A bush cord and a cord are two names for the same 128 ft³ stack. Enter a quantity to confirm it, and see what it is worth in cords.
Two sellers, two units, two species. Price per cord is not enough — oak carries nearly twice the heat of white pine. This compares dollars per MMBtu (one million British Thermal Units — a fixed unit of heat, not a brand or a volume).
"Bush cord" is used across Canada and the northern border states — Maine, Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota — to mean a full cord. The prefix distinguishes it from the face cord, not from the legal cord. A cord names the same stack: 128 ft³ on a 4 ft × 8 ft face at a 48 in depth. The ratio between them is 1, which makes this page less a conversion than a translation.
There is nothing to convert here, and that is the point of the page. A bush cord is a full cord — 128 ft³ — under the name used in Ontario, Quebec and the northern border states. The reason to check is that the "bush" prefix reads as diminutive to buyers who have not met it before, and a quote priced as though it were a smaller unit deserves a question.
A seller quotes 3 bush cords; a neighbour quotes 3 cords. Both are 384 ft³ — the same 3 of a cord. Whichever is cheaper is cheaper on price alone, not because one unit is bigger.
Common log lengths against a 4 ft × 8 ft face. Your pair is highlighted.
| Sold as | Stack | Cubic feet | Cords | Defined by law |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cord | 4 × 8 × 48″ | 128 | 1.000 | Yes |
| Bush cord | 4 × 8 × 48″ | 128 | 1.000 | Yes |
| Stove cord, 16″ cut | 4 × 8 × 16″ | 42.7 | 0.333 | No |
| Face cord, 16″ cut | 4 × 8 × 16″ | 42.7 | 0.333 | No |
| Rick, 16″ cut | 4 × 8 × 16″ | 42.7 | 0.333 | No |
| Face cord, 12″ cut | 4 × 8 × 12″ | 32 | 0.250 | No |
| Cubic feet (1) | Any | 1 | 0.00781 | n/a |
Yes — a bush cord and a standard cord are the same 128 cubic feet. "Bush cord" is simply the name used in parts of Canada and the northern US for the exact same legally defined stack.
The name distinguishes a full cord from a face cord in regions where the face cord is the everyday unit — "bush" pointing at wood cut in the bush, in full-length cord measure. It has never meant a quantity other than 128 ft³.
Canada's Weights and Measures Act covers firewood sold by volume, and the stacked cubic metre is the preferred measure. The bush cord is recognised in practice at 128 ft³ (3.62 m³), so the quantity is the same either side of the border.
Regional habit, mostly. "Bush cord" is used across Canada and the northern border states — Maine, Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota — to mean a full cord. The prefix distinguishes it from the face cord, not from the legal cord. The wood is identical; the vocabulary travels with the seller.
It does. Neither term is defined in statute, so an inspector has nothing to enforce against either one. Treat a bush cord quote exactly as a cord quote. If the price is lower, ask why before assuming it is a bargain.