# How Much Wood fits in a Pick Up



## jadm

Just called a guy here who sells red oak and delivers in his pick up.  He said the dimensions of the bed are 8x8x2 and that filled it is equal to 1 cord of wood.  I have read that a full sized pick up bed only holds 1/2 cord.

I have also read that a cord is equal to 4'x4'x8' which would mean that the back of his truck is about 2' short of a full cord...

He is not someone I usually deal with because I usually just buy mixed hard woods and I know the dimensions of my usual wood guys truck so this is new to me and at the price he is selling I want to make sure I am getting what I am being charged for....

Thanks


----------



## shawneyboy

perplexed said:
			
		

> Just called a guy here who sells red oak and delivers in his pick up.  He said the dimensions of the bed are 8x8x2 and that filled it is equal to 1 cord of wood.  I have read that a full sized pick up bed only holds 1/2 cord.
> 
> I have also read that a cord is equal to 4'x4'x8' which would mean that the back of his truck is about 2' short of a full cord...
> 
> He is not someone I usually deal with because I usually just buy mixed hard woods and I know the dimensions of my usual wood guys truck so this is new to me and at the price he is selling I want to make sure I am getting what I am being charged for....
> 
> Thanks



Considering a "dictionary cord" is 4x4x8, a full sized bed of a pickup truck, loaded level, does indeed only hold 1/2 of a cord.

Shawn


----------



## brianbeech

perplexed said:
			
		

> Just called a guy here who sells red oak and delivers in his pick up.  *He said the dimensions of the bed are 8x8x2 and that filled it is equal to 1 cord of wood*.  I have read that a full sized pick up bed only holds 1/2 cord.
> 
> I have also read that a cord is equal to 4'x4'x8' which would mean that the back of his truck is about 2' short of a full cord...
> 
> He is not someone I usually deal with because I usually just buy mixed hard woods and I know the dimensions of my usual wood guys truck so this is new to me and at the price he is selling I want to make sure I am getting what I am being charged for....
> 
> Thanks



8'X8'X2' actually does = 1 full cord, but I'd have to see it to believe it.  8' X 8'...what kind of truck is he driving?


----------



## lukem

This doesn't sound like a pickup. 

Also remember that it must be stacked...not tossed into the bed to really be a cord....


----------



## mayhem

^^ Beat me to it.  No way does he have an 8' wide bed.


----------



## Elderthewelder

perplexed said:
			
		

> Just called a guy here who sells red oak and delivers in his pick up.  He said the dimensions of the bed are 8x8x2 and that filled it is equal to 1 cord of wood.  I have read that a full sized pick up bed only holds 1/2 cord.
> 
> I have also read that a cord is equal to 4'x4'x8' which would mean that the back of his truck is about 2' short of a full cord...
> 
> He is not someone I usually deal with because I usually just buy mixed hard woods and I know the dimensions of my usual wood guys truck so this is new to me and at the price he is selling I want to make sure I am getting what I am being charged for....
> 
> Thanks



a full cord is 128 cubic feet, 8x8x2 = 128 cubic feet so that would be a full cord. That is assuming it is stacked in there tight, not thrown in loose, and if there are any wheel wells in that bed that take up space, with those measurement's it sounds like a flatbed truck with low side rails, that is for sure a odd size truk


----------



## Thistle

Possible,but highly unlikely he's got a Utility Box on his truck,those are usually 1ton,or at least 3/4 with overload springs.Had an old '74 Ford with ute box for about a year,carried 20 railroad ties for landscaping once & a full cord of dry oak/hickory stacked in tight almost every time I hauled wood 55 miles into town.Parked it by summer's end cause I needed 4WD,which it wasnt unfortunately.Chains on those rear dualie's helped some,real PITA installing them though.


----------



## mecreature

A guy close to me sells wood and hauls it in a truck with an 8ftx8ft flat bed with 4ft side rails. $250 bucks full load.


----------



## smokinj

mecreature said:
			
		

> A guy close to me sells wood and hauls it in a truck with an 8ftx8ft flat bed with 4ft side rails. $250 bucks full load.



Holly smoke! No wonder your there every Sunday. lol Bet it isnt hickory or black locust.


----------



## Archie

For what it's worth, if you're dealing with the smaller bed pickups, 6 feet long, a neatly packed load comes in just around 1/3 cord.  I did the measurements a month or so ago (guess I was bored), and coming up to the top of the bed, it's just shy of 1/3 cord.  I always stack a bit higher, pyramiding up towards the middle, so 1/3 cord give or take.  An 8 foot bed is probably closer to 1/2 cord neatly stacked.


----------



## okotoks guy

An 8 foot box, tightly; and I mean tightly stacked will net 1/2 cord. A 6 foot box will hold 1/3.

An interesting experiment I tried was just throwing wood into an 8 foot box without any sort
of stacking and it was 1/3 cord.

He's claiming that he has an 8 foot wide truck? I would definitely put a tape on that to verify.


----------



## Elderthewelder

okotoks guy said:
			
		

> An 8 foot box, tightly; and I mean tightly stacked will net 1/2 cord. A 6 foot box will hold 1/3.
> 
> An interesting experiment I tried was just throwing wood into an 8 foot box without any sort
> of stacking and it was 1/3 cord.
> 
> He's claiming that he has an 8 foot wide truck? I would definitely put a tape on that to verify.



could be a odd ball flatbed, my flatbed is 9' L x 6'6" W x 26" H


----------



## flyingcow

Be a heavy load. Basically we figure a cord weighs about 5,000lbs.


----------



## Marsh Rat

A cord of red oak and sugar maple are 3600lbs    White oak and beech @3900lbs  Hickory and locust @ 4200lbs is the heaviest   I can fit 2 cord on my wood trailer and one day stopped by the concrete place and had it weighed  8354 after subtracting trailer.  Cord weights are @ 20% mc.  So at 8354lbs  1152lbs is all water weight.  My load was all dead standing red oak.


----------



## Backwoods Savage

For sure it will be interesting to see what you come up. Please keep us posted. If possible, get a picture.


----------



## jadm

Thanks for all the responses.  I knew I could count on you to give me some good questions to ask him when I call him back to confirm this 'deal'.

When I asked about the truck bed size he did include that he does stack it neatly rather than toss it in.  I know he has been in business for a number of years so he has to be somewhat honest or he wouldn't last around here..

I am not going to post the cost as it is prohibitive.  Around here oak has to be shipped in so the fuel ups the cost.  I reserve it for only the coldest of days and the last cord I bought has lasted 5 years. The rest of the time I burn mixed hardwoods which cost half as much and I generally go through 2-3 cords of that per burning season.

I will keep you posted but Backwoods S. I don't thing I will include a picture....I still haven't figured how to post them and the kids and husband are highly resistant to taking time to SHOW me how to do it!  I have read the instructions but am one of those who can't really make heads of tails out instructions that deal with anything high-tech.  :sick:


----------



## moosetrek

Since to have an 8' wide load, he'd need at least 2-4 inches on either side for the rails, that would put him about 102"; which is max legal width for a vehicle if I recall correctly.  That would be the widest bed I've seen, most gooseneck trailers seem to be around 7.5' (90") max and I've never seen a truck bed wider than that even on flatbed ranch trucks.


----------



## mecreature

smokinjay said:
			
		

> mecreature said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A guy close to me sells wood and hauls it in a truck with an 8ftx8ft flat bed with 4ft side rails. $250 bucks full load.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Holly smoke! No wonder your there every Sunday. lol Bet it isnt hickory or black locust.
Click to expand...


No. I'm there for the bacon and egg sandwiches... 

Face cord for a standard 6ft bed is spot on... maybe just a click more if you heap it.. 
Its a heavy load for my 1500 chevy. I try to get it heavier in front of the axle. Splits tend to be bigger then 16" too.


----------



## smokinj

mecreature said:
			
		

> smokinjay said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mecreature said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A guy close to me sells wood and hauls it in a truck with an 8ftx8ft flat bed with 4ft side rails. $250 bucks full load.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Holly smoke! No wonder your there every Sunday. lol Bet it isnt hickory or black locust.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> No. I'm there for the bacon and egg sandwiches...
> 
> Face cord for a standard 6ft bed is spot on... maybe just a click more if you heap it..
> Its a heavy load for my 1500 chevy. I try to get it heavier in front of the axle. Splits tend to be bigger then 16" too.
Click to expand...



lol


----------



## oldspark

perplexed said:
			
		

> Thanks for all the responses.  I knew I could count on you to give me some good questions to ask him when I call him back to confirm this 'deal'.
> 
> When I asked about the truck bed size he did include that he does stack it neatly rather than toss it in.  I know he has been in business for a number of years so he has to be somewhat honest or he wouldn't last around here..
> 
> I am not going to post the cost as it is prohibitive.  Around here oak has to be shipped in so the fuel ups the cost.  I reserve it for only the coldest of days and the last cord I bought has lasted 5 years. The rest of the time I burn mixed hardwoods which cost half as much and I generally go through 2-3 cords of that per burning season.
> 
> I will keep you posted but Backwoods S. I don't thing I will include a picture....I still haven't figured how to post them and the kids and husband are highly resistant to taking time to SHOW me how to do it!  I have read the instructions but am one of those who can't really make heads of tails out instructions that deal with anything high-tech.  :sick:


 What other kinds of harwood do you have, I love Oak but not sure it is worth that much more than some of the other good hard woods such as White Ash, Mulberry, Sugar Maple and many others too numerous to mention.


----------



## jadm

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> For sure it will be interesting to see what you come up. Please keep us posted. If possible, get a picture.



My update:  I just called with all of the info everyone gave me in this thread in hand.  My first question clarified it all....His truck is not a pick-up it is a F 550 2 ton dump truck.  Bed is 11' long but he has a tool box which shortens it to 8'.  It is 7.9' wide and has a flat bed.  Sides are a bit over 2' high and he stacks a bit over that.

I am sure he probably told me he delivers in his 'truck' and my brain just assumed it was a pick up.....one of the perils of being female and a Subaru driver...the finer points of truck classifications has alluded me all of these years....ie - tis like a foreign language on these ears of mine.  

When the wood gets delivered I will then know exactly what a F 550 is......right now it is just a letter and some numbers...

I am always learning something new here. ;-)

Thanks to all who provided me with great information for use now and in the future.  I really appreciate it ALL!


----------



## Flatbedford

Here's 1/2 cord of wood stacked in a pickup.





Attached is an image of an F550 flatbed. Kinda like an overgrown pickup.


----------



## OhioBurner©

Yeah people seem to be more fixated here with how little a truck can hold... there are a lot of larger trucks out there dont forget!


----------



## jadm

Flatbedford said:
			
		

> Here's 1/2 cord of wood stacked in a pickup.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Attached is an image of an F550 flatbed. Kinda like an overgrown pickup.



I had to chuckle when I saw your photo of the F550.  After I posted my update I had intended to do a google search to find out what one looked like but got busy and then it occurred to me that someone here would have a picture and post it....I must have been reading your mind!  Now that is a BIG truck  I think that what will be delivered next week will indeed be a full cord and I don't need to worry about being shorted....

Now I know the difference between the 2 and your pictures really made it clear.  I just love pictures  So a big thanks to you for taking the time to post them here for me.....

Also have to chuckle because this is the only place I know where people post pictures of their trucks like other people post pictures of their kids. :lol:


----------



## Flatbedford

There are lots of places where truck pictures are posted like kid pics.
Disclaimer; Neither of those trucks are mine.


----------



## jadm

Flatbedford said:
			
		

> There are lots of places where truck pictures are posted like kid pics.
> Disclaimer; Neither of those trucks are mine.



Not so sure I believe that one....just what is that in your avitar???


----------



## Flatbedford

The avatar is a picture of my 1970 F350 with just over a cord of well seasoned Ash in it.
Here's 44 pages of truck pictures on another forum that participate in. http://www.fordification.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=33398 If you actually look at the thread, you will see more pictures of my F350.


----------



## jadm

Flatbedford said:
			
		

> The avatar is a picture of my 1970 F350 with just over a cord of well seasoned Ash in it.
> Here's 44 pages of truck pictures on another forum that participate in. http://www.fordification.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=33398 If you actually look at the thread, you will see more pictures of my F350.



Thanks for the thread.  Now I will know what the difference is and what a cord in one looks like.  I am always learning something new here and now I can add truck classification to my list! ;-) 

Amazing that your truck is over 40 years old.  I know I won't be seeing many of those around!


----------

