A Connoisseur's Guide to Fuelwood

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If you don't own a woodlot, scurry down to the local landfill after a storm and get permission to cut up logs, limbs, and treetops downed by the storm. Or call the local power company, as it is likely to accumulate logs, limbs, and tops while maintaining power line rights of way. In some areas, firewood is made readily available on public lands. Check with your nearest forest service district ranger or county extension agent.

Another option is to get permission to harvest leftover treetops in freshly logged areas. In the days when my husband and I cut firewood for income, we made our best money when a local logger let us harvest firewood from the slash he left behind. And don't overlook dead or spent orchard trees as a good source of fuelwood. In areas that have restrictions against burning, commercial orchards welcome any offer to cart away spent trees.

The nice thing about cutting your own is that you learn to recognize fuelwood by the kind of tree it comes from, making it easy to load your stove according to the type of fire you want to produce. But even if you take the short cut and purchase your wood already split, you'll build better fires if you take time to acquaint yourself with the properties of the wood you use for fuel.

Measuring Fuelwood

In most parts of the country, wood is measured by the cord. In our area, it comes by the rick. What's the difference?

A cord of wood is defined as the volume of wood that could be stacked 8 ft long x 4 ft high x 4 ft deep (128 cu ft). Of this, only about 80 cu ft is solid wood. The rest is bark and air.

If you buy your firewood by the cord, it is not necessary to take the trouble stacking it to those exact dimensions in order to be sure that you're getting the full measure. Instead, stack it any way that's convenient for you, then multiply the length of the stack times the height times the depth (measured in feet). Then divide by 128. If the result is less or more than 1, you received less or more than the full cord that you paid for.

A rick is the volume of wood that could be stacked 8 ft long x 4 ft high x the depth of the pieces being stacked. A rick is sometimes called a tier or a face cord; this makes sense because it has no specific depth. The surface area of the face of a rick should be 32 sq ft. To determine if you have a full rick, multiply the length of the stack times its height (measured in feet) and divide by 32. If the result is less or more than 1, you have less or more than a rick.

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