Cable reels for sale

What we sell

The reels we sell are empties: nailed wood and plywood reels that carried wire, cable, fiber or rope once and came off the job or out of a plant yard with plenty of use left in them. A reel maker builds new reels to a cable plant's spec. We move the ones that already exist from the yard that has too many to the crew, shop or plant that needs them.

Most buyers come to us for one of three things. A contractor or utility crew needs reels to take up pulled-back cable or to hold cut lengths. A shop or small plant winds its own product, such as rope, hose or wire, and wants a steady supply of one size. Or someone needs one or two reels for a project. We handle all three, but the desk is built around lots, because that is where freight makes sense.

We don't sell steel reels, plastic reels or new reels made to order, and we don't ship outside the US. If you need new reels built to a drawing, a maker such as Ely Reel or Sonoco is the right call, and we say so.

Pick the page that fits what you are buying

Each buying page covers one kind of request in detail. Start with the one closest to yours; the quote form is the same everywhere.

What we need from you to quote

A reel quote is only as good as the details behind it. The more of these you give us on the request form, the fewer emails it takes to get to a firm price.

• Size as flange x traverse x drum in inches, for example 48x36x24. If a range works, give the range.
• Count: how many reels, and whether the count is firm or a target.
• One size or a few sizes, and which ones you can swap if the exact size is short.
• The condition you can accept: carries cable again, needs minor repair, or cosmetic only.
• What will go on the reel and roughly how much, so we can check the size against the footage.
• Your arbor shaft or payoff stand size, if the arbor hole matters to your equipment.
• Delivery ZIP and the date you need them by.
• Unloading access: forklift and dock, dock only, or ground level with no forklift.

How a buy quote works

1. 01

   You send the request

   Fill in the request form on this page with size, count, ZIP and unloading access. Photos of a reel you already use, with its stencil showing, settle the size faster than anything else.

2. 02

   We match it to a lot

   We look for a reel lot that fits: right size, right count, condition you can accept, and a pickup point that keeps freight to your ZIP reasonable.

3. 03

   You get a written quote

   The quote names the size, count and condition notes of the lot, the price per reel, the freight, and the total. Freight is shown on its own line so you can see what the trailer costs.

4. 04

   We book the trailer

   Once you accept, we arrange the pickup at the seller's site and a delivery window at yours, and confirm what equipment the driver expects at each end.

5. 05

   You check it at unloading

   Count the reels and check them against the write-up before the driver leaves. Note anything wrong on the delivery paperwork and send us photos.

Why lot size changes the price per reel

Freight is paid by the trailer, not by the reel. A trailer costs about the same to move whether it carries 8 big reels or 200 small ones, so the reel's share of that cost falls fast as the count rises. Sonoco's published trailer counts show the spread: about 8 reels of 96x60x42 fill a trailer, while a trailer holds up to 200 reels of 36x24x17.

For a buyer that means two things. A full trailer of one size is the cheapest way to buy per reel. And if you only need a few reels, your price depends heavily on whether a lot is already moving near you. We look for that before quoting a small order on its own trailer.

What a used reel's condition notes mean

Every reel in a lot gets a condition note in plain words, because a grade letter on its own tells you nothing. The note covers the parts that decide whether the reel carries cable again: the arbor hole, the staves, the flanges and the drive holes.

A sound arbor hole and a full set of staves are what most buyers care about first. A 48x36x24 with two loose staves still carries cable once they are nailed back. A split arbor hole or a flange cracked through the ply doesn't, and we won't sell that reel as reusable. Weathered faces, old stencils and tie-off holes that need a patch are cosmetic and are noted as such.

For a sense of the standard the trade uses, Service Wire's return program only accepts reels with an undamaged arbor hole and at least 75% of stave boards intact. We describe each reel against the same kind of checks, so you know what you are buying before it ships.

Before the trailer arrives

Plan where the reels will sit before you accept a quote. Wood reels keep best off standing water, on gravel, concrete or dunnage, and stood on a flange so the drum stays dry and nothing rolls. A reel left lying on its rim in mud soaks up water through the lower flange edge, and that edge is where rot starts.

Check the route in, too. A 53 foot trailer needs room to turn and a firm surface to park on while it is unloaded. Overhead wires, soft shoulders, low gates and narrow drives are the usual reasons a delivery stalls. If the drop point is a fenced lot that opens at set hours, put the hours in the notes so the driver isn't left waiting with a loaded truck.

Big reels need the right gear to come off safely. Forks must be long enough to reach under the whole flange, or a bar through the arbor hole and a lifting rig must be on hand. Small reels can be walked off a dock by hand. Tell us which you have, and we quote a trailer type that suits it.

Where the reels come from

Empty reels pile up wherever cable gets used: utility yards, contractor laydown areas, fiber build staging yards, wire distributors and the plants themselves. Manufacturer take-back programs only take their own reels, often only in full truckloads, so empties from other makers and mixed sizes have no return route and sit.

That is our supply. Demand is steady too. US utilities put $50.9 billion into distribution in 2023 according to the EIA, and the approved BEAD broadband plans cover about 3.79 million locations, most of them fiber. Every one of those builds turns full reels into empty ones, which is why the right size usually exists somewhere, and the job is getting it to you at a fair freight cost.