cord size

[Firewood Guy USA]

A rick is the same as a face cord. 4x8 but no depth. A full cord is 4x4x8, so how many face cords make a cord depends on the length of the wood. If the wood is 18 inches long, then 3 face cords per cord. If they are 24 inches long, then 2 face cords per cord. If the wood is 12 inches long, then it takes 4 face cords to make a cord.

I now gather it now takes anything from 2 or 3 or 4 face cords or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 truck loads to equal a full cord. :biggrinbounce2: How interesting ! I guess it all depends on who you talk to and or what time of the day it is.

 

[docbar85]

Crystal clear Windthrown.

 

[Mkarlson]

The exact dimensions of my ton truck bed measures out like 1.3 cords of wood. I stack it slighly over the sides in the front and taper it down in the back so as to not to lose any pieces delivering. I sleep well at night

 

[grandpatractor]

with pictures

can,t get any more clearer.:deadhorse:
http://www.woodburning.org/wood.htm
J.D.

 

[habanero]

The exact dimensions of my ton truck bed measures out like 1.3 cords of wood...

What kind of aftermarket bed do you have? 1.3 cords is 166 cubic feet. For an 8 ft bed, the width by height would need to come out to almost 21 square feet. I've never seen a stock bed wider than 6 feet, so it would need to be 3.5 feet tall. Most stock beds are in the neighborhood of 5 ft wide, so the height would then need to be around 4 feet.

As a comparison, for 2007 modesl Ford Super Duty bed specs out at 77.8 cubic feet, Dodge and Chevy both come out at 75 (all long boxes).

 

[turnkey4099]

What kind of aftermarket bed do you have? 1.3 cords is 166 cubic feet. For an 8 ft bed, the width by height would need to come out to almost 21 square feet. I've never seen a stock bed wider than 6 feet, so it would need to be 3.5 feet tall. Most stock beds are in the neighborhood of 5 ft wide, so the height would then need to be around 4 feet.

As a comparison, for 2007 modesl Ford Super Duty bed specs out at 77.8 cubic feet, Dodge and Chevy both come out at 75 (all long boxes).

Don't forget that there are such things as 'racks'. My F150 sports racks that are cab high. Loaded with thrown wood rounded slightly above that doesn't quite come to 1 cord. Stacked it would be over a cord but I've never measured it.

Harry K

 

[turnkey4099]

It never fails. You can post the legal definition of 'cord' (I think there were three, all agreeing, in this thread already), point out that there is no such thing as a legal 'rick' 'rank', etc. but someone will _always_ come back with, "in my area area, a rick is...". They totally miss the fact that if the buying public knew what they were doing, the people selling that way would be out of business.

Harry K

 

[Shipper50]

It never fails. You can post the legal definition of 'cord' (I think there were three, all agreeing, in this thread already), point out that there is no such thing as a legal 'rick' 'rank', etc. but someone will _always_ come back with, "in my area area, a rick is...". They totally miss the fact that if the buying public knew what they were doing, the people selling that way would be out of business.

Harry K

It was my first post and if I did the wrong thing by posting a question about what they called a rick down here in ole Indiana, I wont ever post another question on this board again.:hmm3grin2orange:

Shipper

 

[Husky137]

See that you don't let it happen again.:hmm3grin2orange: :deadhorse:

 

[habanero]

Don't forget that there are such things as 'racks'. My F150 sports racks that are cab high. Loaded with thrown wood rounded slightly above that doesn't quite come to 1 cord. Stacked it would be over a cord but I've never measured it.

Harry K

That's true, but he said just slightly over the sides in the post. I took that to mean the stock sides-but I could have misunderstood. I just don't see how you could get that much in a stock bed. I got to thinking later maybe he meant 1/3 cord rather than 1.3 cord, but that doesn't hardly sound right either.

So you really put a full cord on a half-ton? How far over GVWR are you at that point? My Chevy 2500HD's GVWR is 9200 and a few weeks ago I had 3200 pounds of hedge on. Total gross was 10,000 lbs and I was a little nervous about that on my older tires. I wouldn't put that much on a half ton, but maybe I'm just a chicken.

 

[windthrown]

Correction...

I would guess you meant 16" instead of 18"?

Yah, you are right. Beer math! I sit corrected...

16" became 18" after 3 beers last night :biggrinbounce2:

There are two 24" deep face cords in a cord of wood (48/2 = 24)
There are three 16" deep face dords in a cord of wood (48/3 = 16)
There are four 12" deep face cords on a cord of wood (48/4 = 12)

One reason why face cords and ricks are not very good measures of firewood. And why states like Oregon only allow sales of full cords or fractions of full cords of firwood in ads. Even though I see face cords and PU loads of firewood for sale here all the time. Then there are tight and loose cords, even when they are 4x4x8... *sigh* And heavy oak vs grand fir.

 

[windthrown]

I now gather it now takes anything from 2 or 3 or 4 face cords or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 truck loads to equal a full cord. :biggrinbounce2: How interesting ! I guess it all depends on who you talk to and or what time of the day it is.

Yes, and why a two dimentioned unit like a rick or rack or face cord is not a good way to sell firewood. And it is confusing, quite by design from what I see and read. The reason they call it a face cord is that you only look at it from the flat front dimention. It has no measure for depth. I mean, in reality you could sell someone a 3" deep 'face' cord of log ends 4' high x 8' long and it would only be 3" deep, and only 8 cubic feet of wood. I think that is how they measure stuff at the grocery store. What, 0.3 cu ft of wood for $1.99?

It really depends on what the guy selling the wood cut the lengths of wood to be. When I was in California last month my girlfriend paniced in the ice storm and bought a cord of oak from a guy in town. It was cut 12" long and split tiny... he even delivered stuff in there that had 1/2 inch "logs". Stuff that I usually toss into a burn pile and do not consider as firewood. Anyway, I racked it and it was 3/4 of a cord. He made good and brought another 1/4 cord a few days later. That stuff took armloads to fill the boiler with. And it took up a lot of room on the firewood racks with a lot less wood.

We have an outdoor wood boiler that will take 3 ft long unsplit logs. I usually cut my firewood into 20"-24" lengths, and I do not split anything under 16" round. No need to. Toss it into the OWB and it burns. No need for a splitter here. I also have lots of metal and wood racks that I built to store cordwood. From a dimentional view, they are really ricks, with variable loading capacity depending on the length of the logs in them. The 12" 'logs' took up the same room as 24" logs that I usually cut and rack here. Hence they were gone in half the time.

Confusing? Yes. Face cords are confusing. They have many names, and many dimentions of depth. :bang: A cord however, has 3-dimentions and is always 4x4x8 ft. :rockn:

 

[bassman]

I have a stove and boiler so i have been buying bull!@#$ cords for some time now.
this year i have finally found a good wood guy that has a semi truck with a dump bed.
the bed is 8 x8 x16 and he stacks the wood in the truck so when he dumps it it is stacked .
I remember one year a guy sold my dad 3 cords on a half ton with 2 foot sides
or the cord of birch we had delivered on a trailer behind a honda civic complete with branches and pine needles and sap..
then he says burns like birch for only $300 a cord.
now that i know what a real cord is i wait till its unloaded and then i pay .
shayne

 

[turnkey4099]

That's true, but he said just slightly over the sides in the post. I took that to mean the stock sides-but I could have misunderstood. I just don't see how you could get that much in a stock bed. I got to thinking later maybe he meant 1/3 cord rather than 1.3 cord, but that doesn't hardly sound right either.

So you really put a full cord on a half-ton? How far over GVWR are you at that point? My Chevy 2500HD's GVWR is 9200 and a few weeks ago I had 3200 pounds of hedge on. Total gross was 10,000 lbs and I was a little nervous about that on my older tires. I wouldn't put that much on a half ton, but maybe I'm just a chicken.

Ya got me. I knew I would be called on it as a full cord on a 1/2ton is almosst impossible. I was gonno include this in my post but forgot.

I am out here in the Pacific NW (E WA) and (except for rare occasions) don't have access to the good wood. Most of what I make is Black Willow. Heavy when green so the PU only gets loaded with 4 ricks bed wide x 4ft x 16". Even that is more than I should put on. The "almost a cord" is when I am making a delivery (rare). That is stuff that has dried for a minimum of 1 year and recently ithas been at least two years. A cord of that probably doesn't come up to the weight of 1/2 cord of good wood.

Harry K

 

[turnkey4099]

It was my first post and if I did the wrong thing by posting a question about what they called a rick down here in ole Indiana, I wont ever post another question on this board again.:hmm3grin2orange:

Shipper

Please don't take me all that serious. Every so often I just have to get up on my soap box. I wasn't referring to you specifically but to others in general. It always amazes me that ones who _know better_ will throw in "a rick is..."

As to asking questions - don't ever stop. I have been at this for over 30 years and still ask questions that may appear 'dumb' but I learn from them.

Harry K

 

[Shipper50]

Please don't take me all that serious. Every so often I just have to get up on my soap box. I wasn't referring to you specifically but to others in general. It always amazes me that ones who _know better_ will throw in "a rick is..."

As to asking questions - don't ever stop. I have been at this for over 30 years and still ask questions that may appear 'dumb' but I learn from them.

Harry K

Harry K

There is one thing I have learned since being on the Internet. Not take everyone's word to heart. I am a retired steelworker from Gary Indiana and have found this site by luck. I bought my first Stihl back in 87 and thought I knew a bit about cutting.

I have learned I dont know anything about cutting trees to chainsaws after reading this board. Its a pleasure to read and learn things about the woods only the experienced saw men know. So I look forward to learning more and more and when it comes to comments, I will not be a thin skinned old retiree.
Even though I am going on 57.

Shipper

 

[Firewood Guy USA]

The exact dimensions of my ton truck bed measures out like 1.3 cords of wood. I stack it slighly over the sides in the front and taper it down in the back so as to not to lose any pieces delivering. I sleep well at night

My newest one ton, the truck body measures out to 715.542 cu ft and should hold about 5.59 cords of stacked firewood when fully loaded. I too, sleep well at night.

 

[ericjeeper]

so you have a 20 foot long bed.

and it is 8 feet wide. and you can stack it roughly 5 feet high.. and a one ton will haul that much wood?

 

[PA Plumber]

Now I thought that 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, 1 ton, etc... were minimums . As long as you keep it under 10 times that weight, I thought you were okay!!

 

[Firewood Guy USA]

and it is 8 feet wide. and you can stack it roughly 5 feet high.. and a one ton will haul that much wood?

No, its a 14' long, not 20' long . Inside width is 92 1/2 " and the height is 6.666 high = 715 cu feet, divide by 128 = 5.585 cords. I said it should hold about 5.59 stacked cords ..... not haul .