Judging cord amount by log truck load

[WhiteMike]

I know a guy who says he can get a full log truck load dropped off at his property for 1500 and it's 12-15 cord split. I'm thinking about buying some because this particular wood goes for ~250 a cord (350 this winter) and I'm going to try selling this year. This guy used used to log and knows the people he's buying from, it I have no idea how to tell how much it is just by looking at logs. Does 12-15 cord sound about right for a full truck load? Any tips on how to get an accurate measurement by looking at it in log form?

 

[T. Mainus]

Both of those trucks were 10 cord loads. One was tree length logs and the other was 8'. Around here that is about the biggest we can get. A 12-15 cord load of logs I think would be way over weight but Im not familiar with the laws in Idaho.

 

[svk]

My buddy has bought several semis of logs and they end up being 8-10 cords split. Not a lot of profit if you are paying $1500

 

[Mike Van]

By the time you pay for the logs, cut, split & deliver the wood, you're working [hard] for about 5.00/hr. Better to find your own source for logs - Town crew, state d.o.t. or local tree services sometimes looking for places to dump off wood.

 

[mohick]

If he claims 12-15 cords he is full of cord $hit!!!!!!

 

[Dirtboy]

I cant see how you would get that amount of wood off of one load, unless he talking face cords. Around here everyone sells in face cords, and a load of 12-15 of those runs around $500 for good hard wood.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Depends on the truck. We use a 5 axle setup. Std semi truck with 2 axle "dolly". Butt ends go on the bunk of the semi, tops on the bunk of the dolly. Usually can get 9-10 cords on it. Could fit a bit more, but it'd be overweight. Limited to 80k and truck/trailer is close to 30k.

We advertise it as 9 cords just to play it safe. Have had a few people get close to 11.

 

[WhiteMike]

That's what I figured which is why I asked

 

[zogger]

Never did it with a semiload, but on smaller trailers and truckloads, I think you can get a rough estimate by working out the cubic foot in whatever rectangular cube you have in the load. Now deduct about 25-30%. That's how it has worked out for me because of airspace and inevitable "uglies" that you most likely don't want to sell (but can use yourself). Might be better or worse, but that's my input.

 

[lknchoppers]

12 or 15 cords is a pretty big variation, something like 20%. Make sure you pay 20% less instead of 20% more if that is the best they can guestimate. Even if you get 15 cords, by the time you cut it and split it you won't make much. Way too little profit margin to really make a go of selling firewood.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

How do you figure that? 1500 for 12-15 cords is 100-125 a cord. Sell firewood for $250-300, that's pretty decent money.

Do 2 loads a week that's $200k a year.

 

[Highbeam]

Be careful about what all of us call "log trucks" or loads of logs. People out of the PNW don't get the 34' or whatever length logs that we get and they also don't get the 12-24" stems that we get. Their log truck is our dump truck is another guy's triaxle.

 

[cantoo]

Don't know what you are talking about Highbeam, my trucks hold a fair jag. I sell by the load so the customer can see what they are getting.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Most loggers here say that a fully-loaded flat bed truck load is about 6000 bd ft. Anything more than that and they will be overloaded. Most loggers stop loading at 5,500 bd ft to make sure they are under the load limit. Moisture content and wood species has a lot to do with it. So, judging cord amount from a load of logs is hazardous to say the least.

The larger the diameter of the logs, the more processing you will have to do for firewood, but the larger logs yield more splits that you can sell. For me, 8.5' to 9' log lengths work the best whenever I receive logs from commercial loggers. Lately, that could be more common because the mills are refusing ash logs that they used to buy from loggers because the ash borer is a major threat. It is not uncommon for tree line to be 15% ash around here.

 

[Logger nate]

There was a guy selling loads of dead lodge pole here last couple years, 32' logs stacked fairly high and most people were ending up with about 10 cords, he was getting $1200 a load I believe.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

A 20 cord load in Michigan (two 20 cord loads actually).
Some old pictures you may have seen before.
I get about sixteen cord cut/split/stacked and a half cord of junk.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

The front steer tires can really mess up a gravel driveway. They plow a lot of ground before turning if not on something hard, even when lifting several axles. I'm sure they would destroy a concrete or blacktop drive, and wouldn't come near one even with an owners permission.

 

[svk]

A 20 cord load in Michigan (two 20 cord loads actually).
Some old pictures you may have seen before.
I get about sixteen cord cut/split/stacked and a half cord of junk.View attachment 564320View attachment 564322View attachment 564325View attachment 564326View attachment 564328View attachment 564331View attachment 564332View attachment 564333View attachment 564336

Those are some good looking loads SC. Stacked tight and high too.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Hmm... The logs that Sandhill Crane shows above are less than half the diameter of the logs that I buy from loggers in Nebraska. I guess hardwood trees, such as ash and elm, grow bigger around here. Mine are more like what Cantoo shows in his post. I fear that the sawmills here would reject nearly all the logs that Sandhill Crane shows or shred most of them for landscape mulch.

I cut some 18" lengths of round ash that I obtained from a logger last week for firewood processing. In order to split them all horizontally, I had to noodle cut them in half. Figure 200 lb apiece until then.

 

[svk]

Up here the mills will buy bolts down to 6"