# How much wood is this?



## Dmitry (Dec 15, 2015)

I'm trying to get ahead with my wood, but being mathematically challenged I can't figure out how much wood I have and how much more I need to meet famous "three year ahead" plan.  
I stuck my wood on a pallet  in double rows.   The length of wood is 20", the height of stuck is 5' average.

Can you give me formula how to calculate what is one cord of wood in this configuration.

Example:  I have 30 feet long row, 5' high, individual piece length is 20". double stacked How many cords is this?


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## Dmitry (Dec 15, 2015)

Here is a pic, can't see it here , but its double row, picture is not good, too dark outside.


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Dec 15, 2015)

3.5 X 5 X 30 = 525 cubic feet. So you have a smidge over 4 cords.

And with as warm has this winter has been, if that is seasoned, you should have plenty.


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## Dmitry (Dec 15, 2015)

How much cubic feet is one cord?  the exact number.


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## DougA (Dec 15, 2015)

Dmitry said:


> Example: I have 30 feet long row, 5' high, individual piece length is 20". double stacked How many cords is this?


30x5x3.33= 500 cu ft.  A cord is 4x8x4 = 128  So you have 500 / 128 = 3.9 cords.
Elementary my dear Watson.

40" = 3.333 ft.  Spaces between rows don't count.

The easy way to remember a cord is that it is the same as a sheet of plywood 4x8' and stacked 4' high.


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## CentralVAWoodHeat (Dec 15, 2015)

Yup. Simply calculate cubic feet using the knowledge that a cord of wood is 128 cubic feet.  Just divide your total cubic feet of wood by that 128.


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Dec 15, 2015)

Dmitry said:


> How much cubic feet is one cord?  the exact number.


 128 cubic feet.


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Dec 15, 2015)

DougA said:


> 40" = 3.333 ft.  Spaces between rows don't count.



I was rounding up the 3.33 to 3.5. But yeah. Roughly 4 cords.


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## bags (Dec 15, 2015)

Now, now, people. We all know a cord of wood has many different sizes depending on who is selling it. The 128 CU FT is the correct answer though as the people above know. And there are some fine mathematics above too! Very well explained. Kudos!


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## DougA (Dec 15, 2015)

bags said:


> We all know a cord of wood has many different sizes depending on who is selling it


Or another way of saying it, a full cord of wood will not fit into the box of a normal pickup truck without having aux. sides attached. So, if your delivery of a full cord is in a pickup truck, you got gypped. Also, a cord of dry white oak weighs over 2 tons, so if they're delivering it in a 1/2 ton truck, either you got gypped of the truck is a gonner.


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## Dmitry (Dec 15, 2015)

Thank you guys , that is  a very good news for me, I got more than I've estimated. I think  I'm good for 2 years  if burning 4 cords a season. My wife thinks it's enough for the rest of our lives. ( We are 40 y.o.)


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## DougA (Dec 15, 2015)

Dmitry said:


> I think I'm good for 2 years if burning 4 cords a season.


I guess I must have missed the part where you have another stash of wood.   
You've got just under 4 cords now, so if you burn 4 cords a season, that will last you one season. 
See what happens when they teach this 'new math' stuff 

Or, you could say that a year has four seasons, so you'll need 32 cords for 2 yrs. but if I posted that, you'd really get confused.


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## bags (Dec 15, 2015)

> Dmitry said:
> 
> 
> > My wife thinks it's enough for the rest of our lives. ( We are 40 y.o.)


LOL! At least she is optimistic. Or she is tired of helping? 


> DougA said:
> 
> 
> > if your delivery of a full cord is in a pickup truck, you got gypped.


Knock it off Doug! Soon enough we'll officially see Gyp-cords advertised and an industry standard as a new measurement for wood on CL. LOL!

Seems like the Gyp-cord has been around a long while, seen often, and rarely understood. I heard they are what Big Foot busts up while he is bored in the woods and donates them to the wood delivery charities. Many times these full Gyp-cords are even delivered in Ford Rangers and smaller trucks..... They stay green and nice and wet that' away


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## Dmitry (Dec 15, 2015)

Dmitry said: ↑
My wife thinks it's enough for the rest of our lives. ( We are 40 y.o.)


bags said:


> LOL! At least she is optimistic. Or she is tired of helping


I think both. But the strange thing is : it became her job to stack the wood on a pellets, and she admits that she enjoys to do it from time to time. She is a neat freak and stacks it  evenly in-line, nothing sticks out. Looks nice. She is not allowing me to do it anymore because my job looks ugly sometimes... Well, every time.


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## bags (Dec 15, 2015)

My wife and kids are to the point to where they run and hide when the word firewood is mentioned. LOL! That OWB eats a lot as in 8-10 cords a year. Then the last several winters I was out of town for work except weekends and that was the last straw for my wife (42 and I'm 46) when she slipped and busted her azz in the ice and snow ram rodding a wheel barrow full of wood before work one morning. She took a pretty nasty slip and fall and was bruised and sore awhile. I asked if it knocked any sense into her. LOL! I tease her quite a bit.

I had to do something for the following season so I bought some pellet stoves at that point. Like them so far but I have been reassessing the wood burning situation here. All of my wood burners are dated. I hate to replace a great shape and perfectly working OWB but I am looking into more efficient less wood use options. Especially if they keep jacking up pellet prices. They are reasonable here but up your way I see some here paying a bunch more per ton. As in like twice as much. That's when my pellet burners get moth balled and I go back to wood. 

I am also looking at a couple of new wood stoves but I must have long burn times. I get 12 hrs. plus in my OWB. I like wood and have heated with it many moons but this break last winter and this fall have been nice in ways. Main problem I have is finding the time to do my wood. I have plenty of it just little time to do it now.

Last fall I was pretty much burned out and hating wood. Now I am beginning to miss it some. I have a bunch of logs in piles and plenty of seasoned and stacked so I might just get into processing the piles I have and continue to stock up. At minimum I'll be getting a new wood stove and or wood insert just to have. All I can say is keep on keep'in on with your wood. You never have too much has been my experience. Some of these members here have oodles and years and years worth. My problem was I never really got ahead like I needed to but always seemed to be rushed and behind the 8 ball so to speak.


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## bags (Dec 15, 2015)

My wife and kids are to the point to where they run and hide when the word firewood is mentioned. LOL! That OWB eats a lot as in 8-10 cords a year. Then the last several winters I was out of town for work except weekends and that was the last straw for my wife (42 and I'm 46) when she slipped and busted her azz in the ice and snow ram rodding a wheel barrow full of wood before work one morning. She took a pretty nasty slip and fall and was bruised and sore awhile. I asked if it knocked any sense into her. LOL! I tease her quite a bit.

I had to do something for the following season so I bought some pellet stoves at that point. Like them so far but I have been reassessing the wood burning situation here. All of my wood burners are dated. I hate to replace a great shape and perfectly working OWB but I am looking into more efficient less wood use options. Especially if they keep jacking up pellet prices. They are reasonable here but up your way I see some here paying a bunch more per ton. As in like twice as much. That's when my pellet burners get moth balled and I go back to wood. 

I am also looking at a couple of new wood stoves but I must have long burn times. I get 12 hrs. plus in my OWB. I like wood and have heated with it many moons but this break last winter and this fall have been nice in ways. Main problem I have is finding the time to do my wood. I have plenty of it just little time to do it now.

Last fall I was pretty much burned out and hating wood. Now I am beginning to miss it some. I have a bunch of logs in piles and plenty of seasoned and stacked so I might just get into processing the piles I have and continue to stock up. At minimum I'll be getting a new wood stove and or wood insert just to have. All I can say is keep on keep'in on with your wood. You never have too much has been my experience. Some of these members here have oodles and years and years worth. My problem was I never really got ahead like I needed to but always seemed to be rushed and behind the 8 ball so to speak.


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## Dmitry (Dec 15, 2015)

This is my second year and I don't have story that dramatic.

Did you think about Blaze King "King" model. I saw this monster in a showroom. They're  advertised 40 hours of heat. Sounds good, even if it's half true.  Probably easier to handle than OWB. And they say it's crazy efficient. So less wood.


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## bags (Dec 16, 2015)

I've been reading up on a lot of stoves and types of them lately but not pulling the trigger just yet. The BK's do seem nice but a hefty price tag. Although I bought the hefty price tag pellet stove last fall. I'm also not so sure about how much I really miss wood yet either. A BK might be a good solution and not use much wood which is worth some cash layout to me.

Hind sight is 20 /20 and I didn't think it thru nor have time to deal with anything as I needed a pretty quick and easy solution and I was not thinking in terms of wood at all last fall. I am content and happy with my pellet stoves but concerned pellet prices might make me look into other ways to heat again if they continually climb cost wise. For now I am good with it all thus far. I am going to do another wood stove though just to have another back up. I just don't think I am BK ready just yet. I have read where some guys are getting pretty impressive burn times but those reduce in the cold, cold somewhat.


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## Blaine (Dec 16, 2015)

Dmitry- For any standardized firewood length there is a key number which can be used to simplify cord calculations. The key number for 20" splits is 77. Multiply the length of a row x the height of the row, then divide by 77.  In your case, 5x30 divided by 77 equals slightly under two cords per row. 
   In your configuration, for all practical purposes, a row 5 feet high and 15 feet long equals one cord. I know this isn't precise, but get used to it. There is no such thing as precision in cordage calculations, there is just ' close enough for all practical purposes'.


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## drz1050 (Dec 16, 2015)

8-10 cords a year is massive! No wonder you had a hard time staying ahead on wood... how big is your house/ how well insulated? I'd imagine you would use about half that with even a semi-efficient woodstove... how many tons of pellets per year do you use?


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## Dmitry (Dec 16, 2015)

Blaine said:


> In your configuration, for all practical purposes, a row 5 feet high and 15 feet long equals one cord.


Thanks , that's the formula I was looking for .


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## Fred Wright (Dec 16, 2015)

When we started heating with wood we weren't certain how much we'd need to get through a typical winter. So we made three rows 5' high ~ essentially stacked to eye level, 20' in length, mostly red maple. Turned out not to be enough, we were picking from next year's stash to finish the season.

Extended all stacks by 10', figuring that ought to be enough wood for a year. It works. The type of wood you have available makes a difference as well.

Measurements and cord metrics are great for informational purposes ~ you'll know how much to order if you're buying wood. But you won't know precisely until after a couple, three years of wood heating.

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.


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## CountryBoy19 (Dec 16, 2015)

DougA said:


> Or another way of saying it, a full cord of wood will not fit into the box of a normal pickup truck without having aux. sides attached. So, if your delivery of a full cord is in a pickup truck, you got gypped. Also, a cord of dry white oak weighs over 2 tons, so if they're delivering it in a 1/2 ton truck, either you got gypped of the truck is a gonner.


 Not to get too far off track but I'll disagree with you...

#1 it depends how the wood is stacked in the truck, it is certainly possible to get a full cord into a standard truck bed without side. Typically my loads of unsplit rounds from a SHORT BED stack out to about .9 cords after splitting. It would be a little more challenging to get a full cord of splits but not impossible, especially if one had a long-bed.
#2 The truck isn't a "gonner" just because a load exceeds the manufacturer's recommend cargo capacity. Trucks are very routinely overloaded. As a matter of fact, I routinely overload my 3/4 ton truck, I've had up to a 6500 lb load on it before... never broke a spring and never had any weight related issues.


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## Longstreet (Dec 16, 2015)

DougA said:


> 30x5x3.33= 500 cu ft.  A cord is 4x8x4 = 128  So you have 500 / 128 = 3.9 cords.
> Elementary my dear Watson.
> 
> 40" = 3.333 ft.  Spaces between rows don't count.
> ...



Yup, exactly.  If you want to do some mental stretching, you could also do (360*60*40)/1728 = 500, but that's only because I like inches more than fractions.


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## mwhitnee (Dec 16, 2015)

CountryBoy19 said:


> Not to get too far off track but I'll disagree with you...
> 
> #1 it depends how the wood is stacked in the truck, it is certainly possible to get a full cord into a standard truck bed without side. Typically my loads of unsplit rounds from a SHORT BED stack out to about .9 cords after splitting. It would be a little more challenging to get a full cord of splits but not impossible, especially if one had a long-bed.
> #2 The truck isn't a "gonner" just because a load exceeds the manufacturer's recommend cargo capacity. Trucks are very routinely overloaded. As a matter of fact, I routinely overload my 3/4 ton truck, I've had up to a 6500 lb load on it before... never broke a spring and never had any weight related issues.



Now see everything I've heard says that a truck load is around half a cord. I have a short bed myself. I have thrown the wood in and filled in the holes at the end. 

Granted your wood consists of rounds, which might make a big difference, but that still is a lot to make up for. I'm sure throwing it in makes a difference too.


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## DougA (Dec 16, 2015)

CountryBoy19 said:


> #1 it depends how the wood is stacked in the truck, it is certainly possible to get a full cord into a standard truck bed without side.


I'll call you on that. That would mean that you have to stack the wood (not just throw it in) so that it is exactly 4' high. That's more than double the height of the normal sides. If you just tossed it in, the middle would be over 8' high to allow for the pile being even with the sides without falling out.  OK, if you can do it, post a photo and I'll give you the trophy.


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## CountryBoy19 (Dec 16, 2015)

mwhitnee said:


> Now see everything I've heard says that a truck load is around half a cord. I have a short bed myself. I have thrown the wood in and filled in the holes at the end.
> Granted your wood consists of rounds, which might make a big difference, but that still is a lot to make up for. I'm sure throwing it in makes a difference too.


Thrown vs stacked makes a huge difference... Tightly stacked rounds makes a huge difference as well.



DougA said:


> I'll call you on that. That would mean that you have to stack the wood (not just throw it in) so that it is exactly 4' high. That's more than double the height of the normal sides. If you just tossed it in, the middle would be over 8' high to allow for the pile being even with the sides without falling out.  OK, if you can do it, post a photo and I'll give you the trophy.


 Call me on what? Getting .9 cords of rounds into my short bed or being possible to get a full cord of splits into a standard bed?

If it's the former would you like to see a picture? I just checked and have 2 different pictures of different loads (1 Silver maple, 1 oak) saved in my phone, 4 rows, 22" cut length, rounds stacked up well over a foot above cab-line using a little strategic stacking.

If it's the latter, what truck bed dimensions are you using and how are you doing the math? The only way I'm getting 4 feet high stacked square is if you're using a small truck bed (Dodge Dakota etc). Most full-size truck beds fall around 65" inside width (including mine) and 8 feet long. Doing the math gives a bit less than 3 foot height required (2.95 feet to be exact); factor in lost volume at the wheel wells and we'll call it 3 feet high flat-topped stack inside the confines of the bed. Most beds are 19-20 inches deep, and it wouldn't be unreasonable for wood to stick up a few inches higher than the side of the bed, so we'll say wood could be stacked 2 feet deep at the edges... that's 2/3 of a cord stacked flat just a few inches above the side of the bed. Very simple math tells us that stacking the rest in a standard triangular solid stack would mean the peak of the overall stack would be 4 feet high, tapering down to the 2 foot high sides.

How is that impossible?

FWIW, NONE of these figures even take into account that the tailgate can be dropped to gain an additional 18" of bed length... That's how I stack my short bed truck full of .9 cords of rounds. Tailgate dropped my 4th row of wood is half in the bed, half on the tailgate; I don't usually stack the 4th row quite as high as the rest because of that but the picture of my load of Oak the tallest row is the back one.

And before you ask, I've never lost a round when stacked like this and I've driven as far as 30 miles with wood stacked like that...


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## 2broke2ride (Dec 16, 2015)

How much wood is this?......... I say overloaded [emoji106][emoji2][emoji108] lol


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## bags (Dec 17, 2015)

drz1050 said:


> 8-10 cords a year is massive! No wonder you had a hard time staying ahead on wood... how big is your house/ how well insulated? I'd imagine you would use about half that with even a semi-efficient woodstove... how many tons of pellets per year do you use?


Yes it is a bunch of wood. Pretty common requirement for older OWB. My unit is set up exceptionally well with minimal heat losses too. The Woodmaster 5500 will do 10,000 SQ FT and has multiple building hook ups so I can do a lot with it but that takes a lot of wood too which I have acreage and 80% of it is heavily wooded. I have the wood pretty much just maintaining standing dead and downed trees etc; around here. It is the time to spend processing wood that I lack.

What I heat with my P68 is the 2,350 SQ FT two level main core of my place. All said and done the house is just over 4,000 SQ FT. TOO DAMN BIG! I am a design build contractor so it was easy and not costly for me to get little carried away. Once all the kids fly the coup or I boot them out we will be down sizing but that won't happen for some time. Oldest is in 7th grade. 

The house has high vaulted ceilings, tons of windows and glass doors which doesn't help a bit except for some slight solar gain otherwise useless on cold overcast days. I have a timber frame type place. Pretty open plan except bedroom areas. The windows and doors are all new (2005) and the envelope is tight and well insulated. R-19 exterior walls at minimum. 

With the OWB I do *radiant floors =* (great stuff and very efficient but expensive to do) along with it tied into my central HVAC forced air system. I heat my garages, domestic water heater, wood shop, and my pole barn. So all in all I heat a boat load with the OWB on that cord wood. In the grand scheme I am doing the equivalent of a few homes all said and done so the 8 - 10 cords is not out of line really. Just a bunch of wood to process non-stop. 

Even if I went all wood stoves throughout I doubt my cord wood needs would dwindle much. I did sort of compartmentalize this place when I built it and / or added on so I can do without heat in some areas. This is where I am at and why i also picked up a PC45 for another area which I am still not firing it up much at all overall as i just haven't had the need. Last season (my 1st w/ the P68) which was a nasty long and cold winter I used 7 tons of pellets doing the 2,350 two level main core. That also semi heated a somewhat closed off adjacent 400 SQ FT. So, not too bad but not great either.

I am always looking for ways to improve and just roll with the hits. I am wanting to start using another area so I am thinking about a new wood stove with maybe a few cords per season to heat for that and then shuffling the PC 45 to another location. At certain times and temps it is just best to fire up the Pig 5500. I have some things figured out but still clueless on others at this point.


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## bags (Dec 17, 2015)

CountryBoy19,
I'd love to see a picture of a full size short bed with a cord of wood in it so fire out those pictures. Anything is possible if you try hard enough.

As for me, I prefer to be more of a non-truck bed stacking slacker and just throw in an 8 foot bed full which if I get it heaped up some it stacks out to face cord or 1/3 of a true cord. Just me, but I would find it highly difficult to get a full cord of wood into a full size 8 foot long bed stacked no matter how tight and fancy it is.


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## Longstreet (Dec 17, 2015)

A fullsized truck bed is 4x8...but only between the wheel wells.  I've heard the "youd have to stack 4 feet high for a full cord" before and it just isn't true.  I've never done it in my truck (without sidesc that is), but that's only because its easier to build sides than to neatly stack that much wood just too transport it.


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## CountryBoy19 (Dec 17, 2015)

bags said:


> CountryBoy19,
> I'd love to see a picture of a full size short bed with a cord of wood in it so fire out those pictures. Anything is possible if you try hard enough.
> As for me, I prefer to be more of a non-truck bed stacking slacker and just throw in an 8 foot bed full which if I get it heaped up some it stacks out to face cord or 1/3 of a true cord. Just me, but I would find it highly difficult to get a full cord of wood into a full size 8 foot long bed stacked no matter how tight and fancy it is.


I'll see if I can figure out how to get a picture on here but I might have to email it to somebody instead, any takers?

That being said, based upon your response, I believe you're expecting a picture of a short-bed truck loaded with a full cord of splits but if you read my responses I never claimed such a thing. I can happily show you a shortbed (with *tailgate down*) holding *.9* cords of *unsplit rounds *(obviously stacked very neatly). Not only did I never claim you could get a full cord of splits in a short-bed but I will agree that it can't be done without sides.



Longstreet said:


> A fullsized truck bed is 4x8...but only between the wheel wells.  I've heard the "youd have to stack 4 feet high for a full cord" before and it just isn't true.  I've never done it in my truck (without sidesc that is), but that's only because its easier to build sides than to neatly stack that much wood just too transport it.


 
That's exactly the point I'm making... you don't see people putting a full cord in a truck bed without sides because it's impractical to neatly stack it all to get it to fit; it's just easier to build sides and toss it in. But that doesn't mean it isn't possible. Only point I'm making is that it's possible... and I'm not stacking a truckbed full of split wood just to prove it for 2 reasons, #1 It's a waste of my time to "win" an internet pissing match, and #2 I don't have a long-bed truck to use.


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## CountryBoy19 (Dec 17, 2015)

~.9 Cords of unsplit Oak (might be a bit of hickory there at the back but I can't recall for sure what that was) rounds...




~.9 cords Silver maple... I quit cutting on this tree once the wood got over 3 feet diameter... the 5 foot diameter main trunk is still there in that guy's yard almost 2 years later...
	

		
			
		

		
	






6500 lb load (2 pallets of solid concrete landscape blocks, several sheets of OSB, and quite a bit of other supplies and lumber tucked beside the pallets)


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## Pat32rf (Dec 18, 2015)

My 1/2 ton Dodge had a box that was eight feet long and just a tad over four feet wide. Sides about 18" high. That would leave two and a half feet of unsupported wood above the sides. First cop would have me off the road with a ticket for unsafe load....


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## BlueRidgeMark (Dec 18, 2015)

mwhitnee said:


> Granted your wood consists of rounds, which might make a big difference, but that still is a lot to make up for. I'm sure throwing it in makes a difference too.



Rounds, when split, expand the same amount of wood to fill a larger volume.  About 10%, according to university tests.


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## CountryBoy19 (Dec 19, 2015)

Pat32rf said:


> My 1/2 ton Dodge had a box that was eight feet long and just a tad over four feet wide. Sides about 18" high. That would leave two and a half feet of unsupported wood above the sides. First cop would have me off the road with a ticket for unsafe load....


50's or 60's trucks aren't really applicable... and those older trucks are the only beds I know of that have beds that narrow...

Even Dodge Dakota beds are wider than that (most are 57")


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## bags (Dec 19, 2015)

How do you keep your rear cab window in your truck?


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## CountryBoy19 (Dec 19, 2015)

bags said:


> How do you keep your rear cab window in your truck?


I stack the wood, not throw it. When the wood is stacked it all "locks" together. I've never lost a piece and I've only ever had it shift 1 time to where a piece was touching the window (but not putting a lot of pressure on it).

I'll be resuming cutting wood after the first of the year, I'll try to remember to take a picture of the gap between the wood and the window.


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