Load (unit)

The load (Latin: carrus, lit. "cartload"), also known as a fodder, fother, and charrus, was an English unit of weight or mass of various amounts, depending on the era and the substance being measured.

Lead load

The load of lead was 30 fotmals, 175 stone, or 2,100 Merchant pounds (approx. 918.5 kg).

"The Load of Lead doth consist of Thirty Fotmals, and every Fotmal containeth Six Stone, except Two Pound; and every Stone doth consist of Twelve Pound, and every Pound consisteth of the Weight of 25 Shillings,5 whereby the Sum in the Fotmal is Seventy Pound. But the Sum of the Stones in the Load is Eight Times Twenty and Fifteen, and it is proved by Six Times Thirty which is Nine Times Twenty. But of every Fotmal there are abated Two Pound in the foresaid Multiplication, which are Sixty, which make Five Stone. And so there are in the Load Eight Times Twenty and Fifteen as is aforesaid." - Tractatus de Ponderibus et Mensuris ^{[1] [2]}

Straw load

The load of hay or straw was 36 trusses or 1,296 pounds^[3] (now about 587.8557 kg).

Wood load

The American load of stacked firewood varied. A load of unhewn wood came to 1 ²⁄₃ cord-feet or 26 ²⁄₃ cubic feet (now about 0.75 m³), while a load of hewn wood came to 1 ²³⁄₄₀ cord-feet or 43 cubic feet^[4] (now about 1.19 m³).

Wool load

The load of wool was 12 wey or 108.13 sacks^[3] (now about 1371.66 kg).

See also

• English, Imperial, and US customary units

References

Citations

1. Ruffhead, Owen, ed. (1763a), The Statutes at Large, Vol. I: From Magna Charta to the End of the Reign of King Henry the Sixth. To which is prefixed, A Table of the Titles of all the Publick and Private Statutes during that Time, London: Mark Basket for the Crown, pp. 148–149. (English) & (Latin) & (Norman)
2. http://sizes.com/library/British_law/ponderibus.htm
3. Cardarelli (2003), p. 49.
4. Cardarelli (2003), p. 52.

Bibliography

• Cardarelli, François (2003), Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights, and Measures, London: Springer, ISBN 978-1-4471-1122-1.