How to measure wood (what is a cord?)

[tbow388]

Me answering in my normal way, I would say the best way to accurately measure a cord of wood is with a tape measure!!.........

http://www.arboristsite.com/images/smilies/ices_rofl.gif

 

[Rearden]

In response to the crack about who should and shouldn't be burnin' wood, I have two younger kids that actually help out at home, and they have issues with the bigger wood, but we also inherited an insert that's pretty small at the back - so 12-14" logs are a lot easier to load. I also cut for two older couples that can't afford to pay the oil company ransom, so the only affordable way for them to keep warm and remain independent is to burn what they can handle. Rather than piles of sticks they prefer thicker pieced splits of a shorter length. Who am I to judge?

Coldfront, gettin' old ain't fer pussies, and if ya don't drop a tree on yerself, ya might live long enough to find that out for yourself. People don't have to justify to the market what they want and why, they just have to be willing to pay for it and the market will typically respond. The annoyance of trying to deal with irregular or malapropped units of measure only makes people more leery and a bigger PITA to deal with. I show folks a four row cord of 12" that I keep for our small insert, and a three row cord of 16" that I cut for another. Since I'm cuttin' for a year or two out there's always a split cord of each on hand for them to see for themselves. Don't have to do much explaining about why I charge more for one than the other. The extra work is self evident and most folks can see and understand that without too much trouble.

Visual aids aside, people also appreciate being shown how to determine seasoned from green and the difference in BTU potential between varieties of wood. If you're interested in establishing a relationship where people trust you and come back for more, you can't be too forthcoming with information. I've never had anybody complain about me trying to be too honest.

 

[Gypo Logger]

It's amazing what part of 128 cubic ft. people don't understand. A cord is only a cord when it's cut into 4' lengths x 8' x 4'. What happens to it once it is cut and split depends on several factors. Regardless it's best to be fair and give a full measure+. I always liked 'bin volume', ie loose thrown wood, meaning 12" wood ocupies 160 cubic feet while 16" wood ocupies 180 cubic feet, accurate to +- 5%.
It's not so much that we are splitting hairs, it's just that math tells us that a 16" cord will stretch out 24' but try to fit that within 128cu.ft. It just wont happen.
Regardless, keep the customer happy, give a full measure and you'll have them for a long as your cutting wood.
John

 

[olyman]

It's amazing what part of 128 cubic ft. people don't understand. A cord is only a cord when it's cut into 4' lengths x 8' x 4'. What happens to it once it is cut and split depends on several factors. Regardless it's best to be fair and give a full measure+. I always liked 'bin volume', ie loose thrown wood, meaning 12" wood ocupies 160 cubic feet while 16" wood ocupies 180 cubic feet, accurate to +- 5%.
It's not so much that we are splitting hairs, it's just that math tells us that a 16" cord will stretch out 24' but try to fit that within 128cu.ft. It just wont happen.
Regardless, keep the customer happy, give a full measure and you'll have them for a long as your cutting wood.
John

HOLY COW!! Hes alive!!! heal up from the year ago injury??? good to hear you respond on the forum..

 

[rarefish383]

Gypo, I've got to dissagree. The outside dimension is what counts. If the wood is cut to 16", 3 rows 4' high and 8' long, are 4' wide. Yes it's also 24 feet long. If you put a sheet of 4X8 plywood on the ground and stacked your pile 4 foot high it's a cord, no matter how many rows it take to fill out the sheet. Now, something to agree on. When my Dad was a kid in the 20's and 30's he said they cut Pine Cordwood for pulp, and it was cut in 4' lenghts, for 2 bucks a cord, Joe.

 

[RAG66]

I have cut wood for years and still can not believe the "wood dealers" around here. I use to buy when I could afford it, always to the dealers advantage. Even when the tape is out and you measure the bed of the truck right in front of the guy, he says "thats a half cord". MY ***! I have sold wood too and always warn the customer it is not seasoned and is for the following year. I always give a full cord, if it is not enough out comes the tape measure. You can not argue with the tape! Now could we get people to understand what seasoned wood is.....

 

[deerjackie]

128 cu ft its in websters . i had to check it when i was 17, 47 now. its 128 cu ft no matter how you stack it. lol

 

[rarefish383]

128 cu ft its in websters . i had to check it when i was 17, 47 now. its 128 cu ft no matter how you stack it. lol

Bingo, Joe.

 

[l3lue]

I thought about using width (W) but thought some might confuse that with the length of the row. In this instance D = Depth. They would certainly be interchangeable but W is probably more familiar to people who suffered through math in school.

Perhaps this helps:

That looks just like one of my cords , I cut mine at 24" so 2 stacks 8' long X 4' high = 1 cord :hmm3grin2orange:

This is a good thread so many people have no clue what a cord of wood is

 

[turnkey4099]

That looks just like one of my cords , I cut mine at 24" so 2 stacks 8' long X 4' high = 1 cord :hmm3grin2orange:

This is a good tread so many people have no clue what a cord of wood is

Or even why wood should be measured to an industry standard so everygody knows how much is there.

Harry K

 

[woodyman]

I don't sell it anymore but when I did a few years back it was $70.00 a cord(24'long 4'high and 16"wide) for beer money.I did trade my brother a cord that was 24'long 4'high and 18"wide for the same but 16"wide.I got a different stove and didn't want to recut it all to fit.Heres a pic of a cord of my wood.Does it look tight enough?

 

[firewood guy]

Back-out the wood cost and figure the labor cost

Everyone in the biz sort of knows the ratio between the cost of gathering / cutting / buying the raw wood and the cost of processing same. If you have a customer that requests 12" lengths (we have about 2-5% that request that) simply adjust the processing labor accordingly and add it to the cord price. When I explain this to the customer, they understand why the price is more and because we cater to that customer, we seem to get repeat biz all the time.

 

[turnkey4099]

I don't sell it anymore but when I did a few years back it was $70.00 a cord(24'long 4'high and 16"wide) for beer money.I did trade my brother a cord that was 24'long 4'high and 18"wide for the same but 16"wide.I got a different stove and didn't want to recut it all to fit.Heres a pic of a cord of my wood.Does it look tight enough?

Now that is tight!

Harry K

 

[chucker]

??? a cord !!

any shape or form length of wood stacked tight and parallel to equal 221,184 cubic inches.... or close to it ?? ............

 

[Guido Salvage]

any shape or form length of wood stacked tight and parallel to equal 221,184 cubic inches.... or close to it ?? ............

When you get into the minutia of cubic inches, those air gaps become all more important...

 

[branchbuzzer]

When you get into the minutia of cubic inches, those air gaps become all more important...

Are you sure that shouldn't be minutiae?







:jester:

 

[Steve NW WI]

Are you sure that shouldn't be minutiae?

:jester:

Busted, Guido!

 

[branchbuzzer]

Busted, Guido!

Now, hold on, I wasn't positive it was incorrect usage. I just wanted a clarification on this important matter and guidance on whether the correct usage of minutiae was a minutia in and of itself.

::thumbsup::

 

[Steve NW WI]

Now, hold on, I wasn't positive it was incorrect usage. I just wanted a clarification on this important matter and guidance on whether the correct usage of minutiae was a minutia in and of itself.

::thumbsup::

Minutiae is the plural of minutia, and there are obviously a LOT of minutiae in 221,184 CI, so you are correct.

:smile2::msp_tongue::wink2:

 

[branchbuzzer]

Minutiae is the plural of minutia, and there are obviously a LOT of minutiae in 221,184 CI, so you are correct.

:smile2::msp_tongue::wink2:

Well, I wasn't sure cubic inches as a group could truly be considered plural as opposed to several individual cubic inches.

:msp_unsure: