Reel size
36-inch cable reels
The 36-inch reel is the workhorse middle size: the most common one-way reel in contractor yards and the one patio-table buyers ask for most. Two people can handle it; one person can roll it.
The numbers
- Flange thickness
- 1.75 to 2.5 in
- Height on its flange
- about 22 to 29 in
- Handling
- Two people to lift; one person can roll it on its flanges
- Weight method
- Two flange discs plus the stave shell, at 28 to 40 lb per cubic foot
What it carries
Bulk building wire, feeder in the smaller sizes, riser and plenum cable, fibre trunk in moderate lengths, and communications cable. Most 36-inch reels are nailed board builds; some are plywood.
Who empties them
Nearly everyone who pulls cable. Contractors' yards, distributor branches, plants and data-centre laydown areas all fill up with 36-inch reels. CommScope's reel recycling program, for its own reels, lists roughly 185 to 200 reels of this size per 53-foot truck, which gives a sense of how many make a load.
Buyback, return or recycling
Strong buyback demand when sound. Returnables are common at this size from makers with programs, so read the tag first. Weathered 36-inch reels with soft bottom flanges are the most common recycling case we see.
Uses for buyers
Patio and garden tables, shop benches, café tables, kids' play tables, and rewinding mid-length runs of building wire.
Where they turn up around Chicago
Everywhere. Data-centre laydown yards in Elk Grove Village, warehouse truck courts on Weber Road in Romeoville, branches in Northbrook's Sky Harbor, the Red Line Extension's contractor yards on the Far South Side. If a pickup has one size in bulk, it is usually this one.
Their ubiquity is why the 36-inch reel is also the most common recycling case: thousands sit outdoors for a season too long.
Checking one
- Tip it slightly and look under the bottom flange for rot.
- Count missing staves; more than a quarter missing usually ends reuse.
- Look for warping: a cupped flange binds on a payoff stand.
- Check stencils and tags on both flanges, not just one.
Lifting and rolling
Roll a 36-inch reel in the direction of the arrow stencilled on its flange, which matches the way the cable was wound, so a part-full reel doesn't loosen. Empty ones can roll either way. Never let one roll down a ramp or driveway on its own; once moving, its momentum is surprising.
How much cable it holds
Layered capacity at the middle build shown above, with 2 inches of clearance below the flange rim. Real cable packs less neatly; treat these as upper figures and check with the capacity calculator.
| Cable diameter | Length | Layers × turns |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 in (6 mm) | 16,160 ft (4,925 m) | 30 × 84 |
| 0.35 in (9 mm) | 8,030 ft (2,450 m) | 21 × 60 |
| 0.5 in (13 mm) | 4,040 ft (1,230 m) | 15 × 42 |
| 0.65 in (17 mm) | 2,230 ft (680 m) | 11 × 32 |
| 0.8 in (20 mm) | 1,480 ft (450 m) | 9 × 26 |
| 1 in (25 mm) | 920 ft (280 m) | 7 × 21 |
| 1.25 in (32 mm) | 620 ft (190 m) | 6 × 16 |
| 1.5 in (38 mm) | 450 ft (135 m) | 5 × 14 |
| 1.75 in (44 mm) | 300 ft (90 m) | 4 × 12 |
| 2 in (51 mm) | 180 ft (55 m) | 3 × 10 |
In metric
- Flange
- 91 cm
- Traverse
- 46 to 61 cm
- Drum
- 36 to 51 cm
- Empty weight
- about 32 to 86 kg
Questions
How tall is a 36-inch spool table?
About 21 to 29 inches on its flange, depending on the traverse and flange thickness. Patio or low-bench height.
How many 36-inch reels fill a truck?
It depends on the build and how they are loaded. One maker's program lists about 185 to 200 of its own 36-inch reels per 53-foot truck.
Why are so many 36-inch reels recycled?
Because so many sit outside. They are the most common size in yards, and the ones left flat on the ground through a winter or two rot at the bottom flange.
Can I roll a 36-inch reel up a ramp alone?
Empty, on a gentle ramp, many people can. Keep yourself uphill of it and chock it at the top.
Reel words on this page
- Flange
- The round side discs that hold the cable in. Flange diameter, edge to edge, is the size a reel is known by.
- Drum (barrel)
- The cylinder between the flanges that the cable winds around.
- Traverse
- The inside width between the flanges: how wide a layer of cable can be.
- Arbor hole
- The centre hole a spindle, shaft or payoff bar passes through.
- Lagging / staves
- The boards nailed around the drum, and the protective boards sometimes nailed across the flanges over finished cable.
- One-way reel
- A reel nobody is collecting. Once empty, it belongs to whoever holds it.
Selling or buying 36-inch cable reels?
Pick buy, sell or recycle, the product, the count and your ZIP, and the full request opens with those filled in.
Or write to info@chicagowoodenspools.com with the count, flange sizes and a photo of the stack.