Any guess-timates on how many cords in this pile??

I just got done hauling my stash in from the woods. I now have to start splitting/stacking. The pile measures 30'x27' and has a height of ~7' across the top. The base measures 90' in circumference at the ground. Photos seem to make it look smaller than it looks in person w/o any frame of reference.

Side view:


Front view. Stacked in back are ~18 cords.


My guess is somewhere between 10-15 cord........??

Lakeside said:

A lot ! you lucky dog !

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great photo!! lol

claydogg84 said:

I would guess 15-20 unless my math is wrong.

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yeah, I did some rough math as well, but I don't have much experience converting randomly thrown piles of wood to split/stacked wood. I don't think 128 CF of a pile of wood just thrown on the ground equals 128 CF of split/stacked wood.

claydogg84 said:

It doesn't. So I did 27x30x4 (figured 4 to be average height) which is 3240 cu. ft. Divide that by 128 and you get 25 cord which is going to be high because of the rounds not being stacked tightly. I bet you're right around 20 cord there, nice pile for sure. You have a good splitter with a 4 or 6 way?

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I did (27*30/2)/180. Which gives me right around 15 cord. I used 180 to factor in the stack vs pile; right, wrong or indifferent. It's more of a roundish pile, so using the area of a square isn't correct either. The 27x30 is the exteme limits as well.

I have a 4way for my Speeco, but I actually prefer to use the normal wedge, depending on the wood size. I can control my size of splits better. I'll start splitting on/off now until it gets too warm and then I'll pick it up again in fall. The plan is to have everything s/s by this coming winter. I have two winters worth of wood stacked in another area not pictured, so I won't get to burning the stuff stacked behind the pile for 3 years. It will be c/s/s for 4 years when I do get to it. I also have a few cords of pine/pople which I use in spring/fall.

When I was hauling this past weekend, I realized something. At this time last year there was NOTHING in that area pictured above. It wasn't until April of '14 when a local forum member stopped by and cut down two large oaks which led to the start of stacking wood in this area.

iamlucky13 said:

22.3 cords.

What does the person with the closest answer win? Surely you can spare a cord as a prize?

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I'm guessing a drive from Washington state to here and back would cost you more in gas than what a cord of wood is worth.

Woody Stover said:

Hey, I used to live up there in WI. Very seldom will it get too warm; Keep hittin' it 'til it's stacked, then post pics. If you've got Oak in there, you're in a race against the rotting sapwood as well...

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lol...I'm not a fan of heat/humidity....mid 50's is perfect working weather for me. It's also the mosquitoes. Last year I let about 10 cord sit in a large pile until fall and everything was fine when I split it. It's mostly all red/white oak. Although this year I got off to a very early start, so I may be able to get most of it split before summer. Last year I was still gathering well into May/June I believe.

CenterTree said:

I think I see a lot of ASH in there. What's the stuff without bark? Locust?

You got a lot of splittin to do!

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that's all oak, at least it looks like oak when I 1/4'd the big stuff up in order to lift them into the ATV trailer. The bark fell off on some of it when I was splitting the larger pieces by hand. There is some limited amount of oak that was sitting down for a decent amount of time where the outside got a bit punky, but the heart wood is all good yet (see third photo from last, the trees laying on the ground in the distance). We have a ton of red/white oak around us.

Below are pics where about half of the wood came from.

Ram 1500 with an axe... said:

I'm going to say it's more like 10-12 cords.....but keep us updated. When do you think you will be done splitting and stacking that? Anyways it's a great batch of wood and you obviously have the space to store it....
Congrats....

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Good question. I will be starting to chisel away at it soon.

brenndatomu said:

Isn't this about a 10-12 year supply for the Kuuma?!
How's it do burnin rotten wood?!

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lol.....I want to be on the 5-6 year plan. I currently have 28.5 cords of hardwoods and another few cords of shoulder wood c/s/s. What's in that pile will add to that. I plan on burning 5-6 cords a year.

I seem to have an issue letting downed trees turn into dirt.....I see that as wasted BTU's. There are still a lot of recently downed/standing dead oaks out where I was cutting. I plan on saving them until next year though as I have enough to split as it is.

Jon_E said:

Worst case: 27' diameter pile (ignore the corners) x average 4' tall across the full width = approx 2300 cubic feet @ 128 cf/cord = roughly 18 cords. Not bad. Wish I had that pile sittin' out back my house.

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I guess the absolute worst case would be a volume of a cone, 27' in dia and height of 7'. This comes out to ~10.5 cords, by volume. So I'm pretty much guaranteed to have more than 10.5 cord sitting there.

A co-worker mentioned he could come out and topo it for me. I would then just take those shots and create two surfaces and do a quick volume calc comparing the two surfaces. This would give me a very accurate volume of the pile. lol Although it would be neat to compare calculated cords to actual cords, I told him I'd just wait till it get it all stacked and then see what I have.

Paulywalnut said:

It's too much. You can't hoard that much wood. It will rot on you.

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I don't consider it hoarding though, I consider it cleaning up the woods