I just bought two cords o' firewood from a guy in town. He delivered the first "cord" yesterday, which was a standard Ford F-150 (1/2 ton?) piled (not level) with wood, kinda like a rounded tea spoon of sugar.

Am I getting ripped off? I heard that about three _level_ truckloads of firewood makes a cord. I really have no idea.

thanks!

-- B-17 (flying@fortress.com), October 18, 1999

Answers

You decide

Defination of a cord of wood.

-- justtryntohelp (beenthere@donethat.cim), October 18, 1999.

The legal definition of a cord is by volume, but I seem to recall that a cord of pine typically weighs about 2100 lbs, and a cord of hardwood typically weighs around 2800 lbs. Anybody verify?

-- bw (home@puget.sound), October 18, 1999.

Seems like the answer depends on how much you paid -- I'm presuming. you paid of course. If not, then yo're doing great. Believe it or not, around here, folks are GLADLY paying 160 bucks/per to get cordwood (usually maple and alder) delivered, whereas some dealers will still sell as low as $110-$120. I'd say that the bed of a 1/2 ton pickup heaped like a teaspoon of sugar could easily be a "legal" cord, and then some. FACTR IS, most cutters and dealers are not getting filthy rich cutting, drying and hauling this stuff, and they have to maintain a clientele among the locals -- usually country types with shotguns -- so all the firewood dealers I've met are straight-shooters, slat of the earth types. You should relax and be glad if you've got seasoned.

-- Roch Steinbach (rochsteinbach@excite.com), October 18, 1999.

I would venture the question is did you buy a full cord or a face cord? Most people selling firewood are selling by the face cord, basically a pickup truck full. Sometimes you can find a firewood dealer who sells by the full cord and that's when you get a dumptruck load of firewood.

It may be a case of what your local and state laws require or allow. Here in PA if it's advertised in the paper it must be a full cord. In any other case the dealer is assumed to be delivering a face cord of firewood.

Hope this helps.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), October 18, 1999.

A full cord of wood stacked is 4x4x8'. Anything less is a ripoff. When you buy wood by the "cord," you should ask which you are getting, a face cord or a full cord. Don't pay for it til it's stacked! I've gotten ripped off in the past when they came in at night and dumped it on the ground and claimed it was a full cord. Next morning, when it was stacked, it sure wasn't.

jw

-- j werner (jwerner@hotmail.com), October 18, 1999.

We just had a pick-up load (small pick-up) of wood delivered for $40. The seller described it as 1/3 of a cord. It's seasoned walnut so hope it helps to keep us warm!

-- Lea (imagesun@asde.net), October 18, 1999.

Thanks to this thread I was able to see that the cord delivered tonight was indeed about 4 x 4 x 8, maybe a bit more. We paid a hundred for it (split), but it's good hardwood, no rubbish. It's a bit damp from all the rain we've had but it might have a chance to dry out nicely before we really need it. Think I'll order more from this guy now I know he has quality stuff.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), October 18, 1999.

We had slabwood delivered last week. If you live near a lumber mill (ours is in Amish country) there might be someone who's willing to deliver it to you. You could ask the folks that run the mill if they know of anyone who buys the slabwood from them and perhaps how to contact them. You can usually get a really good deal. We now have a pile of it in our driveway that's about 10' long, 6' wide and about 3.5' high for $65. Need I say I'm rather tickled. BIG checkmark on the prep list next to firewood. BTW...this is seasoned stuff.

beej

-- beej (beej@ppbbs.com), October 19, 1999.

Don't know where each of you are. Am in a midwestern city and we have never paid for wood. The tree companies in this area will bring it to your drive and not ever charge a dime. Its a win/win for both. They can deposit large trucks of wood (rather than taking it to the landfill), and you get it for free. We have four cords. You might have to cut or split some. Its a real dollar saver.

-- Nancy (HAYSandCO@aol.com), October 19, 1999.