Inspector":1micbkb5 said:
I found a chart and calculators that will tell you how much wood is in a tree. Pete
In addition, if you wish to undertake some calculations yourself, here are formulae you might use, basically lifted out of my book, Cut & Dried, and tweaked a bit.
The Hoppus Feet yield of hardwood round logs (sawlogs) and veneer logs is calculated by taking 1/4 of the log’s girth in inches (usually) at the log’s midpoint length, squaring the result and dividing this by 144. Finally the number of log length feet multiplies the result of the previous sum. The formula is written: Hoppus Volume (h ft) = ((Mid Quarter Girth in inches)²/144) X Length in Feet.
Example: Let’s say the girth of a 16 foot long log measured at the midpoint of the length is 69 inches. The quarter girth measurement is therefore 17.25 inches.
Calculate
17.25² / 144) X 16 ft = 33.06 h ft. One Hoppus foot equals 1.273 true ft³ or roughly 21 percent greater than a true cubic foot including an allowance built in to the h ft for the loss of material during the milling of a butt or log. 33.06 ft X 1.273 = ~42.1 ft³.
If you want to go all North American on it you could use the Doyle Scale as follows:
The estimated volume yield is calculated using the log length rounded down to the nearest foot length and the diameter at the log’s small end, i.e., the end at the top of the living tree trunk. The diameter of the log is measured under the bark twice at the narrow end, once one way and then again at right angles to the first measurement. The result of the two measures is averaged and used for subsequent calculations.
The formula for the Doyle Scale is: bd ft = (D-4)² X (L/16) where D = log diameter at the small end inside the bark, and L = log length.
Example Sum: Using this formula where the diameter (D) = 20 inches, and the log length (L) is 16 feet the sum is,
(20-4)² X (16/16) = 256 bd ft, and to convert to cubic feet, 256/12 = 21.33 ft³.
Note: A bd ft is 1/12 of a cubic foot. Slainte.
