What's a generous cord?

Sound "to good to be true"
Hardwood for sale. Mostly Oak. Generous cord size. $45/cord. Near Sleepy Hollow. Delivery available. Call and leave message at 517-282-5863
I'll take 10 cords (my measurement; 128 cubic feet) Wonder what delivery charges are?

A cord is 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet = 128 cubic feet. Freshly cut wood, various species, $45 is not bad if you want to stack it appropriately for a couple of years before you burn it.

Agreed.. he almost certainly means "face cord". Still, that is a good price for a face cord.

Depends on how long that face cord is. While many seem to accept that a face cord is 16" long, there is no hard definition that I've ever found that says this is so. His face cord could be 12" long or 3' long...still a face cord.

Most people sell by the face cord in Michigan.

I know of nobody other than myself who will sell a cord of wood. They all call it a cord but what they are selling is a stack of wood that is 4' high and 8' long and usually 16" in length but could be anywhere from 12" to 18". Sad they all call it a cord and get away with it but so many have done it for so long that it seems to be accepted.

mayhem said:

Depends on how long that face cord is. While many seem to accept that a face cord is 16" long, there is no hard definition that I've ever found that says this is so. His face cord could be 12" long or 3' long...still a face cord.

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I'll take 10 cord of 4' face cord please at $450. . .

whats a face cord?

I have seen this discussed on length on here before and figure I might just as well add my 2 cents . Any where around here firewood is sold by the "face" cord. Imho ,this (in the real world)is a much better measurement to sell wood by. 15 -20 years ago I sold ~1000-1500 "face cord a year" with zero issues with cord measurement . I always told my customers that my cord was a stack of wood 4' tall x 8' long with an average length of 16" give or take an inch or so(I am not a machine so blocked length would vary). If they wanted shorter lengths or longer lengths it was easy enough for me to adjust my $/cord to compensate for any extra work or material involved. Seems a lot easier for someone to charge $10/cord more for 20" wood than to charge them $24 dollars /full cord more and then doing the math to figure out that a 19.2' row of 20" wood =128 cubic feet of wood. I understand the need for a standard rule of measurement.....but ..Wood is bought sold and stored in rows why not sell it that way? I like rules,we need rules but sometimes they just complicate things.

Most states define a cord as 4x4x8.

I will take 10 also... 450 bucks.. LOL

As long as you define it I see no problem selling it any way you want but in some states they have rules, so I guess you sell a 1/3 cord there.

99% of the time people who say face cord do not define it making it a worthless measure of wood. like saying i have a 4" diameter cup of soda, could be anything.

Yep-I've got a "seasoned face cord" of wood for sale.

Yep us Michiganders are a little backwards a face cord= a rick, 3 ricks or face cord = a full cord (but who has ever heard of that)? Pay for what you get! :lol: If you are foolish enough to think you will get a full cord for 50.00 or so then shame on you!

Gary

Wood's not the only thing in need of measurement clarification.

One of my "classics" was a conversation with a pizza shop:

Me: How much is a large pizza?
Pizza Guy: $12
Me: How big is that large pizza?
Pizza Guy: It's eight slices.

'nuff said.

-Speak

hi all
i always thought a cord was 4 high 4 wide and 8 feet long

tuco1963 in the great ohio valley said:

hi all
i always thought a cord was 4 high 4 wide and 8 feet long

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A "dictionary" cord, and in most states, a legal cord is.

A "face cord" is roughly a 1/3 of a cord, assuming the logs are 16" long.

Honestly in this state that listing is completely normal.(annoying for sure but I've learned to deal with it) My local paper actually list the dimensions of a cord, 1/2 cord and 1/3 cord in the firewood section, of course everyone still sell "face" cords. :lol:

I'm guessing he meant "face cord" but wrote on the add "cord"

rdust: So if you want a true cord of wood, do you order 3 face cords?
Maybe order 3 cords & see what you get, if he delivers 3 face cords, that's 1 cord. $45

OK - let me stir up a little trouble here. DISCLAIMER: I am from a part of the country that doesn't deal at all in cords. Only face cords. That's what I grew up with, and that's what's "normal" to me. Like it or not. (And I'm not saying I like it.)

So the problem several of you have mentioned is the variation in length. Splits can range from, say, 12" to maybe 18" or more. When buying a face cord you don't know if you're truly getting the "right" length (16"). I get that. I get that a seller could sell you all 12" stuff and you'd be short by 25%. But if we're not talking about that extreme case of dishonesty, then we're dealing with normal, everyday variation in cut lengths. Virtually all the wood I buy has a variation in lengths.

Given that, if I buy a face cord with that kind of length variability, why is that any less honest than if I buy a cord with the same variability? When you stack three face cords next to each other and they come out to be 4' wide, there's still a lot of variability in the lengths of the splits. And, frankly, there is a lot of air space between the rows, even if you stack them as close together as possible.

So when people use the word "cord," in some parts of the country a cord is a cord, and in some parts of the country, a cord is actually a face cord. So what? It's up to me as a consumer to know what I'm buying. It's up to me to figure out what the other guy is selling. I don't see the need for people to get all worked up about whether someone buys and sells cords and someone else buys and sells face cords. Anyone who has bought any amount of wood would usually know right away by the advertised price whether someone is selling cords or face cords.

-Speak

Gary_602z said:

Yep us Michiganders are a little backwards a face cord= a rick, 3 ricks or face cord = a full cord (but who has ever heard of that)? Pay for what you get! :lol: If you are foolish enough to think you will get a full cord for 50.00 or so then shame on you!

Gary

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there you have it. for the most part it is the same around here.

Here are the first 4 price/size to pop up on CL this morning.


• $50 per Rick for pick-up only. prices will based on volume.

• Ricks start at 75.00 delivered and stacked.

• We have oak, hickory, walnut, hard maple, ect. all hard wood cut 16-18" long has been seasoned for 1+ years 50.00 pickup call for delivery prices

• BUY A 3X6 FOR 55 A 4X8 FOR 75 OR 2 A TRUCKLOAD FOR 225$

I believe : Let the "free market" system work
If it's done different there than here, that's OK.
If you are happy with the amount of wood you get for "X" $$, it a good deal.
Cord, bushel, peck rick, steve, face cord, square, truck load, trunk load, bath tub load , wheel barrow load, arm load, what ever,
Just remember, a "cord" has a well established quantity of 128 cubic feet, 4X4X8. a barrel of oil is 42 gallons, a gallon is 128 ounces. 12 troy ounces in a pound of gold & 16 ounces in a pound flour.
Some sellers know a cord of dry (20% or less moisture) locust has more BTUs than a cord of cottonwood, If I can get the same price for each, the buyer gets less heat from the cottonwood.
If I were "The Man" who established the market price for wood, it would be in BTUs. 20Mil BTUs, then the sellers & buyers have a more accurate wood value . :zip:
So when I get my own country, I'll establish my way. For now, I'll educate myself on wood types, BTU content, use 128 cubic feet/cord to measure how much wood I burn/need per season & when I buy wood, know what I'm getting in heat value.
But If I were King ??? Oh, The things I'd change. LOL :lol: