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[Scratch]

So I'm looking at buying a load of wood from a local tree service.  They don't know how many cords it is though.  It'll come in a big open top box truck, about 16 feet long, 8 feet wide and 7-8 feet high.  He said it will be slightly heaping with no brush, only logs, averaging about 18" thick and the logs can be anywhere from 2' long to 16'long.  He said the box will be full though.  Mostly Oak, but only hardwoods.  Cost is $320.00 per load.  Delivered.

Any idea on how many cords I'll end up if it's cut and split?

[jackel440]

well if it was 8' tall and 8' wide and 16' long  that would bet you 8 cord of wood.But it will have voids in it as I imagine they wil just be dumping the logs in it.So I would say to gues you would end up with 6 time you split it and stacked it all up.But i am no expert so Take what i say with a grain of salt.I have been hauling logs on my deckover,but have yet to split and stack any of the loads I brought home.So I don't know how close I am to figuring out what I think i got on it when i get it home.

[Scratch]

I've always wondered about split versus non split wood and how many cords it is...

I know a cord is 4'X4'X8' or 128 square feet of wood.  So lets use a 1/4 cord (32 sq foot)  Which would be a 4'X4'X2'.

If you have lets say 12" logs, 4 feet long, you could fill that space with 8 logs right?

Now if you cut them into 2' lengths, then split them... you could still "puzzle" them back into original locations, but it would have to take up a little more room I would think, since the spaces between the split pieces are just a tiny bit larger, but couldn't you could "un-puzzle" them, and stack the wedges together, making it fit tighter I would think, which would leave extra space in that same 32 sq foot area right?

Am I right then in thinking that by splitting the wood,you are making a tighter pile, and therefore would have extra space in the same area right?  Anyone happen to know of a site that has a formula for this.

Not that I "need" to know this, but I've always wondered it...

[RSI]

I would guess you will end up with 3-5 cord from it.
There are usually pretty big gaps when they dump logs in a truck. Especially if they are bigger and not straight.

[willieG]

i read on a forestry forum one time that if you were to measure your logs and figure out how many cubic feet were in the load of logs then devide by 90 that should give you a pretty good estimate of cords of wood

they say to use 90 as as your divider because after you have split and stacked the wood you would have about 38 cubic feet of air and 90 cubic feet of wood in a neatly stacked cord (air space seems a little high but i am not gonna argue with the pros)

[Scratch]

Wow... I hope you're right willie.  That would mean I got 9.95 cords of wood coming.  I'm going to try to take measurements and pics , then try to split and stack it and see what I come up with.  We'll see...

[lvdavidson]

I purchased a load very similar in size to this one in the fall.  After splitting and stacking I measured and did the calculations and had about 5 or 5.5 cords, can't remember exactly.  It is a good load of wood but there is always plenty of air gaps in those loads.

[jackel440]

I purchased a load very similar in size to this one in the fall.  After splitting and stacking I measured and did the calculations and had about 5 or 5.5 cords, can't remember exactly.  It is a good load of wood but there is always plenty of air gaps in those loads.

I think you are pretty close to what Scratch will end up with when he gets done splitt'n it.
I think I would have a little more on my loads as I load them myself ,and i pick each log to place on the trailer as I load it.I try to elimnate alot of gaps in the load.I understand that the guy loading it is just dumping it in the truck and delivering it to you.He is not gonna be concerned with how much he can pack in there.
I think you should still do good on your load.
When is your big load gonna show up?

[Scratch]

I purchased a load very similar in size to this one in the fall.  After splitting and stacking I measured and did the calculations and had about 5 or 5.5 cords, can't remember exactly.  It is a good load of wood but there is always plenty of air gaps in those loads.

I think you are pretty close to what Scratch will end up with when he gets done splitt'n it.
I think I would have a little more on my loads as I load them myself ,and i pick each log to place on the trailer as I load it.I try to elimnate alot of gaps in the load.I understand that the guy loading it is just dumping it in the truck and delivering it to you.He is not gonna be concerned with how much he can pack in there.
I think you should still do good on your load.
When is your big load gonna show up?

Early this next week. 

[jackel440]

Oh Boy,we are gonna need to see lotsa pics

[jackel440]

I purchased a load very similar in size to this one in the fall.  After splitting and stacking I measured and did the calculations and had about 5 or 5.5 cords, can't remember exactly.  It is a good load of wood but there is always plenty of air gaps in those loads.

I think you are pretty close to what Scratch will end up with when he gets done splitt'n it.
I think I would have a little more on my loads as I load them myself ,and i pick each log to place on the trailer as I load it.I try to elimnate alot of gaps in the load.I understand that the guy loading it is just dumping it in the truck and delivering it to you.He is not gonna be concerned with how much he can pack in there.
I think you should still do good on your load.
When is your big load gonna show up?

Early this next week.

Scratch, I figure this wood is all cut,split,and stacked by now right?LOL
 Just wondered how it all came out.Did you get what you thought you would?