# What is a Cord, Face Cord, or Rick



## Live Oak

Here is some good info. should the subject of firewood unit terminology come up.

Wood Measures


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## slipshod

*I am an Outlaw*

I have sold more "truckloads" of firewood then I care to count.No measure given, none asked for, no unhappy costomers that I know of.


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## dougand3

The definition part is good to know....

This part is a hoot...

"What To Do If You Think You've Been Short-Changed
If the seller can't or won't correct the problem, contact the Measurement Standards Division before you burn any wood. It is also helpful to document the possible shortage by taking a picture of the stacked wood."

"Hello? Measurements Standard Division? Yes, my rick ain't but 9/10 of a rick. What should I do?

"Well, sir....you can take that 9/10 rick and shove....oh never mind."


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## PeteNM

Where I come from a "cord" of wood is measured Length x Width x Height of a tightly ricked stack and must =128 cu. ft. regardless the length of the stick. A "rick" is measured Length x Width x Height of a tightly ricked stack and must = 64 cu ft. or half a cord. I've sold lots of loads and never had any complaints. In fact, I've had customers tell me that's more wood than they're accustom to receiving for a cord.

I've never heard of a "face cord" and sure wouldn't buy one. Maybe that's why my customers weren't getting a full cord....


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## tisenberg

That part made me giggle too.


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## slipshod

*A face Cord*

Commonly used to hold the bag on the head of an ugly woman after closing time.


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## PeteNM

*Re: A face Cord*



> _Originally posted by slipshod _
> *Commonly used to hold the bag on the head of an ugly woman after closing time. *


Now that you defined a "face cord" I kind of wish I would have heard of one.......


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## Merlin

That can't be what a face cord is, because there isn't any ugly women at closing time. Maybe before closing time.


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## jodyand

> _Originally posted by Merlin _
> *That can't be what a face cord is, because there isn't any ugly women at closing time. Maybe before closing time. *


Thats the way i see it to :smiles: Now maybe come morning it would come in handy:lmao: :lmao: 
Jody


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## dougand3

In the morning, when she is asleep on your shoulder, she becomes a coyote woman...you'd rather gnaw your arm off than wake her up.


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## Argee

> _Originally posted by PeteNM _
> *Where I come from a "cord" of wood is measured Length x Width x Height of a tightly ricked stack and must =128 cu. ft. regardless the length of the stick. A "rick" is measured Length x Width x Height of a tightly ricked stack and must = 64 cu ft. or half a cord. I've sold lots of loads and never had any complaints. In fact, I've had customers tell me that's more wood than they're accustom to receiving for a cord.
> 
> I've never heard of a "face cord" and sure wouldn't buy one. Maybe that's why my customers weren't getting a full cord.... *


A face cord is 4'W x 8'L x Whatever the length of firewood is cut.

A rick is the the guy across and down the road AKA my neighbor:lmao:


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## Live Oak

Wow! I had no idea the subject of firewood brought up so many ideas! :smiles: 

For the most part and what I posted the link for was to put some reference material as to what a unit measurement is for firewood.

cord=4' x 4' x 8' or 128 cubic ft.

At least in my area, most folks cannot use or want a 24" long log of firewood and to keep thing simple and easy to measure out, a 16" log is more or less standard. This makes it about the size the customer wants and allows you to divide a cord into 3 equal sections. These sections have various names such as "face cord", rick, pile, etc. Regardless of what they are called by, they should be 

16" x 4' x 8' or 1/3 of a cord or about 42.7 cubic ft. 

It is a shame that so many rules and regulations get conjured up in various parts of the country just to sell some firewood. I guess there are some hustlers out there who ruin it for everyone taking advantage of their customers. I usually give the customer a little more than a cord just to be competive and make sure the customer is happy. :thumbsup:


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## bigl22

*wood measure*

a full cord is 4'x4'x8' tightly packed wood cut into 24" lengths -- a face cord is exactly 1/2 of that -- 2'x2'x8' of tightly packed wood cut into 24" lengths -- 24" is lenghth of wood used to feed into large sized old woodburning kitchen stoves -- bigl22 -- been almost 51 years-[ I was almost 2 yrs old.] since grandma said " warm your cold hands on the stove " and I set my hands down on the hot stove -- burnt hell out of them -- when older i chopped wood and carried coal for parlour stove -- long walk to outhouse in winter too !


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## Ingersoll444

*Re: wood measure*



> _Originally posted by bigl22 _
> *a full cord is 4'x4'x8' tightly packed wood cut into 24" lengths -- a face cord is exactly 1/2 of that -- 2'x2'x8' of tightly packed wood cut into 24" lengths -- 24" is lenghth of wood used to feed into large sized old woodburning kitchen stoves -- bigl22 -- been almost 51 years-[ I was almost 2 yrs old.] since grandma said " warm your cold hands on the stove " and I set my hands down on the hot stove -- burnt hell out of them -- when older i chopped wood and carried coal for parlour stove -- long walk to outhouse in winter too ! *


Would that be the "Good old days" we keep hearing about?  Bet you were REAL glad to get rid of that outhouse huh?


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## Argee

*Re: wood measure*



> _Originally posted by bigl22 _
> *a full cord is 4'x4'x8' tightly packed wood cut into 24" lengths -- a face cord is exactly 1/2 of that -- 2'x2'x8' of tightly packed wood cut into 24" lengths -- 24" is lenghth of wood used to feed into large sized old woodburning kitchen stoves -- bigl22 -- been almost 51 years-[ I was almost 2 yrs old.] since grandma said " warm your cold hands on the stove " and I set my hands down on the hot stove -- burnt hell out of them -- when older i chopped wood and carried coal for parlour stove -- long walk to outhouse in winter too ! *


I have always understood a face cord to be 4' high by 8' wide by whatever length the wood was cut...be it 16", 18" or whatever.


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## Chipmaker

A cord of wood is not defined by the woods cut size at all. Its merely a stack of wood that measures 4 x 4 x 8 or 128 cubic foot of wood. Its the only real legal and agreed upon measurement for a quanity of wood. Other terms such as a half cord is self expanatory. A cord of wood could consist of wood the size of toothpicks or the size of telephone poles but it has to equal out to 128 cubic feet total. A face cord is just that a stack of wood 4 foot high 8 feet long and could be 1" long or 100 foot long, as it has no real definition as to cubic feet and is not legally a means of selling a given quality of wood. If you see a rick of wood or a face cord of wood that suits your fancy fine, but it will vary with who cuts it and locality. A cord is a given, and is uniform no matter where or who cuts the wood. Its against the law to advertise firewood here in Alabama as a face cord etc. It can be advertised as a 1/4 cord, 1/2 cord, full cord etc or just a load of wood. Just be aware the wood should be stacked reasonably tight and not have large spaces between the pieces. Even dealaing with a cord its easy to get ripped due to the way its stacked, loose or tightly.


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## PeteNM

Chipmaker just hit the nail on the head. A cord is 128 cu ft of wood period. Anything else is just lingo and possibly a rip off. I always try to deliver more than 128 cu ft to allow for some of the air space. So far I have happy customers.....


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## johnray13

*Re: A face Cord*



> _Originally posted by slipshod _
> *Commonly used to hold the bag on the head of an ugly woman after closing time. *


You mean her?
<img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=23185>


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## Argee

Then why is a 4'x4'x8' stack of plywood called a "BUNK"???


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## parts man

> _Originally posted by Argee _
> *Then why is a 4'x4'x8' stack of plywood called a "BUNK"??? *


Argee, never heard of a bunk before. I thought that a stack of plywood 4X4X8 was a sh!tload of plywood!:lmao: 

Also, the 128 cu feet measure is the standard for a cord of wood regardless of lenght. Studwood sells by the cord, wether it's 8'6', 9'1", or 10 feet long. We always sold hard wood by the cord in 4' lenghts. 4X4X8 Many others here sell it by the 8' lenght, it's still 4X4X8. The 4' will give you more split wood though, it stacks together tighter.
1 cord of 8' wood will split and stack to about 2/3 of a cord of 16" firewood.


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## Argee

Maybe it's a regional term parts man. That's how we also refer to a banded load of 2x material from the factory. Go figure. I liken to lateral bracing being referred to as "lacers" and trimmers in a rough door opening being called "doublers". Just a regional language I guess.


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## parts man

Argee, it may not be regional, I just saw a chance for a pun. I'm not very familiar with the terms for the finished product, I handle the raw materials. Us laymen in my area call the banded bunches of lumber a "bundle", but I'm not sure what the pros would say.


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