Cord Estimate

I'm only on my second year of burning, and I'm horrible at estimating how much a cord its. Do any of you have an estimate on how much wood can fit in the back of a 6 1/2 Ft Bed of a pick up?

I have a 2007 Toyota Tundra w/ 6 1/2 foot bed. I stacked exactly 1/2 cord of cut and split wood and then put it in my bed. I barely got it all in. It was mounded quite high in the middle and really weighted down, so I would say 1/2 cord max for a 6 1/2 foot bed.

I would concur.

It's easier to get 1/3 cord in a short bed than 1/2 cord. But it can be done.

If you stack the wood flush with the bed it's .45 cord

If you stack 6" above the bed rails it's .6 cord


These #'s assume your bed is 6' wide (mine is) and 18" deep (like my truck)

Next time you have a pickup full, unload it into a stack only one split wide, 'face cord' style. Then measure the front dimensions of the stack (e.g. is it 5 ft long by 3 ft high?), and multiply by the length of a split (convert inches to feet) and you'll actually know how much fits. Then post it here. I think we get a lot more guesses than actual measurements. Before you post the answer, post a picture of the wood in the truck and we can have a contest to guess the amount. Put me down for 0.42 cords, even before I see the picture.

I have a 6.5ft box with a tool box so i get just over a face cord throw in there. before i put the toolbox in easily get a 1/2 cord in!

I wouldn't buy cords from you guys then. Either that or I won't buy used trucks from you.

For those of you that cannot read a measure tape and convert to cu ft, maybe you can estimate the weight of your load. Here is a chart of firewood and weight.

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/heating_cooling/firewood.html

I load the same way its only going to take so much weight why stack

That doesn't look like White Oak to me - maybe Mossycup Oak /Bur Oak, but I guess that wasn't your point. So how many cords in the trailer?

Follow this link and scroll down about 1/2 way http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/passes/firewood/
Pretty good idea of what will fit in a truck.
I tried to copy the pics into my post, but I didn' work the way I thought it would.

General consensus is a standard sized bed will hold 1/3 of a cord loose stacked wood.

Here we go. With pictures


Small Pickup -- 1/4 ton

With or without racks this truck bed holds approximately 1/2 (one-half) cord of wood. One load ticket required.


Short Bed Pickup -- 1/2 ton

With or without racks this truck bed holds approximately 1/2 (one-half) cord of wood. One load ticket required.


Long Bed Pickup -- 1/2 or 3/4 ton



Without racks this truck bed holds approximately 1/2 (one-half) cord of wood. One load ticket required.

With racks this truck bed holds approximately 1 (one) cord of wood. Two load tickets required.


Standard Truck -- 1 ton

With high racks this truck bed holds approximately 1 1/2 (one and a half) cords of wood. Three load tickets required.


How much weight your truck can carry is for you to figure out.

Chevy Silverado, 6.5' bed - exactly .43cords, lightly mounded in the middle, even with the sides. .42 to .45 is my estimate. Put a bag of kindling in the passenger seat, and call it 1/2 a cord load.

How is it that three different sizes of pickup can all carry 1/2 cord? The answer is that document is meant only to determine the issuance of a load ticket. They don't care if YOU get your money's worth.

I figure a small truck and a shortbed 1/2 ton would be about the same size. A full size long bed should be a little more though. I saw something like this somewhere else on the net that was a little better than this one. I'll keep on looking.

I'll just take the things given already . . .

6.5' long X 6' wide(I doubt that is quite accurate) = 39[]

Cord = 128 cuFt

1/2 X 128 / 39 = 1.64

At 20" deep, a truck bed 6' X 6.5 would hold 1/2 cord

Change the width to 4' and the stacking height required for 1/2 cord becomes 30"

It becomes obvious that, for those of us that burn 8 cord -or more- certing home wood in a 6.5' pickup is not the best way to go.

I stand by my statement that though it's possible to get 1/2 cord in a 6.5' pickup, it's more likely to get 1/3 cord. :coolsmirk: