How heavy is wood?

[Frank Kobilsek]

OK that might look like a dumb question but here is why I ask.

The city dump finally locked me out. In the past I could go to the dump and cut all the wood I wanted. There were rules against non City employees running chain saws there but if you picked your times appropriately, donated a bowl everytime the fire department had a fundraiser, delivered a box of donuts to the city garage once in while and run the Mayor's re-election campaign, they'd look the other way. The Mayor called and said Frank you gotta follow the rules.

Here is their compromise for me a the other wood grubbers around. They will have a loader and a man there every Monday evening from 4 to 6:00 PM and they will load trucks, trailers, whatever but no cutting by them or me.

So my question is when I look at a log how can I guess its weight? Is there an easy way, math I can run in my head quick before I say 'throw that one on'. I don't want to destroy my truck or the borrowed trailer I will use.

Thanks
Frank

[Jason Christenson]

I would say...17 lbs. :)

[Gary Herrmann]

Logs will be heavier than you think. I have a chunk of honey locust in the basement. Maybe 20-22" in diameter and 24-26" long. I'm guessing that thing had to weigh at least 80 lbs. Maybe 100. It was pretty wet and locust is dense. I should have just let it roll down the stairs...

[Brent Ring]

I had three 24" diameter by 16' walnut logs, bark on, and my trailer weight registered just over 1 ton!

[Dennis Ford]

If the wood is green, estimate its density to be the same as water (~62 lb/cu.ft). Most green wood will barely float in water so this estimate will be slightly higher than the actual weight (giving you a safety margin). I would use this formula and measure the diameter of wood only (no bark).

[Diameter (in) squared] X length (ft) X 0.338 for weight in lbs

The tricky part is guessing an average diameter for the pieces that us turners are likely to want.:confused:

[Jerry Gerard]

Play around with this > http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/calculators/calc.pl?calculator=log_weight you'll see it depends on the wood . Just for kicks I put in a 12" x12" 5 foot piece of Butternut it came out to 220 lbs the same size in Walnut was 376 lbs. Remember its just estimated weight .

[Keith Cope]

There is a log weight calculator out there (although where I cannot say...). If you google "log weight calculator" you'll find it. And Gary is right...they will be heavier than you think!
Keith

[Dale Miner]

Figure an 18" dia log at 110# per foot, a 24" dia log at 190# per foot.

[Harvey M. Taylor]

16 ozs. to the pound, guaranteed.

[Marc Martindale]

I wish I could help, but I'm still stumped by the question of "what's heavier - a pound of feathers or a pound of lead"

[Frank Kobilsek]

Thanks Guys

I used Jerry's Calculator to come up with a range for local wood pretty close to what Dale said.

Frank

[Richard M. Wolfe]

You can follow the link as Jerry suggsted and use the Woodweb calculator to find a log weight. Trouble is, until you locate the log you can't figure it. You might use the calculator to figure one foot lengths of various diameters and make a small table for the different species you find where you live. Take the table with you and multiply diameter by length, averaging end diameters. If it's species you don't know just guess at something you figure at least as heavy.

I can understand the city having problems with liability. I also say good for them finding a way to make a resource available to people if for nothing other than firewood and not just burying it.

[John Shuk]

use this log weight calculator
http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/calculators/calc.pl?calculator=log_weight

[Chuck Jones]

Dale's rule of thumb is going to be darned close... a little heavy for some species. I pick up and handle a lot of logs with a skid-steer and a 1-ton flatbed or 20' trailer. I sure don't weigh them, but by now I can pretty well tell when one's "too heavy".

In addition to the weight, watch out for knots or limbs. I've broken a couple floor boards on my trailer when a heavy log rolled over onto a knot.

"Scotch and tie". Don't know where "Scotch" came from but it means put some good wedges to keep the log from rolling and tie it down. Them suckers can really build up a head of steam when you swerve or turn a corner.

And last but not least, how you gonna get it off when you get home?