Stacking a cord of wood

[nouknouk]

I'll be working for a logging company this summer and part of my job requires me to cord the wood that has been split. They will be paying me by cord and i'm wondering how many cords per hour someone is able to do?
I heard that the guys that were working there last year were doing about 4-5 cords per hour. I know it will vary a lot from one person to the next, but just looking for an estimate to see how much i'll be making.
Btw i'm 23 years old and i'd say i'm in very good shape.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

There's a lot of variables here.

How close to the split wood will you be stacking?

Long, continuous stacks or shorter stacks with cribbed ends?

What types of wood, straight grained or curly stuff?

What size are the splits?

Are you actually stacking or just tossing into a predetermined area that equates to cord volume?

My honest opinion - even if you are stacking right next to the splits pile, 4-5 cord in an hour is extremely fast and close to impossible. How much are they paying you per cord?

 

[Jon1270]

I heard that the guys that were working there last year were doing about 4-5 cords per hour.

We have no way of knowing what they/you mean by "cording" the wood. Maybe you mean scooping it into piles with a front-end loader? Remember the lyrics to John Henry, about an extremely hard day's work in a coal mine? You load sixteen tons, what do you get? One cord of fresh-cut oak weighs nearly 3 tons so 4-5 cords, for example, is in the range of 11-15 tons. Per hour.

 

[nouknouk]

There's a lot of variables here.

How close to the split wood will you be stacking?

Long, continuous stacks or shorter stacks with cribbed ends?

What types of wood, straight grained or curly stuff?

What size are the splits?

Are you actually stacking or just tossing into a predetermined area that equates to cord volume?

My honest opinion - even if you are stacking right next to the splits pile, 4-5 cord in an hour is extremely fast and close to impossible. How much are they paying you per cord?

I actually don't have all the details yet, but from what he told me when we talked, he will be giving me a section of land and there will be a pile of wood and i need to take it and stack it 4' high by 8' long. so i can do that very close to the pile. He said i'd be making 4.50$ per cord, and that the guys he usually has every summer make between 16$ and 22$ an hour. (which is 4-5 cords)

 

[paul bunion]

Yes it all depends. Are you stacking the wood directly out of a loader bucket, no bending or lifting and at most one step? That would be near perfect conditions and would be pretty quick. Are you building ends? That takes a lot of time. If you need to pick up and move the wood across the yard yourself it will be much slower. The other question would be are you talking about a regulation 128 cu foot cord or something like a face cord that could be considerably less. If they are face cords you can easily do 4-5 an hour. If they are true cords you might be able to do 4-5 in one hour under perfect conditions, including someone feeding you. Whatever you do, get good at stacking airspace into the wood if you are getting paid by volume.

 

[gerry100]

You got a motivational speech -

Translate - one guy stacked 5 cords once and he made $20 that hour.

Sustainable pace likely 2-3 cord/hr, 9 - 13 $hr not bad for unskilled labor

 

[Jon1270]

Sustainable pace likely 2-3 cord/hr, 9 - 13 $hr not bad for unskilled labor

I can't imagine stacking full cords at that pace either, but it sounds like the OP is talking about face cords which is doable. Even so, $9-$13/hour could be a bad deal if it's cash under the table. This is a job on which you could easily be injured. Worker's comp is kinda important.

 

[nouknouk]

You got a motivational speech -

Translate - one guy stacked 5 cords once and he made $20 that hour.

Sustainable pace likely 2-3 cord/hr, 9 - 13 $hr not bad for unskilled labor

yea, youre right.
I guess the plus side is that I make my own schedule and can work long days to make up for the small pay/hour.

 

[nouknouk]

So i just got more information.
I am not building ends, they calculate 8 feet from the middle of the 45 degree angle at the beginning of stack.
The pile is not even a foot away from where i will be stacking it.