Tree Service: Firewood Cords From a Stack

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Firewood sells by the cord, and a cord is a defined pile: 128 cubic feet, the volume of a 4-by-4-by-8 stack. Measure the stack you actually have, multiply for cubic feet, and divide by 128 to see how many cords you are selling.

Quick formula: Stack volume over 128 cubic feet:

=B2*C2*D2/128

A stack 16 feet long, 4 feet high, and 4 feet deep is 256 cubic feet — exactly 2 cords.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

PRODUCT

The example

Three stacks of different sizes, each measured for length, height, and depth in feet.

	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Stack	Length	Height	Depth	Cubic ft	Cords
2	Oak rounds	16	4	4	256	2
3	Face cord	8	4	1.33	42.6	0.33
4	Mixed split	24	4	2	192	1.5

The formula

The three dimensions multiply to cubic feet; dividing by 128 converts to cords:

=B2*C2*D2/128 // length x height x depth, divided by 128 cubic feet per cord

How it works

Volume first, then the cord conversion:

B2*C2*D2 multiplies length, height, and depth for the stack's cubic feet.
/128 divides by the cubic feet in a full cord — a 4-by-4-by-8 pile.
The result is cords: a 256-cubic-foot stack is 2 cords, a 42.6-cubic-foot stack is a third of one.
Measure tightly stacked wood, not a loose heap — a cord is defined by neatly ranked pieces.

A 'face cord' is one row deep — usually 16 inches — so it is only a fraction of a full cord. This formula catches that automatically because the depth is smaller.

Try it: interactive demo

Interactive

Enter the stack length, height, and depth in feet.

Length (ft)

Height (ft)

Depth (ft)

Variations

Price the stack

Multiply the cords by your price per cord.

=B2*C2*D2/128*E2

Face cords instead

A face cord is a third of a full cord at a 16-inch depth — divide the cords by that fraction.

=(B2*C2*D2/128)/(1/3)

Pitfalls & errors

A 'cord' sold as a loose truckload is not 128 stacked cubic feet — loose wood has air gaps. Measure the ranked stack, or you will oversell and undercut your price.

Keep every dimension in the same unit. Mixing feet and inches without converting is the fastest way to a wildly wrong cord count.

Practice workbook

📊

Download the free Tree Service: Firewood Cords From a Stack practice workbook

Edit the yellow length, height, and depth cells; cubic feet and cords recalculate.

Frequently asked questions

How big is a full cord?

A full cord is 128 cubic feet of tightly stacked wood — the classic 4 feet high, 4 feet deep, and 8 feet long. Anything sold as a cord should measure to that stacked volume.

What is a face cord then?

A face cord is 4 feet high and 8 feet long but only one row deep — typically 16 inches. That makes it about a third of a full cord, which this formula shows through the smaller depth.

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Function references: PRODUCT