How to calculate cord volume from log dimensions

[jymbee]

A tree measuring 12" at breast height... should give you 1 face cord.
And the statement is pretty accurate...I just don't remember where it comes from.

Uh-oh... introducing the concept of a "facecord" into the high math here is bound to upset the apple cart.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a really handy chart for estimating the amount of firewood in standing timber.

http://ucanr.edu/sites/placernevadasmallfarms/files/76320.pdf

It says that for a 12" diameter tree measured 4.5' off the ground, you'll get 0.30 cords of wood, or a little less than 1/3 of a cord. A face cord is 1/3 of a full cord (if cut at 16" lengths), so that's a pretty good estimator. You'll need three 12" trees to get about one cord of wood.

 

[oosik]

I don't know about all this higher math. When I used firewood - I would fell five of my trees to get five full chord. Some times I had to fell a sixth. The P. pine were 32" to 38" diameter, a foot off the ground. I do know that handling these monsters was a real chore during all the required processes. The "usable" length was normally 85' to 95' - I didn't fool around with anything less than 8" ( the tops). Just discussing these old springtime chores makes this old back ache.

 

[turnkey4099]

I don't know about all this higher math. When I used firewood - I would fell five of my trees to get five full chord. Some times I had to fell a sixth. The P. pine were 32" to 38" diameter, a foot off the ground. I do know that handling these monsters was a real chore during all the required processes. The "usable" length was normally 85' to 95' - I didn't fool around with anything less than 8" ( the tops). Just discussing these old springtime chores makes this old back ache.

Speaking of: Reading of the old days back when the coundtry was being settled and seeing quotes of 20-30 cord/yr being needed and doing it all with crosscut/buck saws and an ax!!! Makes my nads just curl up and wimper.

 

[mapper]

Friend of mine growing up family had a wood fired furnace in their home, I recall him telling me that during the winter months they would burn a cord a week. This was in western Washington! Folks we do not have winters here like a lot of the country does! I can't imagine what that system would have eaten in the cold parts of the country. They had about forty acres of forest and cut their own wood.

 

[MossRoad]

That's back in the days before insulation, food was in lead cans, and mercury from a broken thermometer was just a fun puddle to poke around in a shoe box lid....

In the coldest of winters in the past 6 years since we've been heating with wood, I've burned 6 cords in 6 months. Most others have averaged 4. I don't think I've burned 1 so far this year. I'm still on my first bunker load, which is about 3/4 of a cord.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Your split dimension is good for drying time. I remember in 1973 a test was done to find what the best split size was for wood stove burn time and heat output and that was found to be a split of 6".

I went to 6-8" a some years ago and I use less wood now. That smaller stuff burns too fast. Wastes a lot of heat up the chimney, and I have to keep it choked down or it's too hot.

I dry for two years, so it's not hurting me on drying time.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Friend of mine growing up family had a wood fired furnace in their home, I recall him telling me that during the winter months they would burn a cord a week. This was in western Washington!

That's just nuts. They were doing something wrong. Even allowing for a big drafty house that's just crazy.

Maybe they were talking about those phony baloney "face" cords. That's a third of a cord, but even that is crazy.

 

[mapper]

That's just nuts. They were doing something wrong. Even allowing for a big drafty house that's just crazy.

Maybe they were talking about those phony baloney "face" cords. That's a third of a cord, but even that is crazy.

The house was a brick single story "ranch". I recall that the furnace room was at one end of the house. I do not know if the furnace was manufactured or owner built. I think the house was built in the 1940 decade. I was friends with the family in grade school an Jr high.

 

[oosik]

When we had a wood stove - I got told quite often that our stove was my "man mistake". I took our house plans with us when we bought the stove and the salesman recommended a particular size and brand. However, sitting over there was one twice as big. I opted for the big one and I can remember quite a few times sitting in the house, middle of the winter, we both had shorts & t-shirts on, both doors to the house wide open and the big 'ol stove was throttled down as much as possible. Life goes on......... Over a six month period we would burn five full chords of pine.