how much does 1 cord of green oak weight?

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Andy99

New Member
Jun 19, 2008
159
NY
Im trying to figure out what type of truck/trailer i will need? approx. How much does on cord of green oak weight?
 
Either side of 5,000 pounds.
 
thats what i was afraid of....WOW thats heavy
 
BrotherBart said:
Either side of 5,000 pounds.


man how many wood stoves do you have? one in every room?
 
About 5500 to 5700 lbs depending on the species. How much do you have to carry?
 
128 cubic feet times 40 pounds per cubic foot (a conservative number for green oak) = 5120 pounds, or just a bit over 2 1/2 tons. Be careful. Rick
 
Wet1 said:
About 5500 to 5700 lbs depending on the species. How much do you have to carry?

I was offered about 4 cords of free oak rounds but its about 300 miles form my house. I will be going there anyway for a visit but it might not be worth the money to rent a truck to bring it home even if i can rent a u haul i couldn't get it all in one trip and if i have to rent a truck twice it might not be worth the $$$
 
Got a friend with a 3/4 ton (atleast) and a trailer that you can borrow? Pay for the gas, get where you have to go, and bring home quite a bit of wood. What ever will fit? You'd have to do the math, 'course. But it seems feasible to me.

Just a thought.


**ETA** how long has this wood been down? If a while, it'll weigh less.
 
Rent a big truck. You'll pay for a day or two rental fee and fuel (ask for a deisel). You're going there anyways so you're really only increasing your costs of travel. You can get a serious amount of weight into a 20+ foot box truck...might make 20k lb.

Or you could tell us where it is and I'm sure there's someone local to it on here...it'll move.
 
It hasnt been cut down yet.

But my friends are taking down the trees soon and dont want the wood...
 
Find out how much it is to have it trucked to you. By the time you pay fuel and rental x at least two trips you may be $$$ ahead to have a semi haul it in one trip.
 
You might just want to get a large moving truck - largest you can rent b/c of the weight of that load. At least you will have the ramp and can wheel barrow and hand truck the rounds in there...or just roll them.
 
CTwoodburner said:
You might just want to get a large moving truck - largest you can rent b/c of the weight of that load. At least you will have the ramp and can wheel barrow and hand truck the rounds in there...or just roll them.
Be sure to check the max weights beforehand. A lot of times the trucks get bigger but the max weight is unchanged.
 
Just quickly checking online, the Penske 22' box truck has a load capacity of 9000lb, so you could do it in 2 heavy trips. I liked renting from Penske when I moved into my new house...they were nicer to me than UHaul and it was only about $100 to rent a 26' deisel box truck with an electric lift gate (handy when moving a piano).

The more I think about this, the more it looks like its probably not a winning scenario. Can you do the bucking and splitting there and bring back a load at a time when you go for visits?
 
mayhem said:
Just quickly checking online, the Penske 22' box truck has a load capacity of 9000lb, so you could do it in 2 heavy trips. I liked renting from Penske when I moved into my new house...they were nicer to me than UHaul and it was only about $100 to rent a 26' deisel box truck with an electric lift gate (handy when moving a piano).

The more I think about this, the more it looks like its probably not a winning scenario. Can you do the bucking and splitting there and bring back a load at a time when you go for visits?
I agree... I can't believe this is a good deal. 300 miles, renting a truck? The good news is, you could do a "one-way" rental with unlimited mileage (though I'm not sure it's truly unlimited), and make two trips. But at 8-9 mpg, you'd still be looking at over $150 in fuel just for one 300 mile trip. Plus many hours of your time driving it)

For 2 cords of unsplit green wood.
 
they really dont want it sitting around the yard...they dont have room for it
but its still a possibility
 
Andy99 said:
they really dont want it sitting around the yard...they dont have room for it
but its still a possibility

Split, stacked and sold locally where they live then split the money and buy you some wood locally. Same work. No truck rental cost.
 
BB Imlike where your head is at ;-)

another twist on BB's innovative idea is to buy a spliiter (assuming you don't have one)

sell the wood locally which pays for the splitter...... for the price of a long ride and somw sweat you get a free splitter out of the deal.
 
Better yet, put an add on craigslist, need someone to pickup wood 300 miles away and they can store it at your house for free, you will just use what you need!!! Yep, they will be knocking the door down!!! :)
 
If you live on long island you can get all the free wood you want. Check the pennysaver, find adds from tree trimming companies and read them. Many advertise free firewood. In a place like long island few people worry about their heating bill because there property tax bill is so high the heating bill is like drop in the bucket.
 
I typically haul 2 full tons in my dodge dakota + a 1 ton trailer (3/4 ton truck, yeah, I know it's a bit overloaded). This does a pretty good job for me - a bit shy of a full cord of green wood, but pretty close. Though...

You might even get a full cord at 4000 lb. The reference I always go to (Utah Extension flyer) states red oak at 4888 lb/green cord and 3528 lb/cord dry. White oak 5573 lb/cord green and 4200 lb/cord dry.
 
yes I agree. I am against borrowing friends equipemnt now. I did this for awhile but its too risky when your dealign with this kind of stuff. I think we should talk responsibility for ourselves, if you need a bigger truck, pay for it (rent). or hell, what I am planning on doing, purchasing a nice power dump trailer. Get a double axl if need be and you can haul a hell of alot more that you can in any standard pickup
 
That's too far to transport firewood in a rental truck. You are going to need a serious vehicle and trailer to transport 20,000 pounds with any efficiency and that vehicle is probably going to get 6-10 MPG both ways. And you will still have to make 2 trips. IMHO, A box truck would be out of the question especially if it's stacked 3 feet high or more. I own a mid size box truck and I wouldn't trust the walls to hold the pressure of round logs. In addition, walking logs up the loading ramp is going to be a real PITA, especially after the first cord.

Check the prices for log length wood by the truck load in your area. I could be wrong but I remember people here paying $80-$100 per cord for a delivered truck load. If that's the case, it's a few phone calls away, it's cheaper and easier. Or even better (as suggested here) look for free wood nearby that someone wants removed.

Now if you're driving a pickup truck up there anyway, load her up and take what you can get.
 
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