Empty wooden reels in Wyoming

A small population and a lot of cable

Wyoming has fewer people than any other state, yet it moves a great deal of energy: coal from the Powder River Basin, oil and gas from several basins, wind from the high plains along I-80, and the transmission lines that carry power out. Every one of those industries uses cable, and the reels end up empty at mine shops, oil field service yards, substations and contractor laydown areas far from any city.

That makes Wyoming reel lots unusual. They are fewer than in a populous state, but when they appear they can be large, and they are often heavy-duty reels from power and mine cable rather than building wire spools.

PacifiCorp, Powder River Energy and the rest

PacifiCorp, as Rocky Mountain Power, sold 8,758,784 MWh at retail in Wyoming in 2024, far more than anyone else on EIA's list. Its Wyoming customers include mines, trona plants and oil and gas operations as well as towns. Cheyenne Light Fuel & Power, a Black Hills Energy company, serves the capital. Powder River Energy Corp, a cooperative based around Gillette, serves the coal and gas country of the north-east. High Plains Power and Lower Valley Energy, two more co-ops, cover central Wyoming and the Jackson Hole and Star Valley area.

Co-op and utility crews in this country build long distribution lines to remote well sites, mines and ranches. The empties from that work are mostly mid-size URD and service reels, plus a regular stream of large power cable reels from industrial jobs.

Wind on I-80, and why it matters for empty reels

I-80 crosses southern Wyoming from Cheyenne over the Laramie summit and through Rawlins, Rock Springs and Evanston to Utah. It is one of the windiest stretches of interstate in the country, and the state regularly closes it to light, high-profile vehicles when gusts are strong. A trailer of empty reels is exactly that kind of load: tall and light. Winter closures for snow and blowing snow add to it.

So a Wyoming pickup on I-80 is booked for a window, not a moment. If wind closes the road the day the truck is due, it waits. We would rather plan for that than promise a date the weather won't keep.

Strap and block reels well on the trailer. Empty reels standing on their flanges can shift in crosswinds if they are not secured to each other and to the deck.

Gillette, Casper and the north

I-25 runs north from Cheyenne through Wheatland and Casper to Buffalo, where it meets I-90 coming west from Gillette and Sundance and continuing to Sheridan and Montana. Gillette, at the heart of the Powder River Basin, is the main source of mine and oil field reels in the north-east. Casper, in the middle of the state, is a service hub for oil and gas across central Wyoming.

Lots from the north often travel best with reels from south-eastern Montana or western South Dakota. Lots near Cheyenne pair easily with northern Colorado, only about 45 miles south on I-25 to Fort Collins.

Heavy-duty reels and how to grade them

Mine and industrial cable often ships on heavy-duty nailed wood reels, and some arrive with wood lagging around the flanges for protection. Under NEMA WC 26, wood lagging is the Class 4, extra heavy duty, wrap. Lagging on an empty reel tells a buyer the reel was built for a heavy load. Use is often hard, though: drive holes torn by payoff pins, flanges gouged by loaders, nails left from stripped lagging.

Grade honestly. A reel with two loose staves and a gouged flange still carries cable. A split arbor hole or a flange cracked through every ply does not. Separate those before the truck comes, and the count at loading will match the write-up.

BEAD in the least populous state

NTIA's June 2023 table gave Wyoming $347,877,921.27 in BEAD funds. Per resident, that is among the larger allocations, because the unserved homes are ranches and small towns spread across very long distances. Fiber routes here can run tens of miles between customers, plowed into the prairie or strung on long pole lines.

Fiber crews need empties with drums at least 20 times the cable's outside diameter, as NEMA WC 26 sets for fiber, and never under 12 inches. A clean 36x30x17 or 48x32x23, standard outside-plant fiber sizes in Superior Essex's published guide, fits most of that work.

What we need to quote a Wyoming lot

1. 01

   Sizes and counts

   Flange x traverse x drum for each size, from the stencil, and how many of each.

2. 02

   Condition photos

   A wide shot, a stencil per size, and close-ups of drive holes, arbor holes and any lagging.

3. 03

   Location

   Nearest town and road, and how far the yard is from I-80, I-25 or I-90.

4. 04

   Loading

   Forklift, telehandler, loader or none, and room for a 53-foot trailer to turn.