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What Size Firewood Rack Holds a Cord?

what size firewood rack holds a cord

Getting the right size firewood rack is essential for aesthetic and functional purposes. The rack needs to be large enough to hold the amount of firewood you have, but you don’t want to get one so large that it wastes a lot of space. What size firewood rack should you get if you have a cord of wood?

In most cases, a cord of wood will call for a firewood rack that is 16 feet long or 192 inches long. Firewood racks of this length are typically designed to hold 128 feet of stacked firewood, which is the definition of a cord.

To learn more about what sized firewood rack you should get based on the dimensions of your stack, keep reading. This article first answers what size firewood rack is best for a cord and then provides dimensions for other rack sizes.

Firewood Rack Wood Holding Capacities

Here is a small table showing how much firewood a rack can hold based on the size:

Size of Firewood RackAmount of Wood that Rack Can Hold
4ft Rack1/4 Cord
6ft Rack3/8 Cord
8ft Rack1/2 Cord
16ft Rack1 Cord

What Size Firewood Rack for a Cord?

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Firewood stacks are measured in cords. It’s essential to understand what a cord is whenever looking for appropriate racks. Simply put, one cord of firewood is 128 cubic feet.

Whenever you are shopping for a rack to hold a cord of firewood, it needs to be able to hold 128 cubic feet. In most cases, firewood racks designed to hold one cord at a time are 16 feet long. Anything shorter than 16 feet holds less than a cord. Most firewood racks have to be specially made if you want them to be longer than 16 feet.

That being said, you may find firewood racks that are slightly different in dimensions. That’s OK. Just do the math yourself to ensure that the rack can hold 128 cubic feet. In most cases, you’ll want to find a rack that is 16 feet long.

The easiest way to store and season your firewood is with a firewood log rack like this one by Woodhaven. Its structural integrity is very sound, and will keep your firewood off of the ground. It also comes with its own cover that will cover the top 12″ of your firewood.

What Are the Dimensions of a Cord of Firewood?

As we learned above, a cord of firewood is 128 cubic feet. What exactly do cubic feet measure?

Cubic feet are measured whenever width, height, and length are multiplied together. In the case of cords, the firewood stacks are 2 ft W x 4 ft H x 16 ft L. As a result, the dimensions of a cord of firewood are 2 ft W x 4 ft H x 16 ft L in most cases.

Whenever you are looking for a rack, you will want the dimensions to mimic the dimensions of the cord of firewood. In some cases, the rack may be a bit higher than four feet so you have a bit of wiggle room, and there might be a slightly larger ledge than two feet.

What Size Firewood Rack for 1/2 Cord?

If you know what size firewood rack you need to get for one cord, it’s pretty easy to deduce the rest, especially when you are looking for 1/2 a cord. If one cord requires 16 feet, all you need to do is get a rack half the size is 16 foot one.

As a rule of thumb, the standard firewood rack for 1/2 cord is 87 to 96 inches. That is about 7 ¼ to 8 feet. In other words, you want a rack that is half the size of the 16 foot rack. The width and height of the firewood rack would be the same as above, 2 feet wide and 4 feet high, and 7 ¼ to 8 feet long.

Of course, the measurements do not have to be exact. If you already own a 16 foot rack but only have half a cord, that’s OK. You can still stack the wood on the rack. There will just be a lot of extra space.

How Much Firewood Does a 4 Ft Rack Hold?

If you have a 4 foot firewood rack, you can do some math to deduce how much firewood this rack would hold. Because an 8 foot rack is designed to hold half a cord, you can assume that a 4 foot rack would hold ¼ of a cord.

To further show that you should get a 4 foot rack if you have ¼ a cord, you can do the math. Taking ¼ of 128 cubic feet is 32 cubic feet. Now, multiply the width by the height by the length in order to get 32 cubic feet. 2 ft W x 4 ft H x 4 ft L.

This math proves you need a 4 foot rack if you want to hold ¼ cord.

How Much Wood Does a 6 Foot Rack Hold?

If you have a 6 foot rack, it will be able to hold about 3/8 a cord. This number may be a bit difficult to imagine. A 3/8 cord is bigger than 1/4 cord, but it is smaller than 1/2 cord. It’s pretty difficult to purchase a cord of this size, but you get there as you use some firewood.

If you don’t trust us, you can do the math yourself. The general dimensions for a 6 foot rack are 2 ft W x 4 ft H x 6 ft L. Multiply 2 by 4 by 6 and you have 48. 48 is 3/8 of 128, meaning it can hold 48 cubic feet or 3/8 of a cord.

How Much Firewood Does an 8 Foot Rack Hold?

An 8 foot rack is designed to hold half a cord. An 8 foot rack can generally hold 64 cubic feet of firewood. This is a good rack size if you use quite a bit of firewood but do not have space for a 16 foot rack.

What Size Firewood Rack Should I Get?

What size firewood rack you should get ultimately depends on how much wood you intend to carry and how much space you have. Here’s a better look at these two factors when considering firewood rack size.

Firewood

You always want to get a firewood rack that is big enough to handle all of the firewood you want to hold. If you have an entire cord a fire would but only have the 6 foot rack, you’re only going to end up holding 3/8 of the cord. You’ll have to find another place for the rest.

So, figure out how much firewood you need to hold and go from there.

Area

Of course, you can’t forget about how much space you will need to set up the rack. If you simply do not have enough space for a 16 foot rack, you will have to go smaller.

When considering how much space you have, look at the dimensions, meaning the width, height, and length. This will ensure you have enough area for your chosen rack fr4om all fronts.

Final Thoughts

Once again, a 16 foot long firewood rack is normally designed to hold one cord. However, this length will change depending on the height and width of the rack. Just make sure that the rack can hold 128 cubic feet of firewood, which is the definition of a cord.

Now that you know what size rack you should get for one cord, you can easily do the math and figure out what rack you should get based on the amount of firewood you have, whether you have one cord or half a cord.

Regardless of how much firewood you want to carry, make sure to double-check that your rack matches the amount of firewood you need to carry and your area.

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