Is "Cordwood" really a thing?

[Vespasian]

1 hour ago, Steve Bullman said:

 

No its not a stack of wood without any definitive definition.  Read what devon TWiG wrote, it has quite a specific definition.

A cord of wood seems to be whatever you want it to be..  seems its just a stack of wood piled into a manageable cube..

 

cut six foot lengths an stack em six foot high, cut eight ft lengths stack em eight ft high..  I imagine a cord is corruption of cube... sort of like "sik em", is a corruption of seek them out..  just a theory mind, but it sort of makes sense...

 

So when I say a cord has no definitive definition I mean its not like theres an imperial cord that every other cord can be measured against. like a gallon or inch..  

 

 

[Steve Bullman]

5 minutes ago, Vespasian said:

So when I say a cord has no definitive definition I mean its not like theres an imperial cord that every other cord can be measured against. like a gallon or inch..  

Ermmmm....4x4x8 

[Luckyeleven]

Courtesy of Jeff Jepson..... Sorry about the quality

Edited November 2, 2017 by Luckyeleven

[Bob Morris]

... and should you want to buy firewood in Canada...

 

 

"Measurement Canada recommends that the use of the cord as a unit of measurement be discontinued, as it is largely misunderstood and often misused by people selling firewood. For example, some sellers use illegal terms such as "face cord", "stove cord", "apartment cord", "furnace cord" and "short cord" to refer to a quantity smaller than 128 cubic feet. Such terms frequently lead to confusion about the actual quantity of firewood being sold.

To avoid any confusion about the amount of firewood purchased or sold, Measurement Canada recommends the use of the stacked cubic metre when purchasing or selling bulk firewood."

[Stubby]

4 hours ago, Vespasian said:

A cord of wood seems to be whatever you want it to be..  seems its just a stack of wood piled into a manageable cube..

 

cut six foot lengths an stack em six foot high, cut eight ft lengths stack em eight ft high..  I imagine a cord is corruption of cube... sort of like "sik em", is a corruption of seek them out..  just a theory mind, but it sort of makes sense...

 

So when I say a cord has no definitive definition I mean its not like theres an imperial cord that every other cord can be measured against. like a gallon or inch..  

 

 

Since I was a lad its always been 8"x4"x4" but I am sure you will find a way to dismiss  this as utter rubbish .  I am looking to get some chainsaw sandals  by the way .

[daltontrees]

8 hours ago, Billhook said:

Just come back from Ancona in Italy where they sell it by the Quintal. (15 euros/quintal collected from a builder's yard in wooden crates)

   I think a quintal is 100 kg but it used to be either

100 lbs or 112 lbs.  Strange it should describe 100s when you think that it should be describing 5s or 50s with the quin part.

So your next question for mastermind is "How many quintals in a cord"  or vice versa

I think the etymology of quintal is from the word 'cent-' meaning hundred, rahtehr than 'quint-' menaing five. If you remember those teeny wee Fiats called the 500, pronounced 'seeng-co-chen-tay', the chen-tay it is hundred, and the pronounciation of it is a lot more like quinte than the 'seeng-co' bit is.

 

The first guy that paid for an imperial quintal and got a metric one must have been well pleased. It's basically twice as big.

[oldwoodcutter]

Cordwood refers to the sections of wood that were ( in woodland management ) traditionally put in to piles then measured in multiples of cords 8'x4'x4'  this was usually the branches from a tree left behind after the trunk / timber sections have been removed . Cordwood was usually straightish lengths cut to  about 4' long and under 1 foot dia for ease of handling etc .  It was used for firewood and charcoal making amongst other things and was a unit of measurement for negotiating sales / productivity or payment .  It has become a generic term for short lengths of small dia wood as opposed to "rings " or timber lengths . 

This has always been what’s meant as a cord of wood, no ambiguity, no ifs or buts, so years ago when it used to be sold this way, everyone knew exactly what they were buying, from wherever, off whoever.

[Vespasian]

52 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Since I was a lad its always been 8"x4"x4" but I am sure you will find a way to dismiss  this as utter rubbish .  I am looking to get some chainsaw sandals  by the way .

Since I was a lad I've never come across a cord, only on a utube vid by americans or canandians have I seen reference to a cord, so obviously I've no idea what a cord is other than a guess.. which I imagined was something along the lines of two or three dumpy bags worth of uncut firewood..

 

So no, now I know what a cord is, 4*4*8 of uncut wood I won't be arguing that the definition is rubbish...  

 

Though I might add, it seems odd that one cord of wood might be somewhat less than another cord of wood.. best change selling cord to a measure of weight, qualifying it by being dry or wet..   soft or hard..  

 

 

 

 

[gdh]

Worth noting that most posts ask for cordwood not a cord OF wood so I've always taken it as unprocessed wood not a measurement. 

[sime42]

Courtesy of Jeff Jepson..... Sorry about the quality

Which Jeff Jepson book was that from Lucky eleven? I'm a big fan of his but don't remember that bit in any of the three books of his I have.