Firewood Cord Calculator
Measure your stack (or the seller's)
Optional: check the price
How firewood is actually measured
A full cord is a tightly stacked pile measuring 4 feet high by 4 feet deep by 8 feet long — 128 cubic feet of wood, bark, and air. It's the only legally defined firewood measure in most states. Everything else you'll hear at the roadside — face cord, rick, rank, truckload — is a fraction of that, and the fraction depends entirely on piece length. A "face cord" is 4 ft high by 8 ft long but only one piece deep: with 16-inch pieces that's exactly one-third of a cord; with 12-inch pieces, one-quarter.
That's why this calculator asks for your stack's depth in inches — the piece length is the depth for a single-row stack. Measure the seller's stack (or your truck bed load once it's stacked, not thrown — thrown wood runs 30–40% air), enter the dimensions, and you'll see the true cord fraction and what you're really paying per full cord. A $120 "truckload" that turns out to be a quarter cord is $480/cord wood — knowing that number is how you shop.
Burning matters too: hardwoods like oak and hickory carry roughly twice the heat per cord of light softwoods. If you're weighing which species to buy or haul, our lumber weight calculator shows how much a load actually weighs.
Put this calculator on your own site
Homestead blog, firewood seller, or extension page? Embed it free — the code shows the live calculator and credits this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is a cord of firewood?
A full cord is 128 cubic feet of tightly stacked wood — the standard stack is 4 feet high, 4 feet deep, and 8 feet long. Stacked measurement is the honest one; loosely thrown wood takes up 30–40% more space than the same wood stacked.
What is a face cord compared to a full cord?
A face cord is 4 feet high and 8 feet long but only one piece deep. Its share of a full cord depends on piece length: 16-inch pieces make one-third of a cord, 12-inch pieces one-quarter. Always convert to full-cord price before comparing sellers.
How much firewood fits in a pickup truck?
A standard full-size bed holds about half a cord stacked level, and closer to one-third if thrown loose. A "truckload" is not a unit — measure the stack after delivery and calculate the real cords before judging the price.