Face cord per ton?

[slednut3]

I was thinking of ordering a truck load of hardwood logs from a local forester. A load is 18-20 tons. I know there are alot of variables, but does anyone know how many face can be produced from a ton?

 

[4seasons]

Face cord is one of those terms that leads to deception, miscalculation or outright lies. While a face cord has a definition of a stack of wood 4 ft high by 8 ft long cut to firewood length the last part leaves a lot of wiggle room. While it is better than a rick, rack, stack, truckload, or any other measurement that someone is selling wood by, a face cord of 24 inch wood is twice as much wood as a face cord of 12 inch wood. Cord is the only term that has a defined volume and will be measurable and set.

That said a cord can weigh between 3000 and 6000 lbs depending on type of wood and moisture content. So any estimation of how many cords is going to be a guess unless you know the type of wood and how wet/dry it is. You will also have some waste in a load of log length due to some logs not being useable, waste of the odd length at the last cut, sawdust, splitter splatter, etc..

All that said I can tell you with absolute uncertainty that 18-20 tons of logs will give you between 6 and 13 cords. My best guess would be figured with 5000 lb a cord and 5% waste on a 19 ton load would give you 7.2 cords.

 

[Cedar-Acres]

Face cord is one of those terms that leads to deception, miscalculation or outright lies. While a face cord has a definition of a stack of wood 4 ft high by 8 ft long cut to firewood length the last part leaves a lot of wiggle room. While it is better than a rick, rack, stack, truckload, or any other measurement that someone is selling wood by, a face cord of 24 inch wood is twice as much wood as a face cord of 12 inch wood. Cord is the only term that has a defined volume and will be measurable and set.

That said a cord can weigh between 3000 and 6000 lbs depending on type of wood and moisture content. So any estimation of how many cords is going to be a guess unless you know the type of wood and how wet/dry it is. You will also have some waste in a load of log length due to some logs not being useable, waste of the odd length at the last cut, sawdust, splitter splatter, etc..

All that said I can tell you with absolute uncertainty that 18-20 tons of logs will give you between 6 and 13 cords. My best guess would be figured with 5000 lb a cord and 5% waste on a 19 ton load would give you 7.2 cords.

Well said, 4seasons. It is almost impossible to determine a volume measurement from the information provided, too many variables. If they can tell you the species of tree and if it was cut recently you would have a better chance of nailing down a number. Can they give you a volume measurement of the load?

 

[slednut3]

All that said I can tell you with absolute uncertainty that 18-20 tons of logs will give you between 6 and 13 cords. My best guess would be figured with 5000 lb a cord and 5% waste on a 19 ton load would give you 7.2 cords.

Thank you for the educated guess. I know there is no way to give even close to an exact amount, but I was looking for best guesses based on experience. Your 7.2 cord guestimate.....so you are saying approx 21 face cord if cut to 16"? Best guess of course.:msp_smile:

Cedar- I have to call the forester, but I believe the logs were cut this spring and are a mix of ash, beech, oak, maple, cherry.

 

[Hedgerow]

Thank you for the educated guess. I know there is no way to give even close to an exact amount, but I was looking for best guesses based on experience. Your 7.2 cord guestimate.....so you are saying approx 21 face cord if cut to 16"? Best guess of course.:msp_smile:

Cedar- I have to call the forester, but I believe the logs were cut this spring and are a mix of ash, beech, oak, maple, cherry.

Yes, the "face cord" term is assuming a 16" cut length... 3 to a cord... Unfortunately face cord or "rick" is NOT in the book of weights and measures...

 

[TMFARM 2009]

there's the new marketing.... face corsds for sale 4'x8'x6" long .....lol 20 tons = a bunch..
heck if ya can stretch a dollar why not a load of logs????

dont forget water is 8.33 lbs per gallon....whats the moisture level of that 20 tons????
around here gravel haulers deliver when its raining out, you get less per load due to moisture weight..