Loose Stacking-How much is lost?

[cwalker]

So my question is, when you loose stack(just tossed in) split firewood in the back of your truck, how much space is lost.

Ive sold quite a bit of firewood, but had a customer call me back today few hrs after I dropped a load off for him and claimed I only delivered 97 cu/ft of wood. I guess he got to work stackin soon as I left.

My trucks box demension are 8x5.5x3 (wood sides) with plywood against the tailgate. works out to 132 cu/ft. Not much over a cord but my loads are generaly heaped above the rails and Ive always assumed it made up for the loss in the loose stack.

Is it possible im loosing a roughly a 1/4 cord to air space within the load?




And on a side note while i got ya thinking about the loose stack.....wondered this for sometime now.
Would larger or smaller pieces make a difference in how much would you can bring back in a load?
Big pieces -more wood per piece, less fit in truck, less but larger air spaces
Small pieces -less wood per piece, more fit in truck, more but smaller air spaces

 

[KsWoodsMan]

AFAIK the accepted measure is 160 cubic feet of tossed wood to equal a cord.

I can get more tonnage on the truck in rounds than I do in splits.

If i could load a 4' diameter log, 8 feet long in a pickup I'd have over a cord of wood in that one log , after it gets cut and split to wood stove size. There would still be room left over for more blocks and chunks.

 

[turnkey4099]

So my question is, when you loose stack(just tossed in) split firewood in the back of your truck, how much space is lost.

Ive sold quite a bit of firewood, but had a customer call me back today few hrs after I dropped a load off for him and claimed I only delivered 97 cu/ft of wood. I guess he got to work stackin soon as I left.

My trucks box demension are 8x5.5x3 (wood sides) with plywood against the tailgate. works out to 132 cu/ft. Not much over a cord but my loads are generaly heaped above the rails and Ive always assumed it made up for the loss in the loose stack.

Is it possible im loosing a roughly a 1/4 cord to air space within the load?

And on a side note while i got ya thinking about the loose stack.....wondered this for sometime now.
Would larger or smaller pieces make a difference in how much would you can bring back in a load?
Big pieces -more wood per piece, less fit in truck, less but larger air spaces
Small pieces -less wood per piece, more fit in truck, more but smaller air spaces

No, I don't think you could lose 1/4 cord after he restacked it. But you aren' really clear. Do you stack it in or toss it in? If you are just tossing it in, then he would be very close to correct.

The most possible wood you can fit into a space is in rounds. You can't split wood and pack it into a smaller space than nature did. Your example "more spaces but smaller" add up to more air space in the pile.

General rule is "the smaller it is split, the larger the pile gets" Figure about 10% gain in pile size after splitting rounds and stacking "well ranked". Stacked loosely the gain would be more.

Harry K

 

[dingeryote]

Am in the process of moving 2 cords of split 16-18" length stuff from a couple stacks that are pretty tight.

So far at 2 loads slightly heaping at the center of the 03' Chebby long bed, it equates to 1 cord and a couple of arm loads, or just a smidge over 1/2 cord a load tossed.

Hope this helps!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[cwalker]

Alright, I guess Ive never taken a tossed load from my truck and stacked it somewere, never had the need. It either gets stockpiled by the shop or staight from the truck to a customers house. Never lived in a house with wood heat. Shure love to get a stove in the house im in now tho, drafty underinsulated rental house. Landlord wants nothing to do with it, donno why would save him bunch on the utilities(50/50).

But anyway, so ya guys figure if I raised my sides to 4' 176 cu/ft, at that a tossed load should be a cord if not a bit more. Prolly do 3.5' sides 154 cu/ft but heap er in the middle. I dont like shortin myself by giving to much away, but I defenatly dont like shortin the customer. No customers=No money

 

[TreePointer]

Calibrate

I recall seeing other members state that a tossed/thrown cord can be even up to 180-200 cu.ft. Really, the only way to know is to calibrate your truck bed (or whatever wood holder you use).

METHOD #1:
Stack the next 2-3 or more deliveries, measure and calculate what fraction of a cord you delivered, and then calculate an average. Yes, it's more labor, but consider it a cost of improving the quality of product delivered to the customer.

METHOD #2:
Take a known cord from your stacks and throw it into your bed to see what fraction (if any) of a cord remains in your stack after you bed is full. Repeat a few times and average.

To obtain reliability, you should try to use the same length of wood every time. If you are using substantially longer or shorter logs, then recalibrate for that length.

 

[Circle B MN]

In wood sales, if you are tossing wood you are guessing at what is really there and in a smaller amount of wood sold to an individual consumer, there is a good chance you are going to have an issue. I do at times buy bulk spit wood to resell. It is agreed between the seller and myself that the tossed cord should be calculated at 175 cu ft. In a six cord load of tossed splits, I have never gotten a short load or one that was noticeably more than it should have been. Any load less than a cord coming out of my yard is stacked and measured at some point.

<img src="http://getfirewood.biz/images/27221934.jpg">

That is one third of a cord measured out and palletized, ready for storage or deliver.

 

[wdchuck]

I recall seeing other members state that a tossed/thrown cord can be even up to 180-200 cu.ft. Really, the only way to know is to calibrate your truck bed (or whatever wood holder you use).

METHOD #1:
Stack the next 2-3 or more deliveries, measure and calculate what fraction of a cord you delivered, and then calculate an average. Yes, it's more labor, but consider it a cost of improving the quality of product delivered to the customer.

METHOD #2:
Take a known cord from your stacks and throw it into your bed to see what fraction (if any) of a cord remains in your stack after you bed is full. Repeat a few times and average.

To obtain reliability, you should try to use the same length of wood every time. If you are using substantially longer or shorter logs, then recalibrate for that length.

Good advice.


Along with the same length, try and keep the split sizes close in average size.

CWalker...........when you measure your truck bed volume, in order to use that for measuring the wood it will contain accurately, it needs to be stacked, all the same direction.

 

[cwalker]

Good advice.


Along with the same length, try and keep the split sizes close in average size.

CWalker...........when you measure your truck bed volume, in order to use that for measuring the wood it will contain accurately, it needs to be stacked, all the same direction.

I realize it is an unreliable method of meausre...but its sorta what I gotta work with. I can right now step out my house at 7am and be back at home with a tossed load by 11am.....4 hr trips means I can do 2 a day no problem. I work alone and therefore stacking in the truck would take way to long. Ive taken Oct and Nov off work to do firewood and if I can only do 1 a day, ida been better of stayin at work.

Ive now got some first hand knowlege, 175cu/ft of box space is what im lookin for. Will adjust accordingly.

 

[D&B Mack]

IMHO, stacking for delivery is a waste of time. I would rather over-compensate than take the time to stack in the trailer. However, when I first started to deliver loose stacked, I ran a trial to see where I need to be to insure a full cord delivery. After a few trial runs, I came up with 25% more will cover it. Since I have delivered loose, I have had a few customers who stack immediately upon my departure and I have always had them covered, so figuring 160 cf loose should work for you. Labor time is everything in selling firewood, so why do you want anymore?

 

[Whitespider]

I understand your situation... but...

If you're gonna' sell firewood by the cord... then what you deliver has to be a cord. The only way it can ever be fair to both you and your customer is if it is accurately measured at some point. That means it will have to be stacked and measured... whether it's stacked in storage, stacked when loaded, or stacked at delivery... it flat has to be done. Delivering a short load makes you look bad, and makes the customer think you're trying to rip-them-off (I know you're not), which can, and will, cost you sales in the future. Delivering a long load is only screwing yourself... not to mention if a customer gets a long load they're gonna' expected it every time, and be ticked-off if the next load ain't long. It doesn't make any difference what you buy in the market place, it's always accurately measured... that's just good business all-a-round. Go buy a length of rope, cable or chain at the hardware and they accurately measure it... Go buy a load of sand, gravel, rock or even grain and they accurately weigh it... Concrete is delivered by the accurately measured cubic yard...

Lt me ask you a question... would you stand for this?
You go to fill your truck fuel tank, but there is no meter on the pump. You walk in to pay and the guy says, "well, lets see... hmmmmm... the pump was running for about 4 minutes... that's usually works out at 26 gallons, give-or-take... you owe me $77.98."

 

[Dalmatian90]

A cord is 128 c.f. of wood ranked and well stowed. i.e. nicely stacked.

Maine is one of the few if not the only state that provides guidance in by having a statute that defines a "loose thrown cord" which is 180 c.f. of 16" length wood or 195 c.f. of 24" length wood.

I'd use those figures as your benchmark

 

[bobt]

I do not sell firewood, so an absolute measure is not my concern.

I just throw the wood in the 8' box of a Ford pickup that has no sideboards or headache rack.

A good mounded load works out to be a half cord when piled.

I would be wary of anyone saying that they haul more than that under similar conditions.

I know this is a round figure, but it works out to be a half cord piled almost all the time.

Bob

 

[sawfun9]

Before I had side boards I cut 24" red fir in 4 ft length's and stood it up, in my standard 8 ft pickup bed, like statues. I just put pecker poles in between any holes and I was able to get more wood in weight wise this way. I averaged around a ton and a half on the scales plus or minus a couple of hundred pounds depending on the particular wood. I get about 300 lbs less when it's split and stacked. It's not traditional for around here but I see more and more unsplit rounds coming out of the forest these days.

 

[turnkey4099]

Before I had side boards I cut 24" red fir in 4 ft length's and stood it up, in my standard 8 ft pickup bed, like statues. I just put pecker poles in between any holes and I was able to get more wood in weight wise this way. I averaged around a ton and a half on the scales plus or minus a couple of hundred pounds depending on the particular wood. I get about 300 lbs less when it's split and stacked. It's not traditional for around here but I see more and more unsplit rounds coming out of the forest these days.

That's how I haul mine. Bust down only the big chunks to a size I can handle. All splitting is done at home. I am out there to cut wood not split or stack it. Enough work just cleaning up brush and cut/load for one day.

Harry K

 

[cwalker]

I understand that unless it stacked and measured, one cannot be shure thats its exactly a cord. BUT im shure that there is a cu/ft number out there that should land me dam close to a cord of tossed wood. Something that both The customer and I will be happy with.

I get that bringing rounds down from the bush is the way to go to get max wood per load but as Mack mention, time is eveything in firewood. For a guy whos selling firewood rounds a total waste of time. You have to load and unload the truck twice by the time its sitting in the customers driveway. That bieng said if I was brining wood back to split and use in my own home, A load of rounds would be the only logical way to bring it back.

 

[russhd1997]

A cord is 128 c.f. of wood ranked and well stowed. i.e. nicely stacked.

Maine is one of the few if not the only state that provides guidance in by having a statute that defines a "loose thrown cord" which is 180 c.f. of 16" length wood or 195 c.f. of 24" length wood.

I'd use those figures as your benchmark

Those are the numbers that I go by. A couple of posters mentioned 160 and 175 cf but 180 cf is what I was told when I made the side and tail boards for my truck for 16" wood. I don't sell wood anymore but round the truck up good when I haul my own.

That's 24" wood in the truck.