If you’re new to buying firewood for your fire pit from a local firewood seller, you might wonder what all the different titles for the various sizes of firewood bundles they sell mean.
Cords, half-cords, face cords, quarter-cord, quarter-face, eighth cord, and so on. There’s also the dreaded rick of wood, which I’ll discuss in this piece. The other sizes and names should make more sense after knowing about a rick.
A “rick” is a 4-foot-tall, 8-foot-long stack of firewood that comes in a range of widths depending on the firewood provider, area, and local market. A face chord is a term used to describe this setup.
A rick (or face cord) usually is available in 12 in., 16 in., or 24 in. widths. This means each fire wood log in a stack will be one of these three sizes. The most prevalent type of firewood is 16-inch logs.
It can confuse even if you know the calculations, and the one thing you want to know is how much is a rick of firewood, and how long should it last me? You don’t want to pay too much, yet you also need to know you have enough to last the cold spell. (Learn How To Get Stickers Off Wood)
Before ordering, ask your firewood supplier what a rick, or face cord, is and whether it matches what you know and meets your demands.
So you know more, you can use our guide to learn more about what is a rick of wood? By the end, you’ll know how much wood is in a rick and a rick of wood cost. You’ll be able to calculate exactly what you need and how many ricks you need to order from your firewood supplier.
How Much Should I Pay For a Rick Of Wood?
It varies on your region and dealer, just like everything else about a rick of wood. You should expect to pay between $150 and $250 for an oak rick or face cord.
The sort of wood you choose, such as black locust, red oak, maple, and others, can have a bearing. Seasoned wood, how it’s been seasoned, such as air-dried or kiln-dried, can all make a difference in cost and heat output.
With all of those elements in play, you’re more likely to get a range of prices rather than a specific price
To save on paying a delivery fee, some people choose to pick up the wood themselves. While this is ideal, not everyone has access to a truck for transporting firewood.
If you want it delivered, figure on a delivery price of roughly $1 to $2 for each loaded mile in the Midwestern United States.
Having firewood stacked can come with an additional cost when buying wood and can be around $20 to $30, but there are plenty of merchants who’ll do it for nothing. If you don’t want to stack your own firewood, talk to your dealer.
Some suppliers may not even offer a stacking service, so look at your alternatives before placing your order and having your wood delivered. (Learn How Much Does A Wood Chipper Cost)
How Big Is a Rick Of Wood?
According to the Oxford dictionary, the name “rick” is derived from an old English word that means “stack or mound,” usually of farm-related materials such as hay, wood, and other items left out in the open air.
The term spread to North America and is currently used in the Midwest of the United States.
It’s probably a good idea to know what a cord of wood is to understand how big a rick of wood is. One cord of wood is a stack of wood that measures 4 feet tall by 4 feet wide by 8 feet long.
A rick is essentially a fractional portion of a whole cord and offers the same amount. Based on the rick widths and the fact that a full cord of wood is 48 in. width, the table below divides firewood rick width by their respective size concerning a full cord.
- A 12 in. wide rick equals 1/4 of a cord of wood
- A 16 in. wide rick equals 1/3 of a cord of wood
- A 24 in. wide rick equals 1/2 of a cord of wood
The numbers offer possible dimensions of a rick:
- A 12 in. rick is 4 ft. high by 1 ft. wide by 8 ft long – known as a stove cord
- A 16 in. rick is 4 ft. high by 1.33 ft. wide by 8 ft. long
- A 24 in. rick will be 4 ft high by 2 ft. wide by 8 ft. long
With your firewood rick, you need to know the length of wood you will burn before purchasing, such as your fire pit or internal stove use, etc.
What Does a Rick of Wood Weigh?
Red and white oaks, which weigh nearly 2.5 tons (5,500 lbs) per cord, are at the top of the firewood weight scale. Your spruces, which weigh around 1.25 tons (2,500 lbs) per cord, are at the low end of the scale.
Using the width numbers from the previous section, a rick of wood can weigh anywhere between 2,750 and 625 pounds and could vary from different vendors based on drying and storing before they ship firewood to customers.
You could then fall short on what you were expecting based on wood size and wood fit into the measurement areas.
How Many Pieces of Wood Are in a Rick?
A single cord of wood contains between 550 and 650 pieces of seasoned wood that needs splitting.
So, exactly how much wood would you have? It all depends on how well it was cut and how securely the wood was packed. There are around 275 to 325 pieces of firewood when buying wood for heat. (Find the Best Respirator For Woodworking)
Plan and speak with the distributor about the different lengths available based on where you are. You don’t want to plan for a certain amount of wood only to get less than you expected.
When buying firewood logs, what type of wood offers the most bang for the buck? Black Locust and hickory are highly dense hardwoods that burn hot and long and are abundantly accessible throughout the United States. Both are near the top of the BTU* lists for firewood.
There are a variety of alternative wood species that provide a better firewood BTU, but most firewood dealers don’t stock them.
If black locust or hickory are unavailable, simple old white oak or oaks are excellent alternatives that burn beautifully and are widely available.
*A British Thermal Unit (BTU) is the heat required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. BTU ratings in firewood show a particular type of wood’s ability to provide a specific quantity of heat per cord. Heat energy is the term for this, and the bigger the number, the better.
What Is A Full Rick Of Wood?
A rick of firewood is a unit of measurement for the amount of wood used in a fire. A rick or face cord, unlike a cord of firewood, which is 128 cubic feet, is not a standard measurement and may vary from location to area.
The most significant disadvantage of purchasing a rick of wood is that you have no idea how much wood you will receive.
The amount of wood you get is determined by the length of the logs. A rick is roughly 1/3 of a standard cord when the logs are cut 16 inches long and stacked 4 feet high by 8 feet long.
The rick would equal a half cord if these same logs were chopped 24 inches long. As a result, the length of the logs has a direct bearing on the amount of wood you acquire.
Only by measuring the stack of wood and the lengths of the logs can you be sure. Most wood suppliers cut wood 16 inches long as a rule of thumb.
To put it another way, a rick or face cord of firewood is about 1/3 of a cord. Because most wood-burning homeowners heat their homes with a fireplace or wood stove, most stoves can take wood up to 16 inches in diameter.
Because wood cut to 24 inches is so long, it might pose issues with some of the smaller stoves, which is why it isn’t as popular. As previously said, the only method to determine how much wood you will receive is to measure it.
Many consumers have been duped since they have no idea what they are purchasing. It’s not unusual to come across firewood for sale already loaded in the back of a pickup truck.
The amount of wood that can be found in a pickup truck’s bed varies.
- Is it a pickup truck with a regular bed or a pickup truck with a short bed?
- Is the wood packed tightly?
- How high is the stack of wood?
- Is the wood splintered, or are the rounds still intact?
These variables affect how much wood you get, which is why it’s simplest to measure the wood when it’s appropriately piled.
To make matters even more confusing, the price of a typical rick of firewood or face cord varies from state to state and even from supplier to supplier.
Because no official measurement exists, take the time to measure it yourself to determine how many cubic feet of a rick of firewood you’re purchasing. Generally speaking, the only way for purchasing firewood is by the cord, which is 128 cubic feet in size, and what is a rick of wood may appear to be trivial as you may not get a consistent measurement from a dealer.
Quality Of Wood
Always buy quality hardwood or softwood that has been properly seasoned. Unless you specifically order green firewood, the wood should be grayish and split, and fit for burning.
Well-seasoned wood takes 6-12 months to season, so it isn’t ready to burn if the firewood delivered looks freshly cut.
If you buy green firewood, it should be cheaper because it will need to be seasoned for several months before it can be burned.
Typically will require longer to season since they are denser, and softwoods dry out a bit quicker.
Split the wood as soon as possible to expose as much surface area to the sun and wind as possible to speed up the drying process. The larger the exposed surface area, the faster your wood dries.
When stacking firewood, lift the wood off the ground using old pallets prevents firewood from soaking up ground moisture and letting wind flow under the firewood stack, thus aiding drying.
When you have a tarp to cover your stack, keep a third of your rick of firewood slightly exposed as your stack could grow moldy rather than keep your seasoned firewood dry.
