Cord of Wood Volume Calculator — Full Cord & Face CordMeasure any stack in feet or inches — get full cord, face cord and rick equivalents, solid wood content, species weight and firewood cost
A cord is 128 cubic feet of stacked wood — but what you actually get depends on log length, air gaps and how honestly the pile was measured. This cord of wood calculator converts any stack measurement into full cord, face cord and rick equivalents, estimates the solid wood inside, and prices it against your local quote. It pairs with our lumber calculator and the rest of the calculator hub.
🔥 Cord of Wood Volume Calculator
Any stack → full cords, face cords, ricks, solid wood content, weight & cost
Step 1 · Stack size
Picks a standard stack — then override any dimension below.
Depth is the length of one firewood log — the thickness of a single row in the stack. Uniform log lengths pack tighter; mixed lengths and crooked wood push the air gap toward 40%.
Step 2 · Wood & air gap
Typical air-gap estimates — actual solid content varies with log straightness and stacking.
Step 3 · Local price
All outputs
Stack Volume
128.0ft³
Full Cords
1.000cord
Face Cords (16 in)
3.00face
Ricks (16 in basis)
3.00rick
Solid Wood · 65%
83.2ft³
Board Feet
998BF
Weight
3,661lb
Est. Cost
$250
Metric: 3.62 m³ stacked · 2.36 m³ solid wood · 1,661 kg. Air-gap percentages are typical air-gap estimates — actual solid content varies with log straightness and stacking.
What is a cord of wood? The 128-cubic-foot definition
A cord is not a shape, a truckload, or a weight — it is a precise unit of stacked firewood volume. In the United States the definition is written into law: a cord is a volume of cut wood equal to a neatly stacked pile 8 feet long, 4 feet deep, and 4 feet high. Multiply it out and you get the number every firewood buyer should memorize: 4 × 4 × 8 = 128 cubic feet. State weights-and-measures statutes adopt the same 128 ft³ standard and require sellers who advertise firewood by the cord to actually deliver it, so that definition is your legal protection as much as your measuring tool. Whenever you see cord of wood volume quoted anywhere — ads, invoices, forum debates — it refers to this stacked volume, air gaps included.
The catch is that those 128 cubic feet are stacked volume, not solid wood. Between the splits and rounds sit air gaps that typically occupy 25–40% of the pile, which means a full cord holds roughly 80–96 cubic feet of actual wood fiber. Every solid-wood figure on this page — and every number the calculator above produces — comes from these typical air-gap estimates — actual solid content varies with log straightness and stacking. Treat them as planning numbers, not guarantees.
Face cord vs full cord: what is the difference?
The full cord is the legal 4 × 4 × 8 stack — 128 stacked cubic feet, deep enough for two rows of standard 16-inch logs. A face cord is the same 4-foot height and 8-foot length but only one row deep, and that depth equals whatever log length the seller cut, most often 16 inches. Because volume scales linearly with depth, a 16-inch face cord is exactly one third of a full cord (42.7 stacked ft³), a 12-inch face cord is one quarter, and a 24-inch face cord is one half. That is the entire face cord vs full cord question in one sentence: same face, different depth — and very different money. Sellers who quote a face cord without telling you the log length are quoting an undefined quantity, so always ask for the inches and convert to cords before comparing prices.
Rick of wood volume: one word, several regional meanings
A rick is the most ambiguous word in firewood. In most of the U.S., rick of wood volume means the same stack as a face cord — 4 feet high, 8 feet long, one log-length deep. In some regions, though, a rick means a full cord, and in others it describes any long rank pile of wood regardless of size. Because the word has no legal definition, two suppliers fifty miles apart can quote a rick and be talking about a three-to-one difference in volume. The reliable move is to ignore the noun and buy the dimensions: 4 feet by 8 feet by 16 inches is a rick, a face cord, and one third of a cord all at once — and the calculator above treats ricks on the 16-inch basis by default.
The table below summarizes the four units this calculator recognizes, what a standard stack looks like, and how much solid wood you can expect inside each.
| Unit | Standard stack | Stacked volume | Typical solid wood | Usual price basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full cord | 4 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft | 128 ft³ (3.62 m³) | ≈ 80–96 ft³ | $180–$350 per cord |
| Face cord (16 in) | 4 ft × 16 in × 8 ft | 42.7 ft³ (1.21 m³) | ≈ 28–32 ft³ | ≈ 1/3 of local cord price |
| Face cord (12–24 in) | 4 ft × log length × 8 ft | 32–64 ft³ (0.91–1.81 m³) | ≈ 21–48 ft³ | 1/4–1/2 of local cord price |
| Rick | Same stack as a face cord; depth varies by region | 32–64 ft³ | ≈ 21–48 ft³ | Same as face cord |
| Loose thrown pile | Unstacked load, any shape | Restacks to roughly 2/3 of loose volume | Varies with restacking | Negotiate as a cord equivalent |
How the cord of wood volume calculation works
The math behind this page is five plain steps, and the calculator runs all of them at once. First, measure the stack: length and height in feet, and the depth either in feet or in inches (divide inches by 12). Second, stacked volume = length × height × depth. Third, convert to the units people actually trade in: full cords = stacked volume ÷ 128, and face cords on the common 16-inch basis = stacked volume ÷ 42.7 — a rick converts on the same basis. Fourth, solid wood = stacked volume × (1 − air-gap fraction), the step that turns a pile of wood-and-air into an honest amount of fiber. Fifth, weight = density × solid wood volume, and cost = your local price × the cord equivalent of the stack.
One more conversion hides in the results: board feet. A board foot is one twelfth of a cubic foot, so solid wood volume × 12 gives the firewood equivalent in lumber units. A full cord of typically stacked hardwood holds about 998 board feet of solid wood — a useful sanity check that shows how much more volume a cord contains than almost any lumber order.
Air gaps: the number everyone forgets
Air gaps are where cord estimates go wrong. Uniform 16-inch splits, stacked tight with cross-stacked ends, can get down to 25% air. Mixed log lengths leave diagonal voids; crooked sticks and unsplit rounds bridge and tumble; bark adds hollow ridges — realistically 35% air for average stacking and 40% or more for loose thrown wood. Mixed lengths are the hidden killer: they look full but pack poorly, which is why a pile of random-length rounds can hold 15% less wood than the same volume of uniform splits. When a seller's stack looks airy, trust your tape measure over your eye. And because these figures are typical air-gap estimates — actual solid content varies with log straightness and stacking — treat every solid-wood output as a band, not a decimal-point truth.
Common stacked sizes converted to cords
The conversion table below covers the stack sizes you will actually meet — the full cord itself, the half cord, and the four common face-cord depths — so you can sanity-check any delivery without opening the calculator.
| Stack (length × height × depth) | Stacked volume | Full-cord equivalent | Face cords (16 in) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 ft × 8 ft × 4 ft (full cord) | 128 ft³ | 1.000 | 3.00 |
| 4 ft × 4 ft × 4 ft (half cord) | 64 ft³ | 0.500 | 1.50 |
| 4 ft × 8 ft × 24 in | 64 ft³ | 0.500 | 1.50 |
| 4 ft × 8 ft × 18 in | 48 ft³ | 0.375 | 1.13 |
| 4 ft × 8 ft × 16 in (face cord) | 42.7 ft³ | 0.333 | 1.00 |
| 4 ft × 8 ft × 12 in | 32 ft³ | 0.250 | 0.75 |
How much is a cord of wood? What you should pay
The honest answer to how much is a cord of wood is a range: most U.S. buyers pay between $180 and $350 for a full cord of processed, seasoned hardwood, delivered. Rural timber country with abundant oak and ash sits near the bottom of that band; metro areas with delivery trucks, stacking labor, and scarce hardwood sit at the top. Softwoods like pine, spruce, and cedar cost less per cord because they weigh less and burn faster. Bundles at grocery and gas stations work out to several dollars per stacked cubic foot — three to five times the per-cord rate — which is fine for an evening campfire and terrible for a winter of heating.
What moves the price of a cord
Five factors set the number you are quoted. Species: dense hardwoods — oak, hickory, maple — command a premium because they deliver more heat per cord. Seasoning: wood dried six to twelve months to under 20% moisture costs more than green wood, and it should. Processing: split-and-delivered wood costs more than rounds you split yourself. Distance: delivery fees scale with miles, and stacking service adds more. Timing: prices peak at the first cold snap; buying in spring or summer and storing it yourself is the cheapest firewood you will ever own.
Cost worked examples
Convert every quote to a per-cord basis before comparing. At the typical $250 per full cord, one stacked cubic foot costs about $1.95, a 16-inch face cord is $83, and a half cord is $125. Now the classic trap: a neighbor advertises a truckload for $150. If the bed holds about 85 loose cubic feet that restack to roughly 57 stacked cubic feet, that truckload is 0.44 cords — the real price is $338 per cord, worse than the metro quote. Names hide prices; dividing by 128 reveals them.
How much does a cord of wood weigh? Weight by species
Weight = density × solid wood volume. Because a cord's solid content is roughly 80–96 ft³, the table below estimates a full seasoned cord at about 83 cubic feet of solid wood — the middle of the typical air-gap range. Seasoned dense hardwood lands between 3,500 and 4,400 pounds per cord; seasoned softwoods run 2,300–2,900 pounds; green wood of any species can weigh half again as much because water is heavy. This is why the claim that a cord of pine feels like half a cord of oak is not an illusion — it is arithmetic. Firewood weight by volume for dry wood follows the same rule as milled lumber: the fiber density does the talking.
| Species | Density (lb/ft³) | Est. weight, seasoned full cord | Seasoned heat output (BTU per cord) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hickory | 53 | 4,410 lb | ≈ 29 million |
| White Oak | 47 | 3,910 lb | ≈ 29 million |
| American Beech | 45 | 3,740 lb | ≈ 27 million |
| Hard Maple | 45 | 3,740 lb | ≈ 25 million |
| Red Oak | 44 | 3,660 lb | ≈ 27 million |
| Yellow Birch | 43 | 3,580 lb | ≈ 24 million |
| Cherry | 43 | 3,580 lb | ≈ 21 million |
| Ash | 42 | 3,490 lb | ≈ 25 million |
| American Elm | 35 | 2,910 lb | ≈ 19 million |
| Douglas Fir | 34 | 2,830 lb | ≈ 24 million |
| Red Cedar | 32 | 2,660 lb | ≈ 13–18 million (varies) |
| SPF (Spruce-Pine-Fir) | 28 | 2,330 lb | ≈ 15 million |
| White (Ponderosa) Pine | 28 | 2,330 lb | ≈ 15 million |
Densities at 12% moisture content from the USDA Wood Handbook. Weights assume ≈83 ft³ of solid wood per cord — typical air-gap estimates — actual solid content varies with log straightness and stacking. BTU values are seasoned-wood averages from extension-service reference tables; cedar varies widely by species.
Green vs seasoned: why wet wood weighs more and burns worse
Fresh-cut wood can be more than half water by weight; seasoning to under 20% moisture removes that mass over a summer of stacking and airflow. Burn green wood and a large share of the fire's energy goes to boiling water instead of heating the room, while the steam carries creosote into your chimney — a safety problem as well as an economic one. Pine wood weight per volume illustrates the point: a green pine cord can weigh nearly as much as a seasoned oak cord while delivering half the heat. Buy seasoned, price accordingly, and store it covered with open sides so the wind, not the weather, does the drying.
Will a cord of wood fit in a pickup truck? Truck and trailer equivalents
The volume of a cord of wood in a pickup truck is a staple question, and the honest answer is: a full cord does not fit loose in any standard bed, and a seasoned hardwood cord weighs well past the payload of a half-ton truck anyway. What fits is about a face cord — one row deep, roughly 42.7 stacked cubic feet on the 16-inch basis. And loose thrown loads shrink when restacked: a bed heaped with thrown wood is not a measured cord until it lands in a 4 × 8 rack. The table below gives the common vehicles and what they really carry.
| Vehicle | Loose load, level | After restacking |
|---|---|---|
| Compact pickup, 5 ft bed | ≈ half a face cord, loose | Restacks to about 0.15–0.17 cord |
| Full-size pickup, 6.5 ft bed | ≈ 3/4 face cord, loose | Restacks to about 0.25 cord |
| Full-size pickup, 8 ft bed | ≈ 1 face cord, loose | Restacks to about 0.33 cord |
| 6 × 12 ft utility trailer with 1.5 ft rails | ≈ 108 ft³ stacked | Up to about 0.8 cord |
Loose-thrown estimates for level loads only. Restack before you pay — thrown wood typically compacts by about a third in a proper 4 × 8 rack.
For storage planning, think in the legal dimensions: a full cord needs a footprint 8 feet long and 4 feet high at 4 feet deep, plus air circulation on at least two sides. A face cord halves the depth, so a 2-foot-deep rack against a garage wall holds two face cords per 8-foot bay.
Which firewood species should you buy? Density, weight and BTU
Heat lives in wood fiber, so heat per cord tracks density: hickory and white oak deliver roughly 29 million BTU per seasoned cord, mixed maple and ash around 25 million, and spruce or pine about 15 million. A softwood cord is not a scam — it is lighter, cheaper, and lights easily — but you will load the stove twice as often for the same heat. Most households settle on a mixed strategy: a softwood or birch face cord for shoulder-season kindling, and dense hardwood cords for deep winter. Check the species weight table above when comparing quotes, because weight per cord is the fastest proxy for heat per cord.
The same density math powers the rest of this site. If you need other shapes and units, the wood volume calculator converts blocks, logs and boards into cubic feet, board feet and metric units for any geometry, and the lumber weight calculator applies species densities to milled lumber instead of stacked rounds. Both carry the same USDA Handbook densities used on this page, so the numbers stay consistent whether you are buying firewood or framing a deck.
How to make sure you actually got a full cord
Firewood is one of the few commodities where the buyer is expected to measure the goods at the curb, and state weights-and-measures inspectors do exactly that. Sellers in most states must disclose the amount in cords or fractions of a cord, whether the wood is seasoned, and the species if it is claimed. A delivery that looks about right often is not: the most common shortfalls are a shallow face-cord depth, a stack built from mixed lengths that packs poorly, or a loose load sold as if it were stacked. Measuring takes two minutes and protects the whole season's budget.
Quick field check for any delivery
Keep a tape measure in the truck and run four numbers: stack length in feet, stack height in feet, row depth in inches, then length × height × (depth ÷ 12) ÷ 128. That result is your cord equivalent — compare it to the invoice before you pay. If the pile is several rows deep, count rows of uniform 16-inch logs instead: two rows deep is a full cord, one row is a face cord. If the wood arrived loose, ask the seller to restack it, or stack it yourself in a 4 × 8 rack and measure before settling the bill. Uniform, cross-stacked ends are a good sign; a heaped center with thin edges is not.
Save this cord of wood calculator before firewood season — it runs entirely in your browser, converts any stack in feet or inches, and never stores your numbers. It is one of many free tools here: start from the lumber calculator home page for board feet, framing and coverage, or browse the full calculators hub to find every estimator we publish.
Cord of wood volume worked examples
Example 1 — the standard full cord. You order one cord of red oak, delivered stacked 4 feet deep, 4 feet high, 8 feet long, with an average 35% air gap. Stacked volume: 128 ft³. Full-cord equivalent: exactly 1.000. Face cords: 3.00 on the 16-inch basis. Solid wood: 83.2 ft³ — about 998 board feet. Weight: 44 lb/ft³ × 83.2 ≈ 3,660 lb of seasoned oak. Cost at $250 per cord: $250, or $1.95 per stacked cubic foot. Run the same stack with a 40% gap and solid wood drops to 76.8 ft³ — the difference between an airy pile and a tight one is nearly half a face cord of wood.
Example 2 — the face cord. A local ad sells 16-inch ash face cords at $85. The stack is 4 ft high × 8 ft long × 16 in deep = 42.7 ft³ stacked, one third of a cord. Solid wood at a 35% gap: 27.7 ft³; weight at ash density: 42 × 27.7 ≈ 1,165 lb; board-foot equivalent: 333 BF. Per-cord price check: $85 × 3 = $255 per full-cord equivalent — slightly above the $250 regional average, worth knowing before you buy two.
Example 3 — the loose truckload. A seller offers a heaped 8 × 4 × 4 ft pile of mixed hardwood for $150, loose thrown. Loose volume: 128 ft³. Restacked, loose-thrown wood typically compacts about one third, so expect roughly 85 stacked ft³ — about 0.66 cords, or two face cords. At the local $250 per cord that load is worth about $165, so $150 is fair. But if the pile were only 6 × 4 × 4 ft — 96 ft³ loose, roughly 64 stacked, about 0.5 cord — the same $150 would work out to roughly $300 per cord. Measure, restack, divide by 128, then decide.
FAQ
How many cubic feet are in a full cord of wood?+
A full cord contains 128 cubic feet of stacked firewood. That is the legal definition used across the United States: a cord is a volume of cut wood equal to a neatly stacked pile 8 feet long, 4 feet deep, and 4 feet high — 4 × 4 × 8 = 128. State weights-and-measures laws adopt this same definition, so a seller who delivers less than 128 stacked cubic feet per cord is shorting you. Remember that the 128 cubic feet includes the air gaps between the pieces; the solid wood inside a typically stacked cord is closer to 80–96 cubic feet.
Is a face cord always 16 inches thick?+
No. A face cord is one row deep, and its depth equals whatever log length the seller cut — most often 16 inches, but 12, 18, and 24 inch face cords are all common. Volume scales directly with depth: a 16 inch face cord is one third of a full cord (about 42.7 stacked cubic feet), a 12 inch face cord is one quarter (32 cubic feet), and a 24 inch face cord is one half (64 cubic feet). Always ask for the log length in inches, then price the stack by its cord equivalent rather than trusting the words face cord.
How much of a cord is actually solid wood versus air?+
For neatly stacked split firewood, plan on roughly 65–75% solid wood, which means about 83–96 cubic feet of actual wood inside a 128 cubic foot cord. Loose thrown wood and crooked unsplit rounds can drop to 60% solid, or about 77 cubic feet. All of these are typical air-gap estimates — actual solid content varies with log straightness and stacking. If a seller measures a loose pile and calls it a cord, restack it first; a loose pile usually shrinks by a third or more when stacked properly.
How much is a cord of wood?+
Most U.S. regions run between $180 and $350 for a full cord of processed, seasoned hardwood delivered, with dense hardwoods in metro areas at the top of that range and softwoods in rural timber country at the bottom. A 16 inch face cord typically costs about one third of the local full-cord price, and a half cord about half. Grocery-store and gas-station bundles cost several times more per cubic foot. What moves the price: species, seasoning time, whether the wood is split, delivery distance, and whether stacking is included.
How much does a cord of wood weigh?+
A seasoned full cord of dense hardwood weighs roughly 3,500–4,400 pounds — hickory and white oak sit at the top, ash and birch in the middle. Seasoned softwoods like pine, spruce, and cedar run around 2,300–2,900 pounds per cord. Green (unseasoned) wood can weigh 50–100% more because up to half of its mass is water. Weight matters for truck and trailer payloads and for anyone hauling wood down basement stairs by wheelbarrow.
Should I buy firewood by the cord or by some other volume?+
Buy by the cord whenever possible — it is the only legal volume standard for firewood sales in most states, and it lets you compare prices across sellers. Treat vague units like a truckload, a rack, or a bundle as starting points and convert them: measure the stack, divide stacked cubic feet by 128, and compare the price per cord equivalent. If a seller quotes loose thrown wood, ask what it restacks to, because a loose pile typically compresses by a third when neatly stacked.
Will a full cord of wood fit in a pickup truck?+
Not loose, and not safely in one trip. A full cord is 128 stacked cubic feet, and a seasoned hardwood cord weighs three and a half tons or more — far past the payload of a half-ton pickup. What fits is roughly a face cord: a compact 5 foot bed carries about half a face cord loose, a standard 6.5 foot bed about three quarters, and an 8 foot bed about one loose face cord. Make two trips for a full cord, or have it delivered and measured at the curb.
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Last updated November 9, 2026. Data sources: cord definition — a US statutory measure of stacked firewood equal to 128 cubic feet (4 ft × 4 ft × 8 ft), adopted by state weights-and-measures laws; species densities — USDA Forest Service, Wood Handbook (FPL-GTR-282) at 12% moisture content; air-gap ranges — typical firewood-industry stacking estimates; seasoned BTU-per-cord values — extension-service reference averages.