Feeder cable buying in Hickory, NC
Feeder cable is the heavy end of a plant’s distribution, and in Catawba County it was sized for machinery that drew a great deal of power over a long floor.
- Catawba County
- 250 to 750 kcmil
- Plant distribution
Feeder cable in Hickory
A feeder is the cable between a source and a load centre: switchgear to a panel, a transformer secondary to a main distribution board, a board to a motor control centre at the far end of a building. It is large conductor work, 250 kcmil and up, often run in parallel sets of two or three, and it is bought in the lengths the building demands rather than the lengths that are convenient.
That is why feeder surplus is different from branch-circuit surplus. There is less of it, the reels are heavier, and the footage on a single reel can be worth a great deal or nothing depending on whether the length matches a job someone has. When a plant replaces a service or relocates a distribution board, the old feeder comes out in lengths that were cut for the old route, and those lengths frequently do not suit the new one.
Hickory’s heavier electrical work follows the furniture and fibre plants that built the town: long buildings with high bays, dust extraction, drying rooms and presses, all of it fed from a service that was designed around motors. The plants are spread along US-321 and the I-40 corridor through Conover, Newton and Long View, with smaller units in the older mill buildings nearer the centre.
Feeder cable in those buildings is usually copper, usually in the 250 to 500 kcmil range, and frequently run as parallel sets in rigid conduit or cable tray. When a plant consolidates production into fewer bays, the feeder to the closed bay is disconnected at both ends and left coiled, because pulling it out of the conduit is more work than the copper is worth to the plant. That is where a buyer comes in.
Why this material gets reviewed properly
Parallel sets have to be kept together
Two or three parallel runs of the same size and length are a set, and separating them destroys the reason they exist. We keep sets together and record the lengths of each run, because a contractor installing a parallel feeder needs matching lengths. A single run out of a set of three is a much smaller proposition than the set.
Aluminium feeders are common and priced as aluminium
Larger services in this part of the state often used aluminium feeder for the long runs, and it is a perfectly good conductor. It is also not copper, and offers reflect that. We identify the conductor from the print and, where the print is gone, from the colour and weight of a cut end, and we say which metal the offer is based on.
Weight, handling and the reel itself
A full reel of 500 kcmil copper is heavy enough that handling becomes the main cost of the job. Fork pockets, a rated sling and a truck with the right deck matter more than the negotiation. We will ask what equipment is on site before agreeing a collection, and we will say plainly if a reel has to be respooled to travel.
Related wire types
Questions on this material
What size feeder cable is worth collecting in Hickory?
From about 1/0 upward, with the real interest starting at 250 kcmil. Below that the material is usually branch-circuit work and belongs with a different lot. Above 500 kcmil the value per foot rises quickly and even a short length becomes worth a conversation, particularly if it is a tagged reel rather than a pulled run.
Do you buy feeder that has been pulled out of conduit?
Yes, with the caveat that pulled cable is used cable. It will have drag marks, the jacket may be scuffed, and the insulation can be compressed at the bends. None of that makes it unusable, but it does change the review. We look at the jacket along the length rather than only at the ends when the cable has come out of conduit.
Can a single reel be collected without a forklift on site?
It can, but it has to be planned. A heavy reel can be moved with a pallet jack on a flat surface, winched onto a trailer, or respooled in place if the reel is beyond the truck’s capacity. Tell us the weight and the ground conditions and we will bring what is needed rather than discovering the problem at the gate.
How do you confirm the conductor is copper?
By looking at a cut end and at the print. Copper feeder is copper-coloured at the strand and marked as such; aluminium is silver and lighter for the same size. Where a reel has been respooled or relabelled, the cut end settles it. We confirm the metal before quoting, and the offer states which one it covers.
Send feeder cable details
Pickup is in Hickory. Include condition, footage and how the material is stored.
Or email saleselectricalbuyers@gmail.com
- No fee and no obligation to sell.
- Written lot terms before anything moves.
- Pickup scheduled around your access rules.