Measured a stack and got cubic feet? Enter it here to see what that is in cords — and what the same wood is worth as a cord.
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).
Start from a measurement rather than a name and the ambiguity disappears. Every 128 ft³ you enter is one cord, stacked 4 ft × 8 ft at 48 in deep. Its 4 ft × 8 ft × 4 ft shape is a convention, not a requirement: any stack totalling 128 ft³ is a cord, which is why a 4 ft × 16 ft × 2 ft stack counts just the same.
This is the direction you need after a delivery has landed. Measure the stack, get cubic feet, divide by 128 — and you have the one number that settles whether a seller delivered what the invoice claims, in the unit a court or an inspector recognises.
You measure a delivered stack at 8 ft long, 4 ft high and 18 in deep: 48 ft³, or 0.375 cords. Rounding that up to "one cord" on the invoice would cost you 62.5 percent of the wood.
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 |
Complaints filed with state weights-and-measures offices commonly involve loads of 90 to 110 ft³ sold as a full cord — 15 to 30 percent short. That range is why measuring before the driver leaves is worth the ten minutes.
Not accurately. A thrown pile occupies roughly a third more space than the same wood ranked, so measuring it as-dumped overstates the delivery. Restack a square section, measure that, and scale up.
One cubic foot is 0.00781 of a cord, since a cord is fixed at 128 ft³. Its 4 ft × 8 ft × 4 ft shape is a convention, not a requirement: any stack totalling 128 ft³ is a cord, which is why a 4 ft × 16 ft × 2 ft stack counts just the same.
Multiply height × length × depth in feet to get cubic feet, then enter that above. A 4 ft × 8 ft × 4 ft stack is 128 ft³, which is 1 cord.
Yes — it is the safest one available. The cord is the only firewood measure most states will enforce. NIST Handbook 130, which nearly every state weights-and-measures office adopts, fixes it at 128 cubic feet of ranked and well-stowed wood.