the age old question...........how many splits in a cord?

[fmer55]

was curious, ideas of how many splits in a cord? let" say 16"-20" average, the type any guy on long island drops

 

[PapaDave]

was curious, ideas of how many splits in a cord? let" say 16"-20" average, the type any guy on long island drops

That's gonna' be a tough one. How big across are the splits? 3", 6"? I tried counting the splits in one of my stacks last year. Used a pencil to mark the ones counted. My wife came out to ask WTH I was doing, and I lost track. I quit after that. Sorry man, I tried. %-P

 

[fmer55]

i believe that is called hen intervention!

 

[Archie]

Let's see: Assume a split is 4"x4"x16". That's 256 cu in per split (that seems high to me, can someone check my math?).

A cord is 128 cu ft, which is 12x12x12x128= 221,184 cu in per cord.

So, 221,184 / 256 = 864 splits per cord, more or less.

Is there a prize?

 

[fmer55]

very nice archie......is about what i had best figured

 

[Archie]

very nice archie......is about what i had best figured

I have my propeller cap on tonight for some reason...

 

[Berone]

What I've been wondering is how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

 

[gzecc]

Archie-Does that account for air space?

 

[Archie]

Archie-Does that account for air space?

No it does not. Good catch. So I guess the split count would go down a bit. What do you think, maybe 5-10%. I have no idea but I think there are some threads that have gone into that topic.

 

[gzecc]

I think 12% should account for air, unless its green wood, then there would be less splits.

 

[Archie]

Sounds about right. My propeller cap failed me :lol:

 

[fmer55]

Sounds about right. My propeller cap failed me :lol:

and the golf claps turn to boos!

 

[gerry100]

= the number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin

 

[Wood Duck]

Before I read any other replies, I thought I'd prepare my engineer's estimate of the number of splits. Since I are an engineer, you can count of this being a precise yet conservative estimate, as long as an appropriate factor of safety is applied.

I assume a typical split is 4 inches by 5 inches, which is 20 inches square, or 20/144 = 0.1389 square feet. the face of a face cord is 4 ft by 8 ft or 32 square feet. If everything fit perfectly together, there would be 32/0.1389 = 230 splits in a face cord, and with 16 inch splits, there would be three face cords in a cord. That means there would be 691 splits in a cord (I am carrying decimals in my calculator, I know 3 x 230 = 690, not 691). However, I have read that a cord, which occupies 128 cubic feet of space, actually contains about 85 cubic feet of solid wood, on average. That means a cord is 80/128 = 62.5% wood, or about .0625 x 691 = 432 splits.

Now for the factor of safety: If you need a cord of wood to stay warm this winter, i'd be conservative and apply a factor of safety of about 2.5, so you should collect at least 1080 splits. If your porch can support a cord of wood, I'd apply the same 2.5 factor of safety in a different way, and load no more than 172 splits. So, a cord of wood is between 172 and 1080 splits, depending on who you ask.

 

[SlyFerret]

Wow!

In my opinion, if you're trying to determine cords by counting the number of splits... you're doing it wrong. haha!

-SF

 

[Gator eye]

I think some people have to much time on there hands. %-P

 

[ironpony]

Before I read any other replies, I thought I'd prepare my engineer's estimate of the number of splits. Since I are an engineer, you can count of this being a precise yet conservative estimate, as long as an appropriate factor of safety is applied.

I assume a typical split is 4 inches by 5 inches, which is 20 inches square, or 20/144 = 0.1389 square feet. the face of a face cord is 4 ft by 8 ft or 32 square feet. If everything fit perfectly together, there would be 32/0.1389 = 230 splits in a face cord, and with 16 inch splits, there would be three face cords in a cord. That means there would be 691 splits in a cord (I am carrying decimals in my calculator, I know 3 x 230 = 690, not 691). However, I have read that a cord, which occupies 128 cubic feet of space, actually contains about 85 cubic feet of solid wood, on average. That means a cord is 80/128 = 62.5% wood, or about .0625 x 691 = 432 splits.

Now for the factor of safety: If you need a cord of wood to stay warm this winter, i'd be conservative and apply a factor of safety of about 2.5, so you should collect at least 1080 splits. If your porch can support a cord of wood, I'd apply the same 2.5 factor of safety in a different way, and load no more than 172 splits. So, a cord of wood is between 172 and 1080 splits, depending on who you ask.

i is also one (engineer) only with an aeroplain background
we figure everything with a safety factor of 6 (behind the cockpit)
so i would say to buy at least 2592 splits to make sure you are prepared