Is "Cordwood" really a thing?

[sime42]

I've always understood a cord to be 8x4x4 ft by the way.

[Stubby]

1 minute ago, sime42 said:

I've always understood a cord to be 8x4x4 ft by the way.

Same as most of us in this thread .

[devon TWiG]

Basically it is a stack measurement  , volume of space occupied rather than volume of actual material ...... it was long before metric cubes or before there was any practical way of weighing the wood .. I guess the system was taken to America where it has evolved in to slightly different calculations , bit like gallons ...

[Luckyeleven]

33 minutes ago, sime42 said:

 

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.

 

'To fell a tree'

[Stubby]

2 hours ago, Vespasian said:

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..  

 

 

 

 

When you were a lad I expect I was already about 50 .

[Vespasian]

11 minutes ago, Stubby said:

When you were a lad I expect I was already about 50 .

when I was a lad we burned coal, not sure how much that dates me but I'll hazard a guess you're not past hundred yet..

[Stubby]

41 minutes ago, Vespasian said:

when I was a lad we burned coal, not sure how much that dates me but I'll hazard a guess you're not past hundred yet..

No . I am 65 in Jan . My Dad is 93 .

[MonsterMonster]

Okay, so the consensus seems to be that cordwood is not a thing in reality but rather a loosely used term for "wood only suitable for processing into firewood usually straight'ish, not overly large in diameter."

However ... from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwood_construction

 

"... in which 'cordwood' or short pieces of debarked tree ..."

[Stubby]

1 minute ago, MonsterMonster said:

Okay, so the consensus seems to be that cordwood is not a thing in reality but rather a loosely used term for "wood only suitable for processing into firewood usually straight'ish, not overly large in diameter."

However ... from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwood_construction

 

"... in which 'cordwood' or short pieces of debarked tree ..."

No . Its a 4"X4"x8" stack FFS

[gdh]

2 minutes ago, Stubby said:

No . Its a 4"X4"x8" stack FFS

I don't think anyone's disputing the technical meaning but when people ask for a load of cordwood most people understand it to mean unprocessed timber, it's just become a quick way of saying that in the right context.