Understanding Board Feet to US Bushels Conversion
The board foot (board-foot) is a lumber volume unit equal to a piece of wood 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 inch, about 2359.7 cubic centimeters, and is the standard for pricing and estimating sawn timber in North America. The US bushel (bu) is a dry-volume unit of exactly 2150.42 cubic inches (about 35.24 liters), used for grain, produce, and other agricultural goods. Converting board feet to US bushels is an unusual cross-domain comparison of two customary volume measures, useful for intuition about how a lumber volume relates to a familiar agricultural container.
Conversion Formula
To convert Board Feet to US Bushels, multiply by this factor:
Step-by-Step Example
Convert 25 Board Feet to US Bushels.
How to Convert Board Feet to US Bushels
Translate a lumber volume in board feet into US dry bushels with one factor.
- Note the volume in board feet: Start with your value in board feet.
- Multiply by 0.06696366: This gives the equivalent volume in US bushels.
- Report in bushels: The product is the volume in US bushels.
- Worked result: For 25 board feet, 25 × 0.06696366 = 1.67409 bushels.
Board Feet to US Bushels conversion table
| Board Feet (board-foot) | US Bushels (bu) |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 0.06696366 |
| 2 | 0.1339273 |
| 3 | 0.200891 |
| 4 | 0.2678547 |
| 5 | 0.3348183 |
| 6 | 0.401782 |
| 7 | 0.4687456 |
| 8 | 0.5357093 |
| 9 | 0.602673 |
| 10 | 0.6696366 |
| 15 | 1.004455 |
| 20 | 1.339273 |
| 25 | 1.674092 |
| 30 | 2.00891 |
| 40 | 2.678547 |
| 50 | 3.348183 |
| 60 | 4.01782 |
| 70 | 4.687456 |
| 80 | 5.357093 |
| 90 | 6.02673 |
| 100 | 6.696366 |
| 150 | 10.04455 |
| 200 | 13.39273 |
| 250 | 16.74092 |
| 300 | 20.0891 |
| 400 | 26.78547 |
| 500 | 33.48183 |
| 600 | 40.1782 |
| 700 | 46.87456 |
| 800 | 53.57093 |
| 900 | 60.2673 |
| 1000 | 66.96366 |
| 2000 | 133.9273 |
| 3000 | 200.891 |
| 4000 | 267.8547 |
| 5000 | 334.8183 |
| 10000 | 669.6366 |
| 25000 | 1674.092 |
| 50000 | 3348.183 |
| 100000 | 6696.366 |
| 250000 | 16740.92 |
| 500000 | 33481.83 |
| 1000000 | 66963.66 |
What is the Board Foot?
The board foot is a unit of volume used in North America to measure sawn lumber and hardwood. It represents a piece of wood one foot long, one foot wide, and one inch thick.
Definition
A board foot is defined as exactly 144 cubic inches — the volume of a board 12 in × 12 in × 1 in.
Equivalently, one board foot equals cubic foot, or 2,359.74 cubic centimetres.
Origin and History
The board foot arose in the 19th-century American and Canadian lumber trade as a practical way to price rough-sawn timber by wood content rather than by finished dimensions. Because a "1-inch" board and a "12-inch" width refer to nominal (pre-planing) sizes, the board foot standardized how mills, wholesalers, and builders quoted and sold lumber. It remains the customary trade unit in the United States and Canada today.
Law and Notable Facts
The board foot is recognized in U.S. and Canadian lumber commerce and standards, where large volumes are quoted in "thousand board feet" (MBF), with M denoting the Roman numeral for 1,000. Board-foot content is calculated from nominal dimensions, so a nominal "2×4" (actually about 1.5 in × 3.5 in when surfaced) is still counted at its nominal 2 in × 4 in size — meaning the buyer pays for wood removed during planing. Rough-sawn hardwoods are commonly measured in "quarters" of nominal thickness (4/4, 5/4, 8/4).
Real-World Examples and Conversions
- A board 8 ft long × 6 in wide × 1 in thick contains board feet.
- A nominal 2×4 stud 8 ft long counts as board feet.
- One thousand board feet (1 MBF) equals about 2.36 cubic metres of wood, a typical way to price bulk lumber shipments.
- One board foot equals roughly 2.36 litres, so a small stack of ten board feet holds about 23.6 litres of wood volume.
What is the US Bushel?
The US bushel is a large United States customary unit of dry volume used chiefly in agriculture to measure grain, fruit, and other bulk crops. It is the foundation of the US dry-measure system.
Definition
The US bushel (the Winchester bushel) is defined as exactly 2150.42 cubic inches.
This equals 2150.42 × 16.387064 cm³ = 35239.07 cm³. One bushel contains 4 pecks, 32 dry quarts, or 64 dry pints. It should not be confused with the imperial bushel (36.36872 L), which is about 3% larger.
Origin and History
The Winchester bushel dates to a 1696 English statute (with roots in medieval standards kept at Winchester) and was defined as a cylinder 18.5 inches in diameter and 8 inches deep, giving 2150.42 in³. The United States adopted this measure, while Great Britain replaced it with the imperial bushel in 1824.
Law and Notable Facts
Although volumetric by definition, US grain trading uses the bushel as a weight-based unit: legal "bushel weights" fix a bushel of wheat or soybeans at 60 pounds, corn and rye at 56 pounds, and oats at 32 pounds. Commodity exchanges quote grain prices per bushel on this weight basis.
Real-World Examples and Conversions
- A bushel of shelled corn weighs 56 lb (about 25.4 kg) and occupies roughly 35.24 liters of loose volume.
- 1 US bushel = 4 pecks = 8 US dry gallons = 35.2391 L.
- 1 US bushel ≈ 0.9689 imperial bushel; 1 cubic meter ≈ 28.38 US bushels.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many US bushels are in one board foot?
One board foot equals about 0.0669637 US bushels, so roughly 15 board feet make up one bushel of volume.
What is the reverse conversion?
Multiply US bushels by about 14.9335 to obtain board feet.
What exactly is a board foot?
A board foot is the volume of a board 1 ft × 1 ft × 1 in, about 2359.7 cm³, used to price and estimate sawn lumber in North America.
Is the US bushel a dry or liquid measure?
The US bushel is a dry-volume unit of exactly 2150.42 cubic inches, used for grains and produce, not for liquids.
When is this conversion practically useful?
It is mostly a comparison of two customary volume units, helpful for building intuition about how a lumber volume stacks up against a familiar agricultural bushel.