Cord of Wood Table
| Unit | Stack (H × W × L) | Volume | Of a full cord |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full cord | 4 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft (stacked) | 128 ft³ ≈ 3.62 m³ | 1 |
| Half cord | 2 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft | 64 ft³ ≈ 1.81 m³ | 1/2 |
| Face cord | 4 ft × 8 ft face, 12–32 in deep | ≈32–85 ft³ | 1/4 – 1/2 |
| Rick | regional alias for a face cord | varies with depth | 1/4 – 1/2 |
| Stere (metric) | 1 m³ stack | ≈35.3 ft³ | ≈ 0.28 |
| Pickup load (8-ft bed) | level stacked load | ≈1.5 cords | 1.5 |
Measure any pile: (height × width × length in feet) ÷ 128 = cords. A 4 × 8 × 8 ft pile is exactly 2 cords.
Firewood is the last major home purchase still sold by a medieval-sounding stack, and the stack has one legal-size definition and a crowd of loose relatives. The full cord is the only unit with a fixed meaning: a stacked pile 4 feet high, 8 feet long and 4 feet deep - 128 cubic feet of wood and air. Everything else on the table is a fraction or a nickname, and the nicknames are where buyers lose money.
The trap column is the face cord: it keeps the 4-by-8 face of a cord but lets the depth float between 12 and 32 inches, so one seller's face cord holds half a cord and another's holds a quarter - same word, up to twice the wood. A rick is a regional alias for the same floating unit. The table's formula row is the antidote: measure any pile in feet, multiply height by width by length, divide by 128, and you know exactly what you are paying for.
One honest note on the metric row: a cord is 128 cubic feet, which converts to about 3.62 cubic metres - wood sold abroad by the stere (one cubic metre) runs about 3.6 steres to the cord, so cross-border listings that look cheap often are not.
How to use
- Measure the stack, not the truck: pile height times width times length in feet, divided by 128, gives the cords - a 4 by 8 by 8 pile is exactly 2 cords.
- Before buying a face cord or rick, ask the depth in inches and multiply it out: at 16 inches deep it is a third of a cord, at 12 inches a quarter, at 24 inches a half.
- Use the table to sanity-check delivery claims - a standard 8-foot pickup bed holds roughly 1.5 cords, so a full cord should arrive as a level load, not a mountain.
Frequently asked questions
How big is a full cord of wood?
A stacked pile 4 feet high, 8 feet long and 4 feet deep - 128 cubic feet, about 3.62 cubic metres. The definition is about the stack, not the logs: pieces are counted as laid in the pile, and a dealer must sell you that solid stacked volume. A half cord is the same stack cut to 2 feet deep (64 cubic feet); anything else should be quoted as a fraction of the 128.
What is the difference between a face cord and a full cord?
Depth. A face cord keeps the 4-by-8-foot face but its depth is whatever the seller cuts - commonly 16 inches, legally anything from 12 to 32. That is between a quarter and a half of a full cord, so two face cords can differ by 2x in actual wood at the same price. Rick means the same floating thing regionally. The fix is mechanical: depth in inches times 0.667 tells you the fraction (16 in deep = about one third), or just measure and divide by 128.
How many cords fit in a pickup truck?
About 1.5 cords in a standard 8-foot bed with reasonable stacking - which is why a delivered full cord should look like a level bedload plus a small heap, and two cords means a trailer or a second trip. Loose-tossed loads hide more air than stacked ones, so if a seller quotes a thrown pile rather than a stacked cord, the 128-cubic-foot promise needs to be measured after it is stacked.
How do I price-check a cord of wood?
Compare per cord, then per species: seasoned hardwood in most US markets runs a few hundred dollars a cord, and kiln-dried delivered wood commands a premium for being burn-ready. The honest cross-check is heat, not volume - a cord of dense hickory or oak carries roughly 24-28 million BTU while light softwood carries far less, so per-heating-dollar the cheap cord is sometimes the expensive one (see the firewood BTU table for the species ladder).