marlin, Let me attempt to clarify what you rightly describe as a confusing topic. A cord of wood contains 128 cubic feet of wood. Many states have a very clear description of how wood must be stacked, etc. to meet that legal description. The most common way most people measure a cord is a stack of wood 4' wide x 4' high x 8' long. If all the wood in that stack is 16" long, your stack would be 4' high x 4' wide x 8' long. Multiply 4' x 4' x 8' to find a volume of 128 cu. ft. or one full cord of wood.
Each of your rows was 7' x 1.25' x 8'. Multiply those numbers 7' x 1.25' x 8' and you get 70. That is 70 cubic feet of wood in each of your rows. You had 9 of those rows, so 70 cu. ft. x 9 rows equals 630 cubic feet of wood. Divide the total cubic feet of all your wood (630) by the number of cubic feet in a cord (128) and you get 630/128 = 4.92 cords. So, last season you burned 4.92 cords of wood. That's pretty darned close to 5 cords of wood. To check how many cords you have stacked in your pole barn, multiply the (height of the stack) X (width of the stack) X (length of the stack) to find the total cubic feet of wood in the stack. Divide the total cubic feet of wood in the stack by the number of cubic feet in a cord (128) and you will know how many cords you have stacked in the pole barn.
Using terms like "campfire cord", "face cord", "vacation cord", "rick", etc. to describe an amount of wood is meaningless because there is no acceptable standard definition of those terms. The wood burning regions of our great nation have their own interpretation of what "face cord", "rick" and all those other non-legal terms mean. It is generally accepted by honorable people that a cord of wood contains 128 cubic feet of wood. If someone starts talking to you about "campfire cords", "face cords", "ricks", or any other kinds of cords, and money is about to change hands, make darned certain you know exactly what he/she means by those terms. I have the impression that most serious wood burners are good and honest people and will go out of their way to be fair. But, as you know, there is always a group of ten percenters who are out for a quick buck and do not care how they get it. Honesty and integrity are meaningless terms to those people.
Hope all this helped a little. Also hope your back yard hardens up pretty quickly so you can get to splitting. John_M
Edit: the 1.25' referred to in measuring your wood is to divide the length of your wood (15") by the number of inches in one foot (12"). So, 15" /12" equals 1.25'
Hearth Stone tribute my little stove will only take like a 15" log I prefer a 12" it just easier to get in the stove. I'm very confused on cord verse face cord? I never had 4" high rows last season I burned 9 rows of mixed hard woods 7' X 15" X 8' I store the wood in my pole barn so I need to maximize my space. I can't wait to get a head of the game on my wood supply and final get it seasoned properly! I now have 11 pick up loads of rounds of mixed hardwoods. (Hickory, White oak, Cherry, Rock maple and Walnut) with more to come. As soon as the back yard hardens up I'll start splitting.
