Guides

Reel sizes explained

Reels are named in three numbers: flange diameter, inside traverse and drum diameter, in inches. A 36 × 18 × 12 reel has a 36 inch flange, 18 inches between the flanges and a 12 inch drum. For a pickup, only the first number matters, because the flange decides whether a reel stacks flat or stands on edge and how many fit on a 102 inch deck. For reusing a reel, the other two matter: the traverse and drum set how much cable it holds, and the overall width sets how tall it stands as a table. Start with reels by size and type for the full range.

What makes a reel resellable

Four things: flat flanges, every stave in place, a round arbor hole, and dry, sound wood. A reel with all four has buyers among contractors, growers and makers. A split flange or a chewed arbor hole usually means recycling, not resale. No reel is worth much on its own; a pickup that collects many cheaply is what makes resale work.

Take-back programs and when to use them

A full truck of one maker's reels, in good condition, fits that maker's take-back program if it runs one. Service Wire's, for example, takes its own nailed reels from 30 to 72 inches in full truckloads, with sound wood and undamaged arbor and drive holes. A mixed stack, a part load or a dozen reels in four sizes does not, and that is what our runs are for. The take-back programs page sets them side by side.

Handling safely

Reels are round and heavy. Never stand downhill of one, never roll one faster than walking pace, and chock any reel that stands on edge. Above 48 inches, use a forklift. The securing reels page shows how drivers chock and strap them on a flatbed, and the same chocks work in a yard.

Storing reels while they wait

Keep reels off bare soil, on their flanges or on edge with chocks, out of standing water and away from a fence line where weeds grow through them. A reel stored dry for a year still sells. A reel left in a puddle for a winter usually doesn't.

Who writes these

The guides come from the same arithmetic and handling rules our runs follow: deck counts from the loading charts cable makers publish, weights from reel tables, legal truck limits from Caltrans, and the habits of drivers who chock and strap reels every working day. Where a guide cites a figure, the source is listed at the bottom of its page.