A cord of firewood is defined as a well stacked volume of wood that measures 4 feet high by 4 feet wide by 8 feet long. This amounts to 128 cubic feet (4 X 4 X 8 = 128). A cord can be stacked using any dimensions as long as the total volume equals 128 cu. ft. For example, a stack of wood that is 16 inches wide by 4 feet high by 24 feet long will also equal equal 1 cord (1.333 X 4 X 24 =128). I always use the example of “one row of wood, 5 feet tall and 20 feet long, about the length of a normal garage.”
Wood should only be bought by the cord, fraction of cords, or by the cubic foot. It should never be bought by the brick or face cord, since the actual volume may vary from dealer to dealer. It should be bought by the pickup load only if the volume measurement of the pickup bed is known. By the way, a randomly piled load of wood on a standard sized pickup (8 feet long) is approximately one-half cord. Many fly by night dealers have been claiming this to be a full cord and selling it to the unsuspecting public! Well stacked means that there are no large air spaces that could have been filled by wood pieces.
Another method of measuring wood in large quantity is to multiply L X H X W and dividing by 175 cubic feet for softwood and 165 cubic feet for hardwood. This is a great method for estimating the amount of wood when purchasing or selling semi truck loads of wood.
