Can this Happen?

"As a cord of rounds is split, it expands in volume. Thus, you get more wood when you receive it in round form because this expansion hasn't yet fully taken place."

This was in a Craigslist add for wood. Do rounds really expand?

Partially true - split wood will have a larger volume due to airspace inbetween the splits resulting from stacking. There are conversion ratios for solid wood the split cord amounts. However, I believe that this really just works for solid logs. Sounds like this guy already cut into rounds, so this conversion is pretty much lost. You might get a small amount of additional volume, but I wouldn't count on it.


Maybe he has some magical beans too.

I would offer him $20 to watch him split it all by hand if you could watch it "grow"

The difference in split versus round depends on the size of the rounds and the variety of sizes. Small logs fill in the gaps between big logs. It also depends on the lengths both before and after bucking. Buying wood in 8 foot lengths usually nets you more wood than buying it tree length because the crooks create more air space. Of course it also depends on how well it is laid up on the truck and how crooked the wood is.

I couldn't resist....

It also depends upon how good of a stacker of wood that you are!

Then don't forget, the wood also shrinks once it's been seasoned. So you may start with fairly dense rounds, split it and get more volume, then it shrinks when seasoned and the volume shrinks too. I have seen numbers of around 5-6% shrinkage in some instances. It's definitely noticeable as I stack my wood ~ 6 feet high, so as a whole, the pile can shrink 4-6 inches. At first I thought the neighbor might be skimming wood off the top, but I made a point to put several unique pieces on top of the pile and they are still there.

6% of a 128 cubic foot cord is over 7-1/2 cubic feet, which could easily be several wheelbarrow loads of wood.

Here's the best equation to figure this out.

Craigslist + theory x Ycubed - E=Mc2 (H2O/to fourth power of Beer)= Someone trying to put one over on you.
The round doesn't magically birth more wood as you split it. The total mass or weight will still be the same.

They're smarter than you know... taking from the bottom. %-P

Actually, there is quite a bit of shrinkage. I stack my wood row 9 feet high, right tight to the rafters and am amazed how much gap forms, and this after the wood sat out all summer.

That example drawing with all identical splits is not representative of most wood piles. I usually mix up my sizes so I have a lot fewer gaps.

...plus he stacked some with the bark side down. lol !

I was pretty sure it was too good to be true, but it's a kick to read your replies. Besides, I thought the only way to increase the volume/size of a round is to leave it in the ground and call it a tree. ;-)

The "theory" is partly true....definitely true if you have a load of large rounds with smaller rounds filling up space in between. Without the smaller rounds, it's darn close, but could still be more.

Try this...get a round that fits neatly into a 5gallon bucket, split it up, and see how many pieces are left over that doesn't fit back into the bucket.

Go on, try it!

was the "crooked" referenced above about the wood or the wood dealer? :cheese:

I've always believed this based on the fact that even the most careful stacking cannot make up for the splitting.

Again, it depends on how the wood is delivered and measured in the first place. One time long ago, my usual supplier of 8 foot cord wood couldn't come through for me and I ordered a truckload from another guy. It was crooked tree length Birch and when the guy showed up with it, I knew I was getting a raw deal. It measured out to the number of cords on the truck but once bucked, split, and stacked, it had shrunk considerably.

Definitely a load of twisted trunks or branches will never lay flat enough, and vastly increase airspace from the get-go.

Along the same lines, for the purposes of mesuring by volume, what is an acceptable amount of voids for split wood? The reason I ask, I got in a pinch and ordered 1/2 cord from a local supplier. He showed up with a Chevy S10, neatly loaded to the bedrails. No way its 1/2 cord. I told him so imediatly. I told him I was expecting 64 cu/ft of wood, and would pay him accordingly by volume. He started to unload and "log cabin" stack the wood- 2 splits about 12-14" apart, then 2 more on top of them, and so on. Needless to say, I ran him off my place, with his wood. Is there such a thing as an honest woodseller?

are you from Portland, Oregon? Thats funny, i saw the same ad this morning on Portland CL this morning..

Thanks, 15-30% gives me an idea of what right looks like. The guy who came here didn't have an issue understanding, he was a crook, flat out. If he had 1/4 cord in that little truck Id be suprised.