/3 of a full cord, or 48cu ft... There's always some pepsi cans in there too...
eh?
4'x4'x8' = Full cord here in NY the last time I checked!Oh and there might be a few crushed brew cans in there too
And so you know, under the NYS units of measure, a face cord is recognized as 1/3 of a full cord, or 48cu ft... There's always some pepsi cans in there too...
eh?Aaction
ArboristSite Member
In Australia a cord was said to be 6x6x6 feet.
We sold by cubic metre for years, but now are supposed to sell by weight, with a weighbridge ticket.
We sold by cubic metre for years, but now are supposed to sell by weight, with a weighbridge ticket.
redprospector
Addicted to ArboristSite
Easy now! That would depend on how well you can stack.
I delivered 128 cu ft cord's for years on 3/4 ton Ford's, Chevy's, & Dodge's but you can't quit stacking at the top of the bed. You quit stacking about a foot over the cab. It's amazing what 50' of rope will do to replace racks.
Andy
joesawer
Addicted to ArboristSite
Cool mystery solved at last
Bet im not the only person that didnt know!!
OK our ford transit pick up level to the top of the sides is 120 cubic feet so i guess most of our loads are about a cord about a tonne to 1.3 does that sound about right weight wise?
In the Southeast US, the mills often buy logs by weight. The last dealings that I had there a "cord" of pine wieghed 5250 lbs. and hard wood was 5750 lbs. per cord. They must have figured it soaking wet and cut into square cants and stacked tight.
aandabooks
Addicted to ArboristSite
Here's a link for cord weight both wet and seasoned:
http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1554/build/g1554.pdf
http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1554/build/g1554.pdf
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scotclayshooter
Addicted to ArboristSite
HI i may have over estimated the size of our pick up i measured it today at 85 cu ft oops!
we were taking down fences today so more posts to cut up.
for anyone that dont know what a ford transit looks like
<a href="http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg35/scotclayshooter/?action=view¤t=fordtransit.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg35/scotclayshooter/fordtransit.jpg" border="0" alt="Ford transit tipper"></a>
scotclayshooter
Addicted to ArboristSite
thats 2.5 tonnes! not sure if we have ever had that much wood on it.
Interesting URL post, especially since I'm from Nebraska. I do not agree with several of the numbers in the table, however, based on my experience. For example, locust is rated nationally in every book I have read as denser than red or white oak, both green and dry. Therefore, I fail to see how a cord of locust, honey of black, weighs less than oak. Perhaps they were weighing more sapwood than heartwood. Locust heartwood is so heavy that I make mallet heads out of it.
"Cut green" is also a bit deceiving because that depends on what time of the year it is. Green wood will always be denser in the late spring and summer than it will be in winter after the sap has receded back into the ground. I have cut and loaded green hackberry around Memorial Day that I swear was heavier than any oak I have ever handled and very difficult to split. Both hackberry and mulberry drink like fish in the spring.
Hackberry should be rated excellent as firewood, both in ease of burning, low smoke, etc. Like oak, mulberry, and locust, you must wait a long time for it to dry, about 14 months or so. Red elm is perhaps the most under rated of all firewood that you can burn. It's actually easier to split than American or Chinese elm, but few people know that.
Just my $.02.
whackerk
ArboristSite Lurker
Hi
This may be a little off topic, however I was wondering how the fire wood is measured by those people cutting and selling in other parts
We generally buy 3- 4 cords per year..
In the past we have been short changed by as much as 20 % with our wood...
What I have come to understand is that some suppliers use a wood processer, cuts and splits and conveys wood into the back of the truck not stacked.....
The truck, would arrive with the wood, piled high....
"Looks like 3 cords" I guess ,the measure was actually done before the wood is cut and split...
A little unfair if you ask me, but I guess once you know this you look elsewhere..
I wonder though how many people are buying cut and split 'cords' of wood and not realizing that they were being short changed....
Fortunately, I've found a husband and wife team , who will stack the wood in their truck nicely.. Well worth the $130.00 Rural Nova Scotia
In the Halifax area, population 650,000 , $200.00 a cord.
Hardwood is becoming more difficult to buy as there are, Hardboard plants, somewhere off shore , which have been buying whatever they can get for hardwood
This may be a little off topic, however I was wondering how the fire wood is measured by those people cutting and selling in other parts
We generally buy 3- 4 cords per year..
In the past we have been short changed by as much as 20 % with our wood...
What I have come to understand is that some suppliers use a wood processer, cuts and splits and conveys wood into the back of the truck not stacked.....
The truck, would arrive with the wood, piled high....
"Looks like 3 cords" I guess ,the measure was actually done before the wood is cut and split...
A little unfair if you ask me, but I guess once you know this you look elsewhere..
I wonder though how many people are buying cut and split 'cords' of wood and not realizing that they were being short changed....
Fortunately, I've found a husband and wife team , who will stack the wood in their truck nicely.. Well worth the $130.00 Rural Nova Scotia
In the Halifax area, population 650,000 , $200.00 a cord.
Hardwood is becoming more difficult to buy as there are, Hardboard plants, somewhere off shore , which have been buying whatever they can get for hardwood
I remember a saying. "How much wood is in a cord?" Answer, "It depends on who you sell it to". I'm not saying it is right, but in a lot of cases it is true.
Possible Explanation
This happened to me last summer when I bought 500 bd ft of lumber to use on my outdoor deck floor. The driver stopped on the way over and unloaded around seven long boards (about $200 worth) before he delivered. I counted and measured what was delivered and notified the management. They dismissed the delivery company immediately and reimbursed me for the shortage. Had I not counted, measured, and reported it, the crook would have gotten off scott free.
I know this sounds goofy, but here's how that can happen. The truck driver may not be the one who loaded your wood and could be a delivery subcontractor. He may be ripping off the company that loaded the truck by dropping off some of your load for himself before he delivers it to your place--a classic case of employee (or subcontractor) theft, also known as salami slicing.
This happened to me last summer when I bought 500 bd ft of lumber to use on my outdoor deck floor. The driver stopped on the way over and unloaded around seven long boards (about $200 worth) before he delivered. I counted and measured what was delivered and notified the management. They dismissed the delivery company immediately and reimbursed me for the shortage. Had I not counted, measured, and reported it, the crook would have gotten off scott free.
windthrown
361 Junkie
Oak is a bad example, as there are many different species. Live oak out here in the west has some of the highest energy value, and is some of the densest wood that there is. There are also many types of red and black oaks, and even live and white. Maples are similar, as there are many hard and soft species out there. I have also seen a large variation in values on differeent sites and tables for a specific species, for weight, density and energy value. Much depends on the dryness of the wood, and also there is even variation within wood species grown in different climates (denser woods tend to come from dryer climates).
So you have to take all of these wood lists with a grain of salt. :greenchainsaw:
Poley4
ArboristSite Guru
128 cubic feet. It is illegal to sell by the face rick or amount that
is not cord, fraction that is plainly marked as such, You can sell by
cubic foot or meter but must have it marked as such. One thing I
do is cut 24 inch wood easier to figure 4foot high by 16 foot long
less splitting! If they want what I call custom cuts 16" 20" I will
charge them more for the extra work of splitting and stacking.
I however think firewood sucks too much work for too liittle
return at the going rate of 150.00 a cord
Oh no, I've been breaking the law! Firewood is sold in northern Arkansas by the rick. 4' x 8' x the length, 16",18",20 etc. No one sells it here by the cord.
Ray Bennett
ArboristSite Guru
That is exactly why I keep buisness, I stack the wood on my F250 to the top of my racks, The top of my racks come out to exactly 128cubic feet. Most people are so used to being short changed they swear I loaded extra. Some folks are so happy with their "extra wood" they give me and extra 10 or 20 bucks. I have even had some folks insist I take half the load back but they still pay the full cord price even tho I tell them they only have to pay for Half a load.
Ray Bennett
ArboristSite Guru
Ok, You got me there, I should say I can not fit a cord on a pickup without racks cause I can not stack that good. And I dont have good knot tying skills.
windthrown
361 Junkie
State of Oregon you can only sell firewood (by law) by the cord, or fraction of a cord. They sell PU loads of it here though. Ricks are common here as well, just cannot advertise a face cord as such for sale.
Festus Haggen
ArboristSite Operative
The usual limit of poetic license in a firewood ad around here might stretch to "Firewood for sale, cut and split" with a phone number, instead of the usual "wood for sale". Cords are the only legal unit to sell firewood by, but I've never heard of anyone getting busted for selling other units. Truckload seems to be popular here, as varying as that can be. Pallets seem to be a new unit with the quarrying boom here.
Ray Bennett
ArboristSite Guru
The forestry service around here watches the paper for adds that are not selling by the cord. This tips them off that the seller does not have a liscence because your liscense states you must sell by the cord or % of cord. I do not know of anyone ever getting a ticket for not selling by the cord but I know 2 guys that got busted for selling without a liscence. Penatly $3000. OUCH
gink595
Addicted to ArboristSite
The way I stack wood to get a "idea" on how many cord I have is to use 4'x4' wood pallets and stack them 4' high. Then I just pick them with the forks on my bobcat and set them near my house when I need them. I will admit I do alot of cussing when I lose a stack moving it.
