Steel reels

A steel reel is not yours to sell

Steel reels are the clearest case in the catalogue. Cable makers build them for heavy power cable, where a wooden reel would be too weak or too big, and they build them to come back. A steel reel is an expensive piece of equipment that the maker expects to fill again many times. Southwire's reel information is plain about it: wooden reels are non-returnable with no deposit, while steel reels are returnable, with charges, and the customer is credited if the reel comes back within 12 months. Other cable makers run their own versions of the same arrangement. So the catalogue row for steel reels does not offer a price. It says returnable, and this page explains what that means for the person holding one.

How a steel reel is built

The flanges are welded steel: a rim, spokes or a solid disc, and often a stiffening ring. The drum is a steel tube or a set of welded slats. Heavy steel reels have steel tyres around the flange rims so they can be rolled on concrete without damage. The arbor hole is a steel bushing, and Southwire lists arbor holes from 3 inches up to 7⅝ inches on its steel reels, much larger than the 3⅛-inch hole on wooden reels. Most steel reels carry the maker's name, a reel number and sometimes a return address painted or welded on.

Published examples

Southwire's S series are its steel reels. Examples from its reel information include the S-62 at 60 x 28 x 28 inches and 340 pounds, the S-77 at 66 x 32 x 36 inches and 400 pounds, the S-120 at 84 x 36 x 42 inches and 895 pounds, and the S-300 at 96 x 60 x 42 inches and 1,082 pounds. Steel reels for the largest cables go well beyond that, up to around 158 inches across. The 60-inch, 66-inch, 84-inch and 96-inch size pages show the steel examples beside wooden reels of the same class.

What to do with an empty steel reel

1. Read the stencil. Find the maker's name and the reel number, painted on the flange or stamped on a plate.
2. Find out who bought the cable. The deposit or charge was paid by the buyer, often a contractor or distributor, not the site owner. The credit goes back to them.
3. Contact the maker or the distributor. They arrange collection, usually with their own carrier, and credit the account.
4. Keep it safe until then. Store it on its rims on hard ground, chocked, and keep it out of the scrap pile.

If you send us a list that includes steel reels, the reply names the maker of each one and points you to the right return route. We do not buy them, scrap them or move them without the owner's say-so.

Steel reels found on a site

Steel reels sometimes outlive the project that used them: the contractor moves on, the reel stays in the corner of a yard, and years later a new owner wants it gone. Even then, the reel belongs to its maker. Makers want their reels back and will usually collect them once they know where they are. Photograph the stencil and the reel number and contact the maker. The guide to manufacturer reel return programs lists what to have ready.

Handling

Steel reels are heavy and hard on equipment. Lift them with forks under the drum or with a spindle through the arbor bushing, never by a flange. Steel tyres make them easy to roll on flat concrete and dangerous on any slope. Chock them every time they stop.

Steel reels in utility and industrial yards

Steel reels in this market sit mostly in utility contractors' yards, at substations, and at large industrial sites along the Delaware. They arrive full of heavy medium- and high-voltage cable and wait, sometimes for months, until the cable has been pulled and the reel is collected by its maker. Some are forgotten when a project ends or a contractor changes. A property manager taking over a site in Delaware County or a warehouse operator in Gloucester County may find one rusting in a corner years later. It is still the maker's, and the steps above still apply.

Why we never scrap them

A steel reel can look like scrap: rusty, heavy, plainly unwanted by anyone on the site. Scrapping it would turn someone else's equipment into cash for whoever loads it, and makers do trace their reel numbers. So we leave steel reels where they are, record their numbers, and tell the holder who to call. If a load we collect turns out to have a steel reel hidden under wooden ones, it is set aside and the holder told the same day.

Why steel lasts

Welded steel reels survive many trips, so owners invest in them, track them and repaint them. That is exactly why found ones must go home.

Galvanised versus painted

Hot-dip galvanised reels look dull grey and resist rust for decades; painted ones show colour-coded owner liveries that chip and corrode at edges.

Questions

What if the maker no longer exists?

Cable companies merge and change names; the reel usually passes to the successor. If no owner can be found after a real effort, a scrap metal dealer can advise on the steps to take before scrapping it.

Is a wooden reel with a steel arbor plate a steel reel?

No. That is a heavy wooden reel, covered by bolted wood reels.

Are all steel reels returnable?

Nearly all. A plain steel reel with no stencil, number or maker's marking is rare; treat any steel reel as returnable until shown otherwise.