How much wood is this?

[Dmitry]

I'm trying to get ahead with my wood, but being mathematically challenged I can't figure out how much wood I have and how much more I need to meet famous "three year ahead" plan.
I stuck my wood on a pallet in double rows. The length of wood is 20", the height of stuck is 5' average.

Can you give me formula how to calculate what is one cord of wood in this configuration.

Example: I have 30 feet long row, 5' high, individual piece length is 20". double stacked How many cords is this?

 

[Dmitry]

Here is a pic, can't see it here , but its double row, picture is not good, too dark outside.

 

[Pennsyltucky Chris]

3.5 X 5 X 30 = 525 cubic feet. So you have a smidge over 4 cords.

And with as warm has this winter has been, if that is seasoned, you should have plenty.

 

[Dmitry]

How much cubic feet is one cord? the exact number.

 

[DougA]

Example: I have 30 feet long row, 5' high, individual piece length is 20". double stacked How many cords is this?

30x5x3.33= 500 cu ft. A cord is 4x8x4 = 128 So you have 500 / 128 = 3.9 cords.
Elementary my dear Watson.

40" = 3.333 ft. Spaces between rows don't count.

The easy way to remember a cord is that it is the same as a sheet of plywood 4x8' and stacked 4' high.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Yup. Simply calculate cubic feet using the knowledge that a cord of wood is 128 cubic feet. Just divide your total cubic feet of wood by that 128.

 

[Pennsyltucky Chris]

How much cubic feet is one cord? the exact number.

128 cubic feet.

 

[Pennsyltucky Chris]

40" = 3.333 ft. Spaces between rows don't count.

I was rounding up the 3.33 to 3.5. But yeah. Roughly 4 cords.

 

[bags]

Now, now, people. We all know a cord of wood has many different sizes depending on who is selling it. The 128 CU FT is the correct answer though as the people above know. And there are some fine mathematics above too! Very well explained. Kudos!

 

[DougA]

We all know a cord of wood has many different sizes depending on who is selling it

Or another way of saying it, a full cord of wood will not fit into the box of a normal pickup truck without having aux. sides attached. So, if your delivery of a full cord is in a pickup truck, you got gypped. Also, a cord of dry white oak weighs over 2 tons, so if they're delivering it in a 1/2 ton truck, either you got gypped of the truck is a gonner.

 

[Dmitry]

Thank you guys , that is a very good news for me, I got more than I've estimated. I think I'm good for 2 years if burning 4 cords a season. My wife thinks it's enough for the rest of our lives. ( We are 40 y.o.)

 

[DougA]

I think I'm good for 2 years if burning 4 cords a season.

I guess I must have missed the part where you have another stash of wood.
You've got just under 4 cords now, so if you burn 4 cords a season, that will last you one season.
See what happens when they teach this 'new math' stuff

Or, you could say that a year has four seasons, so you'll need 32 cords for 2 yrs. but if I posted that, you'd really get confused.

 

[bags]

My wife thinks it's enough for the rest of our lives. ( We are 40 y.o.)

LOL! At least she is optimistic. Or she is tired of helping?

if your delivery of a full cord is in a pickup truck, you got gypped.

Knock it off Doug! Soon enough we'll officially see Gyp-cords advertised and an industry standard as a new measurement for wood on CL. LOL!

Seems like the Gyp-cord has been around a long while, seen often, and rarely understood. I heard they are what Big Foot busts up while he is bored in the woods and donates them to the wood delivery charities. Many times these full Gyp-cords are even delivered in Ford Rangers and smaller trucks..... They stay green and nice and wet that' away

 

[Dmitry]

Dmitry said: ↑
My wife thinks it's enough for the rest of our lives. ( We are 40 y.o.)

LOL! At least she is optimistic. Or she is tired of helping

I think both. But the strange thing is : it became her job to stack the wood on a pellets, and she admits that she enjoys to do it from time to time. She is a neat freak and stacks it evenly in-line, nothing sticks out. Looks nice. She is not allowing me to do it anymore because my job looks ugly sometimes... Well, every time.

 

[bags]

My wife and kids are to the point to where they run and hide when the word firewood is mentioned. LOL! That OWB eats a lot as in 8-10 cords a year. Then the last several winters I was out of town for work except weekends and that was the last straw for my wife (42 and I'm 46) when she slipped and busted her azz in the ice and snow ram rodding a wheel barrow full of wood before work one morning. She took a pretty nasty slip and fall and was bruised and sore awhile. I asked if it knocked any sense into her. LOL! I tease her quite a bit.

I had to do something for the following season so I bought some pellet stoves at that point. Like them so far but I have been reassessing the wood burning situation here. All of my wood burners are dated. I hate to replace a great shape and perfectly working OWB but I am looking into more efficient less wood use options. Especially if they keep jacking up pellet prices. They are reasonable here but up your way I see some here paying a bunch more per ton. As in like twice as much. That's when my pellet burners get moth balled and I go back to wood.

I am also looking at a couple of new wood stoves but I must have long burn times. I get 12 hrs. plus in my OWB. I like wood and have heated with it many moons but this break last winter and this fall have been nice in ways. Main problem I have is finding the time to do my wood. I have plenty of it just little time to do it now.

Last fall I was pretty much burned out and hating wood. Now I am beginning to miss it some. I have a bunch of logs in piles and plenty of seasoned and stacked so I might just get into processing the piles I have and continue to stock up. At minimum I'll be getting a new wood stove and or wood insert just to have. All I can say is keep on keep'in on with your wood. You never have too much has been my experience. Some of these members here have oodles and years and years worth. My problem was I never really got ahead like I needed to but always seemed to be rushed and behind the 8 ball so to speak.

 

[bags]

My wife and kids are to the point to where they run and hide when the word firewood is mentioned. LOL! That OWB eats a lot as in 8-10 cords a year. Then the last several winters I was out of town for work except weekends and that was the last straw for my wife (42 and I'm 46) when she slipped and busted her azz in the ice and snow ram rodding a wheel barrow full of wood before work one morning. She took a pretty nasty slip and fall and was bruised and sore awhile. I asked if it knocked any sense into her. LOL! I tease her quite a bit.

I had to do something for the following season so I bought some pellet stoves at that point. Like them so far but I have been reassessing the wood burning situation here. All of my wood burners are dated. I hate to replace a great shape and perfectly working OWB but I am looking into more efficient less wood use options. Especially if they keep jacking up pellet prices. They are reasonable here but up your way I see some here paying a bunch more per ton. As in like twice as much. That's when my pellet burners get moth balled and I go back to wood.

I am also looking at a couple of new wood stoves but I must have long burn times. I get 12 hrs. plus in my OWB. I like wood and have heated with it many moons but this break last winter and this fall have been nice in ways. Main problem I have is finding the time to do my wood. I have plenty of it just little time to do it now.

Last fall I was pretty much burned out and hating wood. Now I am beginning to miss it some. I have a bunch of logs in piles and plenty of seasoned and stacked so I might just get into processing the piles I have and continue to stock up. At minimum I'll be getting a new wood stove and or wood insert just to have. All I can say is keep on keep'in on with your wood. You never have too much has been my experience. Some of these members here have oodles and years and years worth. My problem was I never really got ahead like I needed to but always seemed to be rushed and behind the 8 ball so to speak.

 

[Dmitry]

This is my second year and I don't have story that dramatic.

Did you think about Blaze King "King" model. I saw this monster in a showroom. They're advertised 40 hours of heat. Sounds good, even if it's half true. Probably easier to handle than OWB. And they say it's crazy efficient. So less wood.

 

[bags]

I've been reading up on a lot of stoves and types of them lately but not pulling the trigger just yet. The BK's do seem nice but a hefty price tag. Although I bought the hefty price tag pellet stove last fall. I'm also not so sure about how much I really miss wood yet either. A BK might be a good solution and not use much wood which is worth some cash layout to me.

Hind sight is 20 /20 and I didn't think it thru nor have time to deal with anything as I needed a pretty quick and easy solution and I was not thinking in terms of wood at all last fall. I am content and happy with my pellet stoves but concerned pellet prices might make me look into other ways to heat again if they continually climb cost wise. For now I am good with it all thus far. I am going to do another wood stove though just to have another back up. I just don't think I am BK ready just yet. I have read where some guys are getting pretty impressive burn times but those reduce in the cold, cold somewhat.

 

[Blaine]

Dmitry- For any standardized firewood length there is a key number which can be used to simplify cord calculations. The key number for 20" splits is 77. Multiply the length of a row x the height of the row, then divide by 77. In your case, 5x30 divided by 77 equals slightly under two cords per row.
In your configuration, for all practical purposes, a row 5 feet high and 15 feet long equals one cord. I know this isn't precise, but get used to it. There is no such thing as precision in cordage calculations, there is just ' close enough for all practical purposes'.

 

[drz1050]

8-10 cords a year is massive! No wonder you had a hard time staying ahead on wood... how big is your house/ how well insulated? I'd imagine you would use about half that with even a semi-efficient woodstove... how many tons of pellets per year do you use?

 

[Dmitry]

In your configuration, for all practical purposes, a row 5 feet high and 15 feet long equals one cord.

Thanks , that's the formula I was looking for .

 

[Fred Wright]

When we started heating with wood we weren't certain how much we'd need to get through a typical winter. So we made three rows 5' high ~ essentially stacked to eye level, 20' in length, mostly red maple. Turned out not to be enough, we were picking from next year's stash to finish the season.

Extended all stacks by 10', figuring that ought to be enough wood for a year. It works. The type of wood you have available makes a difference as well.

Measurements and cord metrics are great for informational purposes ~ you'll know how much to order if you're buying wood. But you won't know precisely until after a couple, three years of wood heating.

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Or another way of saying it, a full cord of wood will not fit into the box of a normal pickup truck without having aux. sides attached. So, if your delivery of a full cord is in a pickup truck, you got gypped. Also, a cord of dry white oak weighs over 2 tons, so if they're delivering it in a 1/2 ton truck, either you got gypped of the truck is a gonner.

Not to get too far off track but I'll disagree with you...

#1 it depends how the wood is stacked in the truck, it is certainly possible to get a full cord into a standard truck bed without side. Typically my loads of unsplit rounds from a SHORT BED stack out to about .9 cords after splitting. It would be a little more challenging to get a full cord of splits but not impossible, especially if one had a long-bed.
#2 The truck isn't a "gonner" just because a load exceeds the manufacturer's recommend cargo capacity. Trucks are very routinely overloaded. As a matter of fact, I routinely overload my 3/4 ton truck, I've had up to a 6500 lb load on it before... never broke a spring and never had any weight related issues.

 

[Longstreet]

30x5x3.33= 500 cu ft. A cord is 4x8x4 = 128 So you have 500 / 128 = 3.9 cords.
Elementary my dear Watson.

40" = 3.333 ft. Spaces between rows don't count.

The easy way to remember a cord is that it is the same as a sheet of plywood 4x8' and stacked 4' high.

Yup, exactly. If you want to do some mental stretching, you could also do (360*60*40)/1728 = 500, but that's only because I like inches more than fractions.

 

[mwhitnee]

Not to get too far off track but I'll disagree with you...

#1 it depends how the wood is stacked in the truck, it is certainly possible to get a full cord into a standard truck bed without side. Typically my loads of unsplit rounds from a SHORT BED stack out to about .9 cords after splitting. It would be a little more challenging to get a full cord of splits but not impossible, especially if one had a long-bed.
#2 The truck isn't a "gonner" just because a load exceeds the manufacturer's recommend cargo capacity. Trucks are very routinely overloaded. As a matter of fact, I routinely overload my 3/4 ton truck, I've had up to a 6500 lb load on it before... never broke a spring and never had any weight related issues.

Now see everything I've heard says that a truck load is around half a cord. I have a short bed myself. I have thrown the wood in and filled in the holes at the end.

Granted your wood consists of rounds, which might make a big difference, but that still is a lot to make up for. I'm sure throwing it in makes a difference too.