Broken reels

What counts as broken

A reel is broken when it is no longer safe to carry cable or to roll. The damage we see most often in the Delaware Valley comes from three places: forklifts, weather and reel stands.

• Forklift damage. A fork driven into a flange instead of under the drum splits the boards. A reel dropped on its edge cracks the flange along the grain.
• Weather. Reels left standing on soil soak up water from the bottom rim. The wood swells, freezes in winter and splits. A reel that has sat in one spot for a couple of years can look fine from the top and be soft at the bottom.
• Reel stands and jacks. The arbor shaft wears the centre hole oval, or a jack spike splits the wood around it. A damaged arbor hole is one of the conditions manufacturer return programmes check, because the reel will wobble on a stand.
• Pulled lagging. Lagging is nailed across the flange rims. Tearing it off quickly takes chunks of rim with it and leaves bent nails sticking out.
• Loose drums. As a reel dries out after being wet, the staves shrink and work loose from the flanges. A drum that clicks or shifts when the reel is rolled is close to failing.

What can be repaired

Some damage is minor. A single missing lagging nail, one cracked board on the face of a flange where the cross-layer behind it is sound, or surface weathering on a reel that is still solid does not stop reuse. Small plywood spools with a chipped edge are often still useful for light wire or hose. Whether a reel is worth repairing depends on its size: replacing a stave on a 72-inch reel is worth it, and on a 24-inch spool it usually is not.

What cannot

A reel is recycling only when:

• a flange board is split through both layers, or a piece of the rim is missing;
• more than a couple of staves are missing or loose;
• the arbor hole is cracked, oval, or burnt;
• the wood is soft, black or crumbles under a screwdriver;
• the reel has been cut, drilled for other uses or burnt;
• a plastic flange is cracked from rim to hub.

Safety with broken reels

Broken reels behave unpredictably. A reel with a cracked flange can collapse when rolled, and one with loose staves can fold if lifted by a fork under the drum. Do not stand on a broken reel or roll it towards anyone. Leave them where they are if moving them is risky; the driver brings the right equipment. Watch for nails: broken reels have a lot of them, and pulled lagging leaves the worst. Gloves and boots are worth it even for a quick look.

How to describe the damage

You do not need trade words. "One flange split down the middle", "about a third of the drum slats gone", "the centre hole is cracked out to the edge", "soft at the bottom where it sat in the grass" all tell us what we need. Photos help most for the arbor hole and the bottom rim, the two places damage hides. Count broken and sound reels separately if you can, because the reply treats them differently.

Preventing the next broken reel

Most damage is avoidable. Stand empties on their flange edge on gravel, concrete or a pallet. Lift big reels with forks under the drum, never through the flange boards. Remove lagging with a bar, nail by nail, rather than tearing it off with a loader. Keep reels away from where vehicles turn. Collect them before winter if they are outside: a season of freeze and thaw splits more reels than years of careful use.

Steel and plastic reels that are broken

Broken steel reels still belong to their maker in most cases, so they are not ours to recycle. We tell you which maker it is so you can ask about their damaged-reel rules. Broken plastic spools are recycled as plastic where the plastic type allows, and otherwise disposed of properly.

Common causes of damage

Most broken reels were hurt by handling: forklift tines punching through a flange, a reel dropped off a tailgate, rolling over a kerb, or a stack collapsing. Weather does the rest. Termites and carpenter ants occasionally attack reels that sit on soil for years. Fire, flood and chemical spills ruin reels outright. Identifying the cause helps prevent the next one: longer forks, ramps instead of drops, chocks, pallets under stacks and cover from rain all extend a reel's life.

Repair kits

Replacement boards, exterior screws, construction adhesive, carriage bolts and metal mending plates rescue many reels with a single cracked flange.

Insects, mould and fungus

White fuzz, black staining, sawdust trails or tunnels mean mould or wood-boring insects have moved in. Those reels should not go indoors or near a house; they go straight to grinding.

Questions

Can I break the reel up myself to save space?

You can, but whole reels are easier for us to handle and to check. If you do break them up, keep the nails and bolts out of the wood pile, and do not burn painted or treated wood.

Will you take a single broken reel?

If it is near other pickups or comes with sound reels, yes. A single broken small spool on its own is usually better taken apart and put in household recycling and bulk waste.

Do you charge for broken reels?

Broken reels in a mixed load are usually collected at no charge. A load that is all broken wood may carry a charge, stated in the reply before anything is booked.