a cord of wood

[pioneerguy600]

Here (in Maine) a few yrs ago there were so many rip-off firewood dealers with different scales that the citizenry was enraged and petitioned the state to come up with volumetric measurements of firewood in different sizes/configurations. I am operating by memory here and can't remember all the figures and may not have some figures totally correct but you'll get the idea.

(1) 4 foot round wood stacked is the standard 4'X4'X8'=128 cuft.

(2) 4 foot split stacked =112 cuft

(3) 16" split and stacked=98 cuft

(3) 16" split in a heap=180 cuft

This just a sample of what the state considered the "legal" definition of a cord of firewood. I believe the research and tests were done by the University Of Maine. These figures are real and there are more that deal in other sizes wood length and type of stack appropriate. As you see it makes a huge difference in size between stacked and thrown in a pile. That's why most firewood dealers way prefer to back up and dump a pile of wood and tell you what it is.

There are no "ricks" or "racks" or face cord measurements. These are just schemes devised by woodbooger rip-offs to not give you what you paid for.

There is an oldtimer saying up here that we use discussing the size of a cord of wood as a "cord of wood I'd buy or sell" And that my friends is in fact a real and honest cord of wood. Would you agree???

I hear you on the ripoff artists and the cord of wood thing, No end to what they come up with to shortsell wood to customers,usually just once.
The one I dislike a lot is ,the 8' cord of wood cut up and split routine, you end up getting far less than a cord of firewood that way. The guys that just back up and dump a load and make a claim as to how much wood is there.
We pile our wood in an actual piling rack, each rack 4' high and 8' long, 16" wood and three piles make a cord. We also cut, split, stack and cover the wood for seasoning for our special customers, the wood is piled 4' or better and the piles are 48' long each so a good 2 cord to each row. These are cords that I would buy if I had to buy wood.

Pioneerguy600

 

[Wood Doctor]

A Simple Question

We all know that 128 cu ft = a cord of wood. But, suppose I have 20 big rounds of red oak that are 18" long and about 24" in diameter apiece. Suppose I just cut these today with my chainsaw and am rolling them to the splitter.

How many firewood logs that a customer can easily handle do I need to split from these rounds to yield a cord of wood when stacked?

 

[Cantdog]

I hear you on the ripoff artists and the cord of wood thing, No end to what they come up with to shortsell wood to customers,usually just once.
The one I dislike a lot is ,the 8' cord of wood cut up and split routine, you end up getting far less than a cord of firewood that way. The guys that just back up and dump a load and make a claim as to how much wood is there.
We pile our wood in an actual piling rack, each rack 4' high and 8' long, 16" wood and three piles make a cord. We also cut, split, stack and cover the wood for seasoning for our special customers, the wood is piled 4' or better and the piles are 48' long each so a good 2 cord to each row. These are cords that I would buy if I had to buy wood.

Pioneerguy600

Jerry what you describe is what my dad and his friends use to sell as a 9 foot cord of four foot round wood. Which gave you a 4'X4'X8' stack of fit and split firewood. They still called it a cord non the less. Again "A cord I would buy OR sell"

Funny the further North you go the corect size of a cord becomes more important and more folks know the difference!!LOL!!

What I like is a guy with a half ton pickup claiming to be delivering a cord of split and fit wood!!! (one trip!!)

 

[banshee67]

What I like is a guy with a half ton pickup claiming to be delivering a cord of split and fit wood!!! (one trip!!)

hey, its possible.. as long as there is a trailer behind the truck!

 

[pioneerguy600]

Jerry what you describe is what my dad and his friends use to sell as a 9 foot cord of four foot round wood. Which gave you a 4'X4'X8' stack of fit and split firewood. They still called it a cord non the less. Again "A cord I would buy OR sell"

Funny the further North you go the corect size of a cord becomes more important and more folks know the difference!!LOL!!

What I like is a guy with a half ton pickup claiming to be delivering a cord of split and fit wood!!! (one trip!!)

Fellows doing that around here would be hot tarred and feathered. LOL
Every fall there are a bunch of firewood sellers that come out of the woodwork and get in on the rush, they quickly disappear and most anyone that falls for their skullduggery wont buy from them again. One widow lady called me and asked if 6 cord of wood would fit in her 8'X8'X8' woodshed.
She had bought 6 cord of hardwood with the intent of putting some inside and piling the rest outside and covering it with a tarp, it all went inside with room to spare, the fellow delivered it in one trip on a one ton dual wheel dump truck.
She is the next door neighbour to an electrician I know really well, he does not really know wood that well but knew I did. She got the name and number off a roadside sign, call the number now and the phone is disconnected.
Pioneerguy600

 

[Roanoker494]

Seems it has been well determined what a "cord" of wood is, so I will just quote prices for my area.

The big guys, ones who do it as a profession, will bring a cord of seasoned mixed hardwood for $225. That price is just thrown off the truck or trailer, $30-$50 more and they will stack it neatly where every you want it.

Dump truck load, 2.5 cords, will run you $400-$450 dumped in your location.

Seems that the more often you buy, the better your price. Refer a few new customers and save a little more money.

You can buy a semi load of logs, but I have never really checked into that. One feller has a ad on Craigslist for 8-10 tons of logs for $250, all oak. I have no clue how many cords are in 8-10 tons?

Myself, my neighbor owns a local saw mill. All I can load on my 84 F250 HD for $50. Get some odd shaped pieces that way, but I have determined it burns the same.

 

[Roanoker494]

Fellows doing that around here would be hot tarred and feathered. LOL
Every fall there are a bunch of firewood sellers that come out of the woodwork and get in on the rush, they quickly disappear and most anyone that falls for their skullduggery wont buy from them again. One widow lady called me and asked if 6 cord of wood would fit in her 8'X8'X8' woodshed.
She had bought 6 cord of hardwood with the intent of putting some inside and piling the rest outside and covering it with a tarp, it all went inside with room to spare, the fellow delivered it in one trip on a one ton dual wheel dump truck.
She is the next door neighbour to an electrician I know really well, he does not really know wood that well but knew I did. She got the name and number off a roadside sign, call the number now and the phone is disconnected.
Pioneerguy600

If you get the fire going I have several buckets tar we can use. Need to find some feathers though.

 

[Wood Doctor]

"I have no clue how many cords are in 8-10 tons?"
----------------
Depends mainly on dryness and species. Ten tons could be anywhere from 9 cords of dry cottonwood, willow, or linden to 5 cords of green oak, hickory, locust, mulberry, or hackberry.

 

[Roanoker494]

"I have no clue how many cords are in 8-10 tons?"
----------------
Depends mainly on dryness and species. Ten tons could be anywhere from 9 cords of dry cottonwood, willow, or linden to 5 cords of green oak, hickory, locust, mulberry, or hackberry.

The feller also states he buys tracts of wood, so I guess this would be the stuff that did not make the grade with a saw mill. I will assume it will me mostly, if not all, green wood. He says $225 a load will contain 1/4 popular and $250 for all oak. He does not specify weather it is white, red, etc, etc, etc.

I cut a lot of dead walnut and Locust off the property I rent. I can also get all the free Popular I want from my uncle's property.

 

[fearofpavement]

Here in Georgia it is illegal to sell wood in any measurement other than a cord, a fraction thereof or by the cubic foot. That said, if you look at most ads this is commonly violated so I expect a law with no enforcement.

Wood here varies a lot depending on whether it is in Atlanta or an outlying area. On average I would say it goes for $200 plus or minus $50 per cord. I live in a rural area so it sells for less but more people heat with wood. I don't sell that much but sell it for about $1 per cubic foot.

A full size short box truck holds about half a cord. The most common way I see wood sold in my area is by the load. ie, a truck or trailer is filled with wood and has a for sale sign on it. You buy what you see. Not legal but common.

Selling wood is a tough way to turn a buck.

I deliver bucked pine to a friend for free just to get rid of it. He burns an outdoor furnace and doesn't care how green or what species as the chimney is only about two foot long.

 

[turnkey4099]

hey, its possible.. as long as there is a trailer behind the truck!

Guy hauled right at 1 cord on a 3/4ton 60 miles. 1/2 willow well cured and 1/2 elm well cured. Said it was a real experience since he put the 1/2 of elm on the rear of the load

Harry K

 

[turnkey4099]

Here in Georgia it is illegal to sell wood in any measurement other than a cord, a fraction thereof or by the cubic foot. That said, if you look at most ads this is commonly violated so I expect a law with no enforcement.

Wood here varies a lot depending on whether it is in Atlanta or an outlying area. On average I would say it goes for $200 plus or minus $50 per cord. I live in a rural area so it sells for less but more people heat with wood. I don't sell that much but sell it for about $1 per cubic foot.

A full size short box truck holds about half a cord. The most common way I see wood sold in my area is by the load. ie, a truck or trailer is filled with wood and has a for sale sign on it. You buy what you see. Not legal but common.

Selling wood is a tough way to turn a buck.

I deliver bucked pine to a friend for free just to get rid of it. He burns an outdoor furnace and doesn't care how green or what species as the chimney is only about two foot long.

I don't think there is any regular enforcement in any state. It relies on people filing a complaint.

Harry K

 

[tomtrees58]

What I like is a guy with a half ton pickup claiming to be delivering a cord of split and fit wood!!! (one trip!!)[/QUOTE]no way but if you have one of these

umpkin2:

 

[Cantdog]

That more like it Tom......

 

[redunshee]

Its 128 cubic feet.

If a guy brings you a cord of wood in a half ton pickup, beware.

 

[Cantdog]

Fellows doing that around here would be hot tarred and feathered. LOL
Every fall there are a bunch of firewood sellers that come out of the woodwork and get in on the rush, they quickly disappear and most anyone that falls for their skullduggery wont buy from them again. One widow lady called me and asked if 6 cord of wood would fit in her 8'X8'X8' woodshed.
She had bought 6 cord of hardwood with the intent of putting some inside and piling the rest outside and covering it with a tarp, it all went inside with room to spare, the fellow delivered it in one trip on a one ton dual wheel dump truck.
She is the next door neighbour to an electrician I know really well, he does not really know wood that well but knew I did. She got the name and number off a roadside sign, call the number now and the phone is disconnected.
Pioneerguy600

I can't stand guys like that but they are the norm rather than the exception it seems. (At least around here)
I have a F-450 Ford ton and a half that was ordered special by an old firewood guy. The frame is stretched 18" and it has a 14' by 7" 6" (inside the racks) PTO dump body with metal 40" racks. This is a pretty good sized truck and was built to haul 2 cord of split/fit 16" firewood thrown in level full for a total of 380 cuft of loose wood (not stacked). Two cord of hardwood is a good load for this trucks 7.3 L diesel with a 5 speed setup. Just up the road is a guy who sells firewood as a business. He has a 1 ton Dodge 4X4 gas with and 8 foot dirt body with 1 layer of 2X12 side boards and he throws on on all that will stay and sells that as 2 cord. Sides are maybe 30" tops. He sells a couple hundred cord a yr that way. His whole loaded truck will almost fit in my body....I just shake my head when he goes on about how much he hauls. I asked him one day if I could come to his yard and load up 2 cord of his wood on my truck...he had several excuses why that couldn't happen LOLOLOL!!! "all that wood is sold" ahh??? "that wood over there is green you don't want that" HAHAHA!!!

His operation is in a good visible location and keeps on going, selling to poor folks that just don't know any better I guess.

Sounds like you give a good honest deal + on your wood Jerry. It's well worth it to be able to folks in the eye isn't it?

 

[imagineero]

it's true a lot of guys are shortchanging folks on cord volumes, but I find they are often (with a few exceptions!) fairly priced. A real full cord or even slightly generous cord of seasoned split hardwoods delivered and stacked won't be cheap. Getting your cord at half or even a quarter of the price? Then you're probably getting a half or a quarter of a cord ;-)

 

[CentaurG2]

Full cord, face cord, thrown cord, rick, seasoned, green, log length? The firewood forum must be merging with chainsaw. Cool! Round here, a cord is 128cuft of firewood or about 180cuft thrown into the back of a truck or loader bucket or whatever you are using to measure volume. Seasoned firewood is 250-275 in my area. Not sure what green or log length are running this season.