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About our firewood
We season our wood in 20 foot log lengths for at least a year. We then cut and split the wood a few months before you receive it. It sits and further seasons in a large pile. Because the wood is recently split and we may be pulling from the center of the pile that day we recommend the following:
1. Stack the wood in a sunny, dry location as soon as possible, stacked wood dries much faster than piled wood
2. From the time you stack the wood allow 1 to 4 weeks for the wood to completely dry out and be ready to burn. Although, a lot of the wood is usually ready to burn upon delivery. It really depends on the species of wood.
3. Put a tarp on the top quarter of the wood only. Do not cover the wood completely, to allow for air flow.
4. During the winter months, bring the wood indoors one week prior to burning.
5. Re-order wood 1 month before you run out.
Seasoning wood
The more wood surface exposed to air, the faster it dries. Stack the wood in loose piles off the ground. A wood rack, pallets or 2x4's are highly recommended. The best place is a storage area exposed to sunlight and air flow. Covered storage, open on the sides, helps prevent rewetting from rain or snow. Cover only the top 1/4 of your wood pile with a quality tarp to allow for air flow.
Types of wood
We sell only clean local hardwoods. Ash, Oak, Maple, Locust, Cherry, Walnut, Beech, Birch and Hickory are the most common. No soft woods such as pine, tulip or sumac, unless upon request. We do not sell wood with rot or insect damage.
How to buy firewood
Most wood is purchased by the cord although for your convenience we now offer firewood by 1/3 cords, 1/4 cords, ricks and bundles and more. However, a cord is the most common unit or measure.
A standard cord is 128 cubic feet (Figure 1). This may be 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet or 4 feet by 2 feet by 16 feet or any other combination yielding 128 cubic feet. A measure of one eighth, one quarter, one-third, one-half cord commonly has been called a "rick," although a rick is really only a pile of wood. 
Figure 1
Standard cord of wood
Actual wood volume of solid wood in a cord varies from 65 cubic feet for small, crooked sticks, increasing with the size and straightness of the sticks up to about 90 cubic feet.
Average for this region is about 80 cubic feet. The shrinkage in volume between a cord of green wood and a cord of seasoned wood is about 8 percent.
Another common measure used in selling firewood is the "face cord" (4 feet x 8 feet x the length of the wood in inches) (Figure 2) For 24" firewood this would be 2 rows deep. However, depending on your supplier, the length may vary from 16 inches to 24 inches. If the wood is 24" long 1 cord would consist of 2 rows of 24" wood stacked 4' deep X 8' long. Therefor if you were kneeling down looking at the first row of wood (or the face of the pile) that first row is the "face" cord: 4 x 4 x 24". If it were 16" wood, there would be three rows of wood stacked 4' high x 8' long. That first row would be a face cord, or 1/3 of a cord. 
Figure 2
Face cord
What is a cord?
And how to avoid paying too much for one
Firewood quantities are sometimes difficult to estimate. The official measurement of firewood is a “cord”. To help you make an accurate estimate, here is how some common units of firewood measurement compare to the full cord.
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A full cord is a large amount of wood. It measures 4 feet high by 4 feet wide by eight feet long (4' x 4' x 8') and has a volume of 128 cubic feet. |
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Firewood is usually sold as a fraction of a full cord. A fraction of a cord of wood is four feet high by eight feet long and is as wide as the individual firewood pieces. A common fraction of a cord has pieces averaging 16" and is equal to one-third of a full cord. |
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1/3rd cord (16") |
x
times |
3
three |
=
equals |
One full cord |
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A 'full' cord measures 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. and is the official, standard firewood measure. But four foot pieces are never used for home heating, and dealers rarely sell four foot pieces. So firewood is not offered for sale in the form of its official unit measurement. This is why buying firewood can be confusing.
Other terms, such as face cord, stove cord or furnace cord are sometimes used to describe a stack of wood measuring 4 ft. high, 8 ft. long with a piece length shorter than 4 ft. A common firewood piece length is 16 in., or one-third of a full cord, but other lengths are also available.
These various terms and cord measures can be confusing when you are purchasing firewood. If you want to compare prices from a number of suppliers, take a tape measure to the dealers' yards and measure the average piece length. If the dealer does not price the wood in the standard full cord measure, convert the price to this basic unit. Here are some examples to illustrate the conversion.
Forest Firewood sells what they call a 'face cord' for $75. You find that the pile is 4 feet high and 8 feet long, with an average piece length of 16 inches. Divide this length (16 in.) into the full cord length of 48 in. and multiply by the price.
48 ÷ 16 = 3 x $75 = $225.
Therefore, Forest Firewood sells firewood for $225 per cord.
Sparky sells what he calls a 'stove cord' for $60. It is a pile measuring 4 feet by 8 feet with an average length of 12 inches. The calculation is:
48 ÷ 12 = 4 x $60 = $240.
Therefore, Sparky sells firewood for $240 per cord.
Frontier Fuel sells a 4 foot x 8 foot x 18 inch 'face cord' for $85. The result is:
48 ÷ 18 = 2.67 x $85 = $227.
Therefore, Frontier Fuel sells firewood for $227 per cord.
If possible, avoid buying firewood in units that cannot be related to the standard full cord. Station wagon loads or other units are difficult to compare and can conceal a high price per cord measure.
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