Wooden reels with a 66 inch flange

Six published 66s on two drum sizes

At 66 inches the tables split into two families. Okonite's reels all ride on a 36 inch drum: a 66x32x36 and a 66x36x36, each in a lighter build rated for about 4,500 lb of cable and a heavier one rated for about 7,000 lb. Anixter's NEMA table and Sonoco's packing guide both use the 66x36x36. Southwire's 66s use a 30 inch drum and a 28 inch traverse: the A-76 for bare aluminum and ACSR and the N-76 for lighter loads, both coded NR 66.28.

Southwire also lists a steel 66x32x36, the S-77, coded RM 66.32 for a returnable metal reel, about 400 lb with a 3 inch arbor hole. It shares its three numbers with Okonite's wooden 66x32x36. A tape measure will not tell them apart; a magnet will.

A-76 or N-76: a hundred pounds apart

Southwire's two wooden 66s have the same size, the same out-to-out within 1.5 inches and the same Aluminum Association code, and yet the A-76 weighs about 473 lb and the N-76 about 370 lb. The letter tells you why. A series reels are nailed wood built for bare aluminum and ACSR conductor; N series reels are plywood and nailed wood for lighter loads. The extra 100 lb is wood in the flanges and drum.

On the used market the A-76 is the one a line crew wants for heavy conductor, and the N-76 is fine for lighter respooling. We list them as separate lines, and we ask sellers to read the class off the stencil rather than call them all 66s.

What a 36 inch drum will and won't take

The large drum is the point of a 66. Under the NEMA minimum drum multiples in Anixter's Table 10.1, a 36 inch drum takes tape shielded cable of about 1.8 to 2.55 inches at 14 to 20 times, interlocked armor and corrugated sheath cable up to about 2.55 inches at 14 times, wire armored cable up to 2.25 inches at 16 times, and fiber up to 1.8 inches at 20 times. Aluminum sheathed cable needs 25 times its diameter, so it stops near 1.44 inches on this drum.

In practice that means large single-conductor 15 to 35 kV underground cable, three-conductor medium-voltage cable with an overall jacket, big armored feeders for industrial plants and refineries, and large outside-plant fiber and copper telephone cable. Superior Essex's copper guide shows a close relative, a 65x30x32 at 368 lb, holding 4,974 ft of 1 inch cable.

Approximate footage on a 66

Using the NEMA WC 26 formula from Anixter, Footage = 0.262 x T x (H - C) x (D + H - C) / d squared, with H as half of flange minus drum and 3 inches of clearance: on a 66x36x36, H is 15, H - C is 12 and D + H - C is 48, so 0.262 x 36 x 12 x 48 gives about 5,433 ft of 1 inch cable, Anixter's own figure. Southwire's 66x28x30 has a smaller drum but a narrower traverse, and comes out close to the Okonite 66x32x36.

These are approximate. A heavy cable will reach the reel's weight rating before it fills the flange: 5,433 ft of a cable weighing 1.5 lb per foot is over 8,000 lb, more than even the heavier 66x36x36 build is rated to carry.

Twenty-four to a trailer

Sonoco's guide puts 24 of its 66x36x36 in a 53 ft van, down from 39 at 60 inches. The reels are five and a half feet tall, so a van takes a single tier, and with a 42.5 to 43.5 inch out-to-out width two reels sit side by side across the floor. At Okonite's 292 to 400 lb, 24 of them weigh about 7,000 to 9,600 lb.

Because so few fit, a lot of 66s is often loaded on a flatbed instead, where the forklift can work from the side and the load can be strapped through the arbor holes. Either way the freight per reel is high, and a buyer close to the seller, or a lot that fills out a trailer of smaller reels already going that way, is what makes the numbers work.

Where 66s are used and emptied

Utilities and their underground contractors empty them on feeder and substation exit work. Transmission and distribution line crews empty the A-76 on bare conductor. Refinery, chemical plant and mill electricians empty them on armored feeders. Large commercial and data center projects empty them on medium-voltage service cable. The reels then sit in the contractor's yard or the plant's laydown area, often in a row along a fence, until a buyer takes the lot.

Handling and grading a 66

A 66 is never hand work. Use a forklift rated for the load with a shaft through the arbor hole or forks under both flanges from the drum side, and never lift by the top flange. Full, a heavy-build 66 can pass 7,000 lb of cable plus the reel, well over the 2,500 lb gross weight at which MIL-DTL-12000 asks for a metal bushing or plate in the arbor hole of a wood non-returnable reel.

• Wood or steel: check with a magnet; the S-77 steel 66x32x36 is returnable
• Class letter on the stencil: A-76 and N-76 carry different loads
• Arbor hole, bushing and plate: intact and round
• Flange plies: no splits running from the arbor to the rim
• Staves: count the missing or broken
• Drive holes: torn-out holes matter to buyers who turn reels with a pin

Writing up a lot of 66s for a quote

1. 01

   Measure, don't guess

   Tape the flange, the inside traverse and the drum on two or three reels. A 66x28x30 and a 66x36x36 differ by 8 inches of width, which changes how a trailer loads.

2. 02

   Read the class

   Copy the series letter and number, A-76, N-76 or whatever the stencil shows, plus the maker and assembly date.

3. 03

   Sort out steel

   Pull any metal reels and send them back under the maker's return terms.

4. 04

   Photograph the worst one

   A buyer trusts a lot more when the photo shows the poorest reel alongside the best.

5. 05

   Describe the site

   Tell us whether a forklift and operator are available, whether the ground is paved, and whether a 53 ft trailer can turn around at the gate.