How Much Does a Cord of Wood Weigh?
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A full cord of dry firewood weighs anywhere from about 2,000 to 4,700 pounds, depending on the species. Dense hardwoods like oak and osage-orange sit at the top. Light woods like basswood and eastern redcedar sit at the bottom. Fresh-cut (green) wood is heavier still, because it is full of water.
The table below gives both weights for a full cord (128 cubic feet, stacked) of each species.
Weight per cord by species
| Species | Heat per cord (million BTU) | Weight per cord, dry (lb) | Weight per cord, green (lb) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osage-orange | 32.9 | 4728 | 5120 |
| Oak, Gambel | 30.7 | — | — |
| Oak, White | 29.1 | 4200 | 5573 |
| Locust, Black | 27.9 | 4016 | 4616 |
| Beech | 27.5 | 3760 | — |
| Pinyon | 27.1 | 3000 | — |
| Apple | 27 | 3888 | 4850 |
| Honeylocust | 26.7 | 3832 | 4640 |
| Oak, Bur | 26.2 | 3768 | 4960 |
| Mulberry | 25.8 | 3712 | 4712 |
| Maple, other (not silver) | 25.5 | 3680 | 4685 |
| Oak, Red | 24.6 | 3528 | 4888 |
| Ash, White | 24.2 | 3472 | 3952 |
| Walnut, Black | 22.2 | 3192 | 4584 |
| Juniper, Rocky Mountain | 21.8 | 3150 | 3535 |
| Larch (Tamarack) | 21.8 | 3330 | — |
| Coffeetree, Kentucky | 21.6 | 3112 | 3872 |
| Hackberry | 21.2 | 3048 | 3984 |
| Pine, Lodgepole | 21.1 | 2610 | — |
| Elm, Siberian | 20.9 | 3020 | 3800 |
| Birch | 20.8 | 2992 | 4312 |
| Douglas-fir | 20.7 | 2970 | 3319 |
| Cherry | 20.4 | 2928 | 3696 |
| Ash, Green | 20 | 2880 | 4184 |
| Elm, American | 20 | 2872 | 4456 |
| Sycamore | 19.5 | 2808 | 5096 |
| Hemlock | 19.3 | 2700 | — |
| Maple, Silver | 19 | 2752 | 3904 |
| Boxelder | 18.3 | 2632 | 3589 |
| Aspen, Quaking | 18.2 | 2160 | — |
| Redcedar, Western | 18.2 | 2632 | 2950 |
| Chestnut | 18 | — | — |
| Willow | 17.6 | 2540 | 4320 |
| Alder | 17.5 | 2540 | — |
| Catalpa | 16.4 | 2360 | 4560 |
| Pine, Ponderosa | 16.2 | 2336 | 3600 |
| Pine, White | 15.9 | 2250 | — |
| Cottonwood | 15.8 | 2272 | 4640 |
| Spruce | 15.5 | 2240 | 2800 |
| Spruce, Engelmann | 15 | 2070 | — |
| Fir, White | 14.6 | 2104 | 3585 |
| Basswood (Linden) | 13.8 | 1984 | 4404 |
| Buckeye / Horsechestnut | 13.8 | 1984 | 4210 |
| Redcedar, Eastern | 13 | 2060 | — |
Source: Utah State University Extension — Wood Heating, Table 1 (Firewood Facts)
Read the "dry" column for seasoned wood that has air-dried, and the "green" column for wood that was just cut. A blank means the source gives no figure for that case. The same table also lists heat per cord, which you can compare on the BTU chart.
Dry vs green: how much of a cord is water?
Take the difference between the two columns and you get the water that has to leave the wood before it burns well. All numbers come from the table above.
| Species | Green (lb) | Dry (lb) | Water lost (lb) | Share of green weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak, White | 5,573 | 4,200 | 1,373 | 25% |
| Oak, Red | 4,888 | 3,528 | 1,360 | 28% |
| Maple, other (not silver) | 4,685 | 3,680 | 1,005 | 21% |
| Birch | 4,312 | 2,992 | 1,320 | 31% |
| Cottonwood | 4,640 | 2,272 | 2,368 | 51% |
| Basswood (Linden) | 4,404 | 1,984 | 2,420 | 55% |
The math: water lost = green weight − dry weight, and share = water lost ÷ green weight.
Two things stand out:
- Light woods hold the most water. A green cord of cottonwood or basswood is more than half water, so it loses over half its weight as it dries.
- Green wood is never a fair weight comparison. A green cord of cottonwood (4,640 lb) weighs about the same as a green cord of red oak (4,888 lb), yet the dry oak holds far more heat. Compare species on their dry weight, and see how long to season firewood for drying times.
Weight of a face cord or half cord
A face cord is only part of a full cord (see face cord vs full cord), so its weight is the same fraction of the full cord weight. With 16-inch pieces, a face cord is one third of a cord:
- Dry red oak: 3,528 ÷ 3 = 1,176 lb per face cord
- Green red oak: 4,888 ÷ 3 = 1,629 lb per face cord
- Dry cottonwood: 2,272 ÷ 3 = 757 lb per face cord
A half cord of dry white oak is 4,200 ÷ 2 = 2,100 lb, just over a ton.
Why the weight matters
- Hauling. A pickup bed can hold the volume of a cord long before it can safely carry the weight of a cord of oak. Look up your truck's payload rating in the owner's manual and compare it to the figures above. If the load is over the limit, make two trips or have the seller deliver.
- Checking a delivery. Weight can't prove you got a full cord, because moisture and how tightly the wood is packed change it. Measure the stack instead: 4 ft high × 8 ft long × 4 ft deep is 128 cubic feet. The cord calculator does the math for any stack size.
- Spotting wet wood. If a "seasoned" cord feels much heavier than the dry weight for that species, it is probably not dry yet.
The figures here are table values for solidly stacked air-dried or green wood. Real loads vary with moisture, piece size and how tightly the wood is stacked, so treat them as a good estimate, not an exact scale reading.