# I've got wood **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 6, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691 "2014-02-06T20:30:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691/21 "2014-02-08T20:20:06Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I recall seeing [fairly cheap metal racks](http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=outdoor+firewood+rack&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=36305995779&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13486275131191181721&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_9f5topf6ah_b) to hold a cord of wood and they even come with a cover. > > Might have been easier to simply buy one of those and put it against the side of the house. I spent a bit over $100 for 40 pavers (12" x 12" x 2-¾", laid in an 8’ x 5’ rectangle), six 8-foot lengths of pressure-treated 2x4, and tax. Buying racks would have saved me some heavy work; but it looks like I’d have to buy three of them, which would have been more expensive. Plus I’d have to put them together and have a place for them. The reason I had to lay down the gravel and pavers is that I didn’t have a place to stack that much wood. I’d planned on starting the moving and stacking at noon, but the SO talked me into making breakfast. Freshly-grated, crispy-on-the-outside, soft on the inside hash browned potatoes, a slice and a half of bacon each, four each Farmer John link sausages, and two over-easy eggs apiece needs time to digest a little. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691/22 "2014-02-08T20:24:31Z")
Okay, I know what a cord of wood is. _Car Talk_ had a Puzzler about a car with vanity plate “4X4X8,” and the car was a Honda Accord. Around here, a “rick” is 4 by 8 by however long the pieces are. I’m guessing that’s a “face cord” to some of you. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691/23 "2014-02-08T22:21:22Z")
Just stacked two cords of split hardwood, (delivered for $150 Can.) Thank goodness I covered it with a big tarp, when it arrived, as it snowed another 8" over that night. We moved it to the cribs on a sled because of all the damn snow! And it proved to be more than two cords as we had to dig out a third crib to stack it all! But, as I write this, the fire is raging in the woodstove and it’s bitterly cold outside. Perfect to cuddling up with the dog! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691/24 "2014-02-09T14:33:21Z")
I used to heat exclusively with wood. I would take in 6 cords a year. I do like the atmosphere of a true wood stove, but the mess and work is an awful lot. I switched to a propane stove about 5 years ago. It’s great to have a thermostat again. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691/25 "2014-02-09T19:46:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Upon putting the first piece into the stove, the SO quipped, ‘Well, I’m burning money now!’ An experienced lass lets no wood go to waste. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691/26 "2014-02-10T15:55:18Z")
Consider getting or making a rack holder for it. I got the basic pieces at Tractor Supply and rigged the rest. Since then I’ve been getting better results (nicer coals and longer burns) from mine. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691/27 "2014-02-10T17:17:54Z")
It’s going pretty quickly. About a quarter of a one stack (1/4 face cord/rick) will be gone by today. I don’t think we got a whole cord. It’s about half a face cord short. True, I stacked it more than four feet high; but I don’t think it’s _that_ much higher than it should be. The SO says that we’d burned a bunch of it. (Again, not _that_ much.) And she says that I stacked it tighter than it probably was originally. She laughed at me because I was putting the stacks together like a puzzle. I wanted pieces to interlock somewhat to keep the stacks from tumbling or falling over. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691/28 "2014-04-18T16:27:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It’s going pretty quickly… Well, maybe not as quickly as I thought. We still have a face cord and a half. With lows in the 40s, it’s just too warm to have a fire. We’ll have a good supply come November/December. Oh, I also chopped down the scraggly apple tree that produced mealy, tasteless, ping pong ball-sized apples, and bought an electric chainsaw to cut it up. There are a couple of arbor vitaes that need to come down too. So there’s a few more logs to add to the stack. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691/29 "2014-04-19T01:03:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Well, maybe not as quickly as I thought. We still have a face cord and a half. With lows in the 40s, it’s just too warm to have a fire. We’ll have a good supply come November/December. > > Oh, I also chopped down the scraggly apple tree that produced mealy, tasteless, ping pong ball-sized apples, and bought an electric chainsaw to cut it up. There are a couple of arbor vitaes that need to come down too. So there’s a few more logs to add to the stack. You bring back memories of my childhood. I learned to use a chainsaw when I was 15. Back then, it was unheard of for a girl to do so. I think I’ve stacked thousands of board-feet of firewood. We have natural gas now. I rather hate it, but hubby loves never having to go out in the cold to get firewood. All I see are dollar signs going up the chimney. Our gas bill ran about $300/month this winter, and that’s with using the fire place just about once a week. Thank you spring. Now I can buy groceries again! (Then again, there’s the new truck sucking down the green tickets and dead presidents…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-got-wood/680691.md?page=1)