Is "Cordwood" really a thing?

[Woodworks]

Sure I can hear TCD 10 miles to my south shouting "Noooooooooo it's not a thing"

Think he used to say it should be called roundwood. 

 

No idea myself 

[SbTVF]

Everyone I know in forestry call it Roundwood or just plain old firewood up here in the north east or Chip wood for softwood lengths that aren’t saw log quality.

[Steve Bullman]

2 hours ago, devon TWiG said:

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 is the right answer.

 

I believe in America they still measure firewood load sizes by the cord though?

[Rough Hewn]

Hmmm
In France a "cord" is 4m3 of firewood.
Except in Brittany where it's 3m3.

[Stubby]

Its actually a fish .

[Vespasian]

Interesting thread. 

 

So cordwood is a generic term for unprocessed firewood, and a cord is a stack of wood without any definitive definition..  other than its the same wood stacked in a pile..

 

For some reason I imagined a certain weight of wood was involved..  a cord of wood being a ton or half a ton, nope, its just a pile of wood stacked neatly..  sort of?

 

[Billhook]

1 hour ago, Rough Hewn said:

Hmmm
In France a "cord" is 4m3 of firewood.
Except in Brittany where it's 3m3.

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

[Little Al]

1 hour ago, Rough Hewn said:

Hmmm
In France a "cord" is 4m3 of firewood.
Except in Brittany where it's 3m3.

I live in SW France & for the last 25years have serviced saws & logging kit used by a Commercial company In that time the only quantity tradedIv'e come across is Cubic metres could be different in the North but Iv'e never come across Cord/s quoted or used as a sale quantity.That would make it different to the US Cord quantity which is 8' x 4' x 4' & a US face cord which differs area but the most common size is 8' x 4' x 16"

Edited November 2, 2017 by Little Al

[Rough Hewn]

Steres?

[Steve Bullman]

14 hours ago, devon TWiG said:

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 . 

 

1 hour ago, Vespasian said:

Interesting thread. 

 

So cordwood is a generic term for unprocessed firewood, and a cord is a stack of wood without any definitive definition..  other than its the same wood stacked in a pile..

 

For some reason I imagined a certain weight of wood was involved..  a cord of wood being a ton or half a ton, nope, its just a pile of wood stacked neatly..  sort of?

 

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