What is a cord?
And how to avoid paying too much for one
Firewood quantities are sometimes difficult to estimate. The official measurement of firewood is a “cord”. To help you make an accurate estimate, here is how some common units of firewood measurement compare to the full cord.
A full cord is a large amount of wood. It measures 4 feet high by 4 feet wide by eight feet long (4' x 4' x 8') and has a volume of 128 cubic feet.
Firewood is usually sold as a fraction of a full cord. A fraction of a cord of wood is four feet high by eight feet long and 
is as wide as the individual firewood pieces. A common fraction of a cord has pieces averaging 16"- 20" and is equal to one-third of a full cord.
A 'full' cord measures 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. and is the official, standard firewood measure. But four foot pieces are never used for home heating, and dealers rarely sell four foot pieces. So firewood is not offered for sale in the form of its official unit measurement. This is why buying firewood can be confusing.
Other terms, such as face cord, stove cord or furnace cord are sometimes used to describe a stack of wood measuring 4 ft. high, 8 ft. long with a piece length shorter than 4 ft. A common firewood piece length is 16 in., or one-third of a full cord, but other lengths are also available.
These various terms and cord measures can be confusing when you are purchasing firewood. If you want to compare prices from a number of suppliers, take a tape measure to the dealers' yards and measure the average piece length. If the dealer does not price the wood in the standard full cord measure, convert the price to this basic unit. Here are some examples to illustrate the conversion.
Our Firewood is Sold in (1) Full Pallet a little less than (1/2 cord) 48” Wide X 48” Tall X 40” Long ( Square Pallet ) or (1/2) Pallet (1/4 cord) 48” Wide X 24” Tall X 40” Long