Questions about reels, pickup and buying

Each reel takes one of four exits: sound one-way reels are bought and resold, returnable reels go back to their makers, broken reels are recycled, and checked reels are supplied to new owners.

See the four programs.

We do, across the city, the suburbs and Northwest Indiana. Rewinders and contractors buy reels too, and single spools change hands on local listings.

Sound one-way spools in common sizes are, yes; broken and returnable ones are not.

Size, build, condition and how many sit in one place decide the figure. What empty reels are worth explains it.

Yes. Small lots ride along on a corridor run with bigger pickups nearby, so a dozen reels is worth a stop.

Yes. Hammond, Gary, Munster, Dyer, Merrillville and the towns between them are on the Northwest Indiana run.

Stand them on edge, chock both sides, keep them off the ground on timbers, sort by size and leave an aisle for a forklift.

Put returnables in their own row with tags facing out. Staging reels for pickup has the detail.

Some do, through programs for their own reels with truckload minimums and condition rules; many one-way reels are never collected. Which makers take reels back lists the published ones.

Southwire ships on both steel and wooden reels and runs a reel return program that customers start with a form on its website. Check its current terms there before booking.

A returnable reel belongs to its maker or supplier and is expected back; a one-way reel becomes the customer's after delivery, to keep, sell or recycle.

Look for return wording such as "returnable" or "property of", a reel number, a metal tag or plate, through-bolts or steel parts, and a deposit line on the delivery paperwork. Any one of those means call the maker first.

Usually only plastic reels in their own loop or returnables their makers collect. Do supply houses take back reels? covers the details.

Flanges run from about 12 inches on small spools to 96 inches on utility reels; most empties in Chicagoland yards are 36 or 48 inches. See reel sizes explained.

By our estimates a 60-inch empty nailed reel weighs roughly 300 to 600 pounds and a 96-inch one about half a ton or more. Reel weights by size shows the range at each size.

Nails hold a one-trip reel together; through-bolts and steel plates hold a reel built for many trips, usually under a maker's return program.

Rotted or missing drum staves, a torn drive hole, a cracked arbor hole or a badly warped flange; two or more together almost always mean recycling.

Yes. Unusable reels are broken down, the nails, bolts and plates are separated, and the wood goes to recycling. Reel recycling runs on the same trucks as buyback.

Some are and some are not; many are plain softwood, while others are treated against rot or for export rules. Look for a stamp or a greenish tint, and ask the maker if the use matters.

From us: ask for the flange size you want in the request. Clean nailed and plywood reels make the best tables; greased rope reels do not. See a spool for a table.

Yes. Ask by flange, minimum drum and traverse range, and use the capacity calculator to check what fits.

By arrangement, priced by distance and load; buyers can also collect. Say which in the request.