Cord - stacked vs loose?

DaleK · February 04, 2014, 10:32:37 PM

I know what a cord is stacked but is there any generally accepted standard conversion from wood dumped in a trailer loose to a stacked cord? I know roughly what a cord dumped in my trailer looks like but it would be nice to know other containers as well

beenthere · February 04, 2014, 11:00:33 PM

Yes, there are conversion numbers. Not sure about the "generally accepted" as they likely are not a standard measure like the cord.
They have been given on the forum before.
Will do some searching.

Look at your commerce rules to see if Ontario has some standards spelled out. Most of our States do.

DaleK · February 05, 2014, 06:08:55 AM

We do for a stacked cord but I've never found anything for loose

stumper · February 05, 2014, 07:25:40 AM

Check you state law as it varies some by state. Here is the lprocedure under Maine law. The beef of it is near the end under 3,d,ii,AA and BB.

3.   Measurement procedures for gross scale. The measurement of fuel-length wood, using thrown cord scale, shall be accomplished by computing the cubic volume of space in the container that is occupied by the thrown wood.

         (a)   The thrown wood shall be measured in a square or rectangular container, such as an enclosed vehicle bed.

         (b)   If the top surface of the wood is not level, height measurements shall be taken at regular intervals perpendicular to the bottom of the container.

         (c)   Container capacity.

            (i)   The container in which the wood will be measured shall be marked in an easily visible manner to indicate total capacity and the marking shall be expressed in cubic feet.

            (ii)   Where the container will be used to measure partial capacity, the container shall, at minimum, be marked in intervals of one hundred cubic feet.

         (d)   The computation of volume in thrown cords shall be accomplished as follows:

            (i)   Determine the cubic volume of the container or, by interpolation, determine the partial volume of the container.

            (ii)   once the cubic volume of a container space is known, the computation of volume in standard cords shall be based on the following equivalent values:

               AA.   In the case of bolts that average 12 or 16 inches in length, one standard cord equals the amount of wood, bark and air in a space of 180 cubic feet.

               BB.   In the case of bolts that average 24 inches in length, one standard cord equals the amount of wood, bark, and air in a space of 195 cubic feet.

Corley5 · February 05, 2014, 08:22:01 AM

I figure 190 for 16" wood. I used 180 for a bit but it'll stack up short sometimes. One ninety works better for me.

Al_Smith · February 05, 2014, 11:46:04 AM

After a while of say tossing stacked wood into a pickup truck you can pretty well tell the amount .FWIW a slightly heaped 8 foot pickup bed is around a half cord .

NWP · February 05, 2014, 12:14:55 PM

X2 on what Corley5 said. Less cubic feet if it's shorter. More for longer wood. Ex. 160 for 12" wood, 210 for 24"

SPD748 · February 05, 2014, 04:32:57 PM

My dump trailer is 6 1/2' wide x 14' long with 2' sides for 182 cu ft. When loaded (loose) to the top of the sides with split wood in the 16"-18" range, it stacks out to one cord every time. Just to be sure though, I always throw in a little 'hump' in the middle

-lee

coxy · February 05, 2014, 05:23:58 PM

I never sell wood by the cord it dump trailer load or log truck load that way there is no bull crap ;D

Al_Smith · February 05, 2014, 06:31:36 PM

Supposedly the state of Ohio wood sales are based on cords or fractions there of .Truthfully though most are sold by the pick up truck load .

brendonv · February 05, 2014, 06:35:04 PM

I use 190. 16-18" wood.

Any thoughts on logs? I wondering if 190 cu ft of logs will cut and split to a cord...

Al_Smith · February 05, 2014, 06:39:12 PM

Oh I don't know .128 cubic feet which probabley is 80-90 cubic feet of wood and the rest air space .

DaleK · February 05, 2014, 08:33:02 PM

Thanks guys. I had a feeling 50% more than a stacked cord would be close so 190 sounds pretty good.

husky fan 500 · February 06, 2014, 04:58:19 PM

sometimes when i do sell wood its 2 pickup loads stacked in the truck level with the sides and a little crown to it just to give a bit more than the 128 cu ft . because theres always gonna be that one guy that will swear that you shorted him. the 180 to190 cu ft loose sounds good to me, ive heard that before too

POC · February 06, 2014, 09:23:06 PM

I always stack mine when I get out of the woods with it, when someone wants to buy some, I throw it in the truck or trailer and know exactly how much I have.

scholar · February 09, 2014, 03:12:12 PM

I never sell any that isn't stacked 4" x 8" and normally 16'-17' length. I've seen so many people by wood by the pile or the truck and over pay... our f450 with a dump box fits 3 cord nicely heaped. I've had people tell me ohh ya brought home 2 cord last night in the back of my 1500 pickup.....

beenthere · February 09, 2014, 03:49:32 PM

Quotedump box fits 3 cord nicely heaped.

Meaning 3 face cords... right?

SwampDonkey · February 09, 2014, 04:58:29 PM

My firewood guy brings wood on 3/4 ton with a dump body with sides. All that can be loaded on that is 1-1/2 cords. The sides don't go higher than 3 feet. 2 cord on a pickup, would have to have some mighty high sides and I bet the springs are overloaded and tires rubbing on the wheel wells. ;D 2 cords of hard maple is 5-6 ton of wood depending on how dry it is. I do think you were being sarcastic or joshing. ;)

There are a lot of people out there that think a face cord is a full cord unless it is explained to them what dimensions it actually is in context to a full 128 cu-ft stacked cord. This is why weights and measures in Canada says the load has to be sold as a fraction of a cord or full cord. Saying face cord could have multiple dimensions and can be a deceptive tactic. If anyone has been ripped off by this it can be reported to weights and measures Canada and there may be fraud charges. It's the same thing with commercial weight scales or pumping gas. It better be what it says it is in regulated measurement terms.

rick f · February 09, 2014, 05:53:58 PM

This is a cord on a 1 ton pickup that we use. Wood in the dump body is stacked on the back rest is thrown in. Body is 8 feet long x 42 inches high x 6 feet at the top 4 feet at the floor. Stacked wood is 8" beyond the body so I say 8.75 x 3.6 x 5.3= 166 cubic feet. with the last tier piled it's a cord.https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=18632&pid=151632#top_display_mediahttp://www.forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=18632&pid=151631#top_display_media

scleigh · February 09, 2014, 09:52:08 PM

Another good way to figure a load size is by the dimensions of the bucket on a tractor. My bucket will hold 20 cubic feet, so if a customer wants a pickup load, I put 3 hand stacked buckets onto the dump truck. My bed will hold 210 cubic feet hand stacked, so a cord is easily dumped on there with 6.5 buckets.
I have also started selling at a discounted rate if the customer wants to come pick up the wood. Works out well, they help load and I don't have to move the truck.

Corley5 · February 09, 2014, 11:16:28 PM

Stacking wood is wasted effort. I'd rather give some extra loose than stack any of it. IMO

Firewood dealer · February 11, 2014, 08:52:10 PM

We sell all our wood loose thrown according to state of Maine standards. We also have printed on our invoices that "All cordage is a loose thrown measure". If you take the time old standard of a cord. 4X4X8 ROUND. You take that same stack of wood, split and restack, you should more or less end up with around 115 c.f.

CRThomas · February 16, 2014, 01:30:38 PM

Quote from: DaleK on February 04, 2014, 10:32:37 PM
I know what a cord is stacked but is there any generally accepted standard conversion from wood dumped in a trailer loose to a stacked cord? I know roughly what a cord dumped in my trailer looks like but it would be nice to know other containers as well

I am going to try for an answer agin. I have some metal basket in side three and a half all the way around ft that comes to 42 square feet thats a rank or rick or a face cord. but it will not fill up a pick up bed six and a half long thats loose. the basket is stacked tight and heaped up a little. whats wronge with my figures Daly K this is Crt

SwampDonkey · February 16, 2014, 02:03:36 PM

Best way to do it is sample a few loads by stacking it from what ever delivery container your using. A guess is just that. At least you will have a more accurate estimate, and that's the best it will ever be unless every load is stacked and measured and paid for that way.

It's like looking at a tree without measuring it. How big is it, 25"? Then measure it, and it's 18". How many times have we read that discrepancy on this forum? :

CRThomas · February 17, 2014, 01:07:36 PM

:'(

Quote from: SwampDonkey on February 16, 2014, 02:03:36 PM
Best way to do it is sample a few loads by stacking it from what ever delivery container your using. A guess is just that. At least you will have a more accurate estimate, and that's the best it will ever be unless every load is stacked and measured and paid for that way.

It's like looking at a tree without measuring it. How big is it, 25"? Then measure it, and it's 18". How many times have we read that discrepancy on this forum? :

Is 42 square feet a 1/3 of a cord or not stacked tight