- Lane
- Orange County on the 5
- Freeways
- ZIP codes
- 92646
- 92647
- 92648
- 92649
- County
- Orange County
Empty cable reels picked up in Huntington Beach
We pick up empty wooden reels in Huntington Beach, mostly in the industrial area along Gothard Street and Bolsa Avenue and around the aerospace site on the north side. It is the far coastal end of our Orange County 5 and 405 lane.
What gets made in Huntington Beach
Huntington Beach is a beach city with a long industrial history. Oil was found here in the 1920s and wells still pump in parts of the city. Aerospace came later: Boeing's Huntington Beach site covers 187 acres and works on small satellites, protected communications, advanced manufacturing and unmanned underwater vehicles.
The city's main industrial area runs north-south along Gothard Street and the old railroad right-of-way, between Beach Boulevard and Goldenwest Street, with smaller pockets along Bolsa Avenue near the 405. Machine shops, fabricators, electronics firms, surf and marine businesses and contractors share it.
Southern California Edison serves the city, and its work on coastal circuits adds utility reels to the mix.
Aerospace, oil-field service and marine work each use cable in their own way: harnesses and control cable for aerospace, heavy power and instrument cable for the oil field, and marine-rated cable for boats and harbour work. Their empties span the range, from 24 inch plywood spools to 60 inch nailed reels. Because the city is at the end of the lane, stops here are grouped: a run that comes this far usually has three or four of them.
Where Huntington Beach's empty reels come from
- Aerospace and its suppliers
- Harness, control and data cable on 24 to 36 inch spools.
- Oil-field and industrial service
- Instrument and power cable on 36 to 60 inch reels from well and plant work.
- Machine shops and fabricators
- Shop rewires and new equipment empty smaller nailed reels.
How the Orange County on the 5 run reaches Huntington Beach
Huntington Beach is reached from the 405 at Beach Boulevard, Goldenwest Street or Bolsa Avenue, at the coastal end of the 5 and 405 run. Because it is out of the way, small stacks here wait for a run with several Huntington Beach or Costa Mesa stops. Beach traffic on summer weekends is a reason we load here on weekdays.
Other stops on the Orange County on the 5 lane: Santa Fe Springs, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Tustin, Irvine, Costa Mesa. Reels from Huntington Beach can share a deck with any of them.
Getting Huntington Beach's reels ready for the truck
Count by flange
Measure across the round end of each reel and group them: 24, 36, 48, 60 inch flanges are the sizes we see most from Huntington Beach. A phone photo of the stack helps us size the run. The measuring guide shows where to put the tape.
Stage them where a flatbed fits
Put the reels where a 53 foot flatbed can pull alongside off Interstate 405, not down a lane it cannot turn in.
Give us a window
Tell us the hours your gate is open and staffed. Stops on the Orange County on the 5 lane get a pickup window by email once the run is planned.
Say how they get lifted
A forklift on site loads anything up to 96 inches. Without one, reels up to about 42 inches can be tipped and rolled up a ramp; bigger ones need a lift.
Flag the stencilled ones
A reel painted with a cable maker's name may be returnable. Tell us and we will say whether it should go back to its owner before we take it.
After the run, sound reels from Huntington Beach are sorted for resale to contractors, makers and growers who want wooden spools; split flanges, torn arbor holes and rotten staves go to wood recycling. See resale or recycling for how a reel is graded.
Reel sizes that usually come out of Huntington Beach
| Flange | How it loads | Empties per 53 ft deck (est.) | Empty weight, lb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 in | Flat, stacked 4 high | 416 | 23 to 24 |
| 36 in | Flat, stacked 3 high | 102 | 64 to 77 |
| 48 in | On edge, two rows | 26 to 30 | 106 to 177 |
| 60 in | On edge, two rows | 24 to 28 | 187 to 347 |
Estimates from published reel and loading charts; method on reels per load.
Nearest areas to Huntington Beach on the grid
Straight-line miles between town centres, not road miles.
Other Orange County areas, by grid square
- Anaheim 92801F7
- Santa Ana 92701F8
- Irvine 92602G8
- Garden Grove 92840F8
- Fullerton 92831F7
- Orange 92865G8
- Costa Mesa 92626F9
- Tustin 92780G8
- Buena Park 90620F7
Huntington Beach pickup questions
How long do Huntington Beach ride-alongs wait?
Until a run has enough stops on the coast to make the detour worthwhile, usually days rather than weeks.
Do you collect from oil-field service yards?
Yes, empty reels from their yards. Reels from active well sites need the operator's say-so and a site contact.
What about Fountain Valley or Westminster?
Both are close to the 405 on the way in. Send the address and counts.
Do you take marine-cable reels from the harbour side?
Yes. Salt air weathers the wood, so we grade them on arrival; sound ones resell and the rest are recycled.