In our little area of the US, a cord of wood is rarely an actual cord. It may be that the supplier does not have a reliable measuring system (more on this later), it may be that the supplier does not have a properly sized delivery method, or it may be that the supplier just wants to short change the purchaser. Whatever the reason, I have rarely (if ever) received an actual cord of wood.
Lets start at the beginning, what is a cord of wood? A cord is a measurement of a volume of wood with the dimensions being 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet. Multiplied out, that gives you 128 cubic feet of wood. However, we have to be practical here. There is practically no way you are going to get a solid block of wood that measures 128 cubic feet unless your supplier is a logger taking down giant oak trees and cutting them into solid 4x4x8 foot blocks. And even then, after it dries out (seasoned, it would have shrunk considerably. So the 128 cubic feet of wood measurement is for wood that is "stacked tightly". Of course, there is no measurement for "stacked tightly" wood, but wood that is randomly thrown into a pile that measures 4x4x8 feet is definitely not "stacked tightly" as there is an awful lot of empty air space in that pile. In fact, after having a "cord" of wood delivered, usually dumped into a large pile in your yard or driveway, that pile will look quite large. And it should! I recently had a delivery of a cord of wood dumped into my driveway and the pile was about 5 foot tall pyramid with an oval spread between 10 to 12 feet. It looks like a lot of wood when you are realizing that it is your turn to stack it! However, after stacking and measuring the dimensions of the stacked wood, the pile came out to under 116 square feet, and that was with generous measurements and rounding. So if your delivered cord looks a little small when it is delivered, it is likely very small. One problem is that many suppliers will measure the cord by filling their trucks using a front loader with a front bucket. They will tell you that their bucket holds 1 cubic yard (27 cubic feet) and that they fill that bucket 5 and a half times to get that cord. If true, then their cord should equal about 148 cubic feet. However, remember that wood loosely thrown into the bucket (how it would be pickup up mechanically) would be nowhere near a cubic yard and in turn will not be nearly a full cord. In fact, when I was recently brought 5.5 buckets of firewood, it turned out to be closer to 90 cubic feet stacked or a little over 2/3 cord. Beware of non-standard cord sizes like a "face cord" or "truck load" as these truly mean nothing in the way of actual volume of wood. A "face cord" of wood is measured as 4 feet high by 8 feet long but can be nearly any depth. So you could end up with something like a 5th of a cord if the pieces are "cut short for wood burning stoves". A truck load is a meaningless term even if you know that the truck has an 8 foot long bed that is 5 feet wide with 1.5 foot high sides. Is the wood loosely thrown in the truck? Does the truck bed have tire wells taking up space?
Other than size of the load, problems with delivered firewood are many. Some of the more usual problems include suppliers who deliver softwoods with the firewood load. Softwoods are those that would burn quickly or leave large deposits of creosote in your chimney (dangerous). Sometimes suppliers will not fully season a softwood and it will seem like it is a harder wood (heavier because of the water content) and will be difficult to burn (burn slowly) to make it seem like it is a harder, more dense hardwood. And even if the supplier states that they only deliver hardwoods, it is very possible to get a full load of wood like Poplar which is a hardwood, but a fast burning hardwood with low energy value. Good burning hardwoods include Ash, Maple, Beech, Birch, Oak, Hickory and Apple. There are other hardwoods that will burn nicely as well, see here for a list of the best burning woods. Then there is the problem with seasoning the wood. Suppliers should deliver wood that is ready to burn and that has seasoned (dried) long enough that it burns readily and does not just sit there and sizzle at you when you try to light it. How long wood should season has much to do with many factors including when the wood was first cut, when it was split into burnable sizes, how long the wood has sat in a dry and well ventilated area and the type of wood that it is (different woods will dry at different rates). A simple way to test the seasoning of the wood is to take a piece of hardwood and bang it against a hard surface like your driveway or a brick wall. There should be a satisfying clink sound that has a musical note to it, often high pitched. If the wood makes a dull thud, it is either still quite wet or even worse, it could be old, rotten and water logged.
Finally, unscrupulous suppliers will sometimes dance around complaints when they are "found out" and the customer has a complaint. Remember, the wood is often dumped into your driveway or yard BEFORE you get to inspect it for quality and seasoning. And certainly, it is near impossible to tell how much wood is being delivered until you actually stack it and ascertain the volume of the stacked pile of wood. I've heard it all, but my least favorite reply to a complaint about quality or size is, "Hey man, you know how much work it is to cut this much wood?" Really, is that where we are in the world of firewood suppliers? As Harry S. Truman said, "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." Or as I would say, "Don't choose a job that you cannot do honestly."
I have purposely left out costs for cord wood from this post as prices vary widely depending on your location. But I would add that paying extra for "all oak" or "only select hardwoods" can be a problematic situation as firewood should only be hardwoods and anyone willing to sell you "non-select hardwoods?" you should view with some skepticism. As always, the best policy is "buyer beware" when it comes to purchasing firewood. Good luck!
