Reel Lifts & Rotators

Two families in one category

The page is called reel lifts and rotators, but half of what is on it never touches a reel.

Everything in this category is made by Logitrans, a Danish manufacturer of pedestrian-operated lifting equipment. CustomMHS publishes the category description as follows: "Logitrans Reel Lifts and Rotators tilt, rotate, and reposition boxes, crates, and wire or cable reels, in configurations ranging from fully manual to fully powered lift, push, rotation, and clamping."

That sentence is doing more work than it looks. There are two entirely separate machine families here, and they share almost nothing except the naming scheme.

A seventeenth product, the RL-500 reel lifter, sits in the category and belongs to neither family. It handles reels, but it does not rotate them, it does not use the Logitrans letter scheme, and it costs about a tenth of what the rotators cost. Section Seven covers it separately, because for a large share of buyers it is the right answer and the category page does not make that obvious.

What this guide will not do

It will not give you dimensions, unit weights, battery specifications or turning radii, because none of those are published for any model in this category. Section Fourteen lists exactly what is missing and what to ask for before you sign a purchase order. Publishing a number we cannot source would be worse than telling you it is not there.

Decoding the model number

Every letter is a function. Read left to right and the machine describes itself.

Logitrans model designations in this category are built from a small set of letters, each standing for one feature. The manufacturer does not publish a key on these listings, but the code can be read directly off the published function list for each model, because every model's page states which functions are manual and which are electric. Match the letters to the functions across all sixteen models and the scheme resolves with no ambiguity.

The series numbers

Every model carries a trailing 1001 or 1003. Neither number is defined anywhere on the site. What can be observed is that the two track the drive exactly: every model with a powered travel drive is 1003, and every model the operator pushes is 1001. That holds across both families and all sixteen models without exception. Treat it as a reliable read of the catalog rather than a published definition, and confirm the full designation on the quote.

Two models also carry the word Maxi: SELFRR Maxi 1003 and SELFSRRE Maxi 1003. These are the top of each reel line, fully powered on all four functions, and the SELFRR Maxi listing publishes the most specific description of the controller, saying the touchscreen "supports programming of stops, turning angle, speed, and rotation." The word Maxi itself is never defined.

The four functions: lift, push, rotation, clamping

Each one is separately either manual or powered, and that is the whole ladder.

The category page states it plainly: "Lift, push, rotation, and clamping can each be manual or powered, and the model designations reflect which are which." Understanding the four is what turns a list of sixteen near-identical names into a straightforward decision.

Which function to power, in order

The four fork-over reel rotators all handle the same reel and lift it to the same height. What separates them is purely how many functions are powered, which makes them a clean ladder:

The order in which the functions get expensive is worth knowing before you shortlist. Electric lift is the cheapest thing to add and it usually brings electric clamping with it at the same step. Electric rotation is a larger step on top of that. Powered travel drive is by a wide margin the most expensive single function, adding more than the other two steps combined, and it is also the one that changes your regulatory position. Every reel rotator listing also publishes a lower per-unit price for orders of three or more, so if you are buying more than one machine, ask for the quantity price rather than multiplying the single-unit figure.

Fork over or straddle legs

This is not a preference. It is a pallet compatibility question with a right answer.

Every model in the category comes in both a fork over and a straddle leg version, and the straddle version is always the more expensive of the pair. The category page frames the difference as stability and aisle layout. The individual listings are more useful, and one of them states the real distinction outright:

The SELFRA 1003 series listing says the same thing from the other direction: "The SELFRA 1003 uses a fork-over design, meaning the forks pass over the top of the pallet deck. This works with standard four-way pallets, open-bottom pallets, and skids. It does not handle closed-bottom pallets."

What the choice costs, and why it differs by family

Every model exists as a matched fork over and straddle pair, so the cost of the choice is directly observable on the listings. It is not the same in the two families, and the difference is large enough to change how much thought the decision deserves.

Note how differently the two families price this. On the box holder rotators, straddle legs add a substantial premium, in the region of fourteen percent. On the reel rotators the same choice adds very little, and on the fully powered pair it is close to nothing at all. If you are buying a reel rotator and there is any doubt at all about what the reels will be sitting on, the straddle version is close to free insurance. On a box holder rotator the decision deserves more thought, because the money is real. Get both configurations quoted and compare them directly rather than assuming the premium is the same in both families.

The reel rotators, model by model

Eight machines, one chassis family, four functions turned on in sequence.

All eight reel rotators publish substantially the same core specification. What separates them is which of the four functions is powered, and whether the chassis is fork over or straddle leg. The table below notes where a specification is not carried on every listing, because the pages are not uniform.

What only some of them publish

• Two lifting speeds. LFSRRM 1001 publishes "Two lifting speeds: Normal and quick," "Two speeds for reel fastening" and "Steering on both wheels." The pump mechanism is not described on the listing; the word hydraulic does not appear on it.
• Controls. A digital controller block is published across the range, with a "large display, easy to use, easy visual presentation, touch screen" and the note that it is "possible to program e.g. several stops, turning angle, speed, rotation." It appears even on the two fully manual models, whose own specification line reads manual on all four functions, so treat it as range-level copy rather than a per-model specification and confirm what the machine you are quoting actually ships with. ELFRRM 1001 publishes a "remote control for reel fastening/releasing." The box holder models publish a "remote control for rotation/lifting/lowering (with cable as standard/wireless as an optional extra)," with the wireless version offered as a priced upgrade on ELFR, ELFRA, ELFSR and SELFR. No remote control option is published on the reel rotators at all.
• Straddle width options. Published on LFSRRM, ELFSRRM and ELFSRR. Not published on SELFSRRE Maxi, which is the fourth straddle model. See Section Eleven.
• Availability the other way. The fork-over listings note that the machine is "available with straddle legs," without pricing that configuration on the same page.

The box holder rotators, model by model

Twice the capacity, five lift heights, and one question that decides everything: does the box size vary?

These eight machines tilt boxes, crates and totes beyond 90 degrees so an operator can reach the contents without bending into a container or emptying it by hand. They are rated at 2,200 lb, double the reel rotators, and they are ordered in one of five lifting heights.

Adjustable or fixed

The category page puts the decision this way: "Choose Adjustable Box Holders when handling boxes of varying widths, or Non-Adjustable and standard Reel Rotators for a consistent size."

The adjustable models cover a published 31.5 to 48 in. range from a single handle with no tools. The fixed models do not adjust, but they are not undefined: the ELFR and ELFSR listings publish the discrete holder widths available, and they depend on which fork size you order.

The two lists overlap at roughly 39.4 in., so a box near that width can be served by either fork span. Everything narrower than 31.5 in. or wider than 47.2 in. is outside the fixed range entirely, and above 48 in. it is outside the adjustable range too. The fork span and the holder width are both ordered specifications on a fixed model. Record them both on the purchase order, because a fixed holder cannot be changed later the way an adjustable one can.

Every model on that table is electric lift with manual push, except the four beginning S, which add powered drive. The pattern from Section Two holds throughout: an S in front means the machine drives itself, and it is by a wide margin the most expensive step in the family, adding more than half again to the price of the same machine without it.

The tilt specification is on the series pages, not the model pages

"Tilts boxes and crates beyond 90 degrees" appears on the series listings. The individual model pages publish something more specific and more useful, and a buyer reading only the spec table will not find the 90 degree claim at all. Across the box holder range, including ELFR, ELFSR, ELFRA, ELFSRA, SELFSR and SELFSRA, the model pages publish that the "tilting function is deactivated when the rotation center is more than 46.5 in. or less than 27 in. above the floor," and that it "is deactivated automatically when rotating to the neutral position." The figure is spelled three different ways across the site, as 46.5, 46,5 and 46,50 inches, which is a formatting inconsistency rather than a difference in the limit. ELFSRA 1001 adds that "clamps are recommended when tilting more than 60°," and ELFSR 1001 publishes the fuller form: "box holders without clamps support the box (box holders with clamps are recommended when tilting more than 60°)."

Straddle models with a fork size

ELFSR 1001 and SELFSR 1003 are straddle-leg machines whose specification tables still publish the 22 or 27 in. by 49 in. fork row. Straddle leg width is the dimension that matters on those units, and it is the one to confirm at order.

The RL-500, and when it is enough

One tenth of the price of everything else in the category, and for some operations it does the whole job.

The Logitrans RL-500 reel lifter is the outlier here in every respect. It does not use the letter scheme. It is the only product in the category hosted outside the lift carts section of the site. And it is published at roughly a tenth of what the rotators cost, with a further quantity price at three or more.

The 20.5 in. figure is worth dwelling on, because it is the only reel dimension other than diameter published anywhere in this entire category. Note the label: the listing calls it reel length, not reel width. Measure your reels across the flange faces and confirm which dimension the 20.5 in. refers to before deciding the RL-500 fits.

Will your reel actually fit

Three dimensions decide it, and the category publishes only two of them.

The reel rotators publish a diameter range of 4.7 in. to 50 in. and gripping arms that open to 51 in. That is the whole published envelope. Reel width, flange thickness and arbor size are not published for any of the eight rotators, and no option extends the diameter range. The 50 in. ceiling is the constraint that catches most buyers, and it is worth checking against your actual reels before anything else.

Where 50 inches sits in the real range of reels

Encore Wire publishes a reel reference chart covering the standard put-up sizes used in electrical work. Flange diameters run from 12 in. up to 78 in. Mapping the published Logitrans envelope onto it:

The three dimensions to measure

Arbor hole size is not a Logitrans specification here, because these machines grip flanges rather than passing a mandrel through the core. It matters if you are comparing against a shaft-type lifter. On the Encore Wire chart the arbor is 2 in. or 3 in. across the entire size range.

What a loaded reel weighs

The 1,100 lb rating sounds generous until you weigh what is on the reel.

The single most common reason a reel handler is bought and then found inadequate is that the buyer sized it against an empty reel or a half reel. Published figures make the arithmetic straightforward.

The reel before anything is on it

Prysmian publishes a wood reel chart giving empty weights by flange size:

A 72 in. wood reel weighs 616 lb before a single foot of cable goes on it. That reel is outside the 50 in. gripping range anyway, but the figures set the scale.

The cable on it

Two manufacturers publish weights for 500 kcmil copper THHN, and they differ slightly. Southwire publishes approximately 1,662 lb per 1,000 ft with an outside diameter of 0.931 in. Cerrowire publishes 1,599 lb per 1,000 ft at 0.949 in. Take the range as roughly 1,600 to 1,660 lb per 1,000 ft, and treat both as approximate, because both are labeled so.

Reel weight figures are indicative, not exact

The binational packaging standard for wire and cable, ANSI/NEMA WC 26, says so itself. From its published definitions section: "The maximum capacity values listed in the tables of this document have been determined to be typical values based on experience from users. It should be noted that for all types of wood reels, over and above the thicknesses and number of tie rods used, the maximum capacity can vary depending on factors such as wood species, assembly methods, moisture content, and products that are tightly wounds such as ACSR, etc. Therefore, these values should be used as a guide only."

Why mechanical handling at all

The NIOSH Revised Lifting Equation sets a load constant of 23 kg, or 51 lb, as the maximum recommended weight under optimal conditions, before any penalty is applied for how the lift is actually performed. Every multiplier in that equation works against a reel: you cannot bring the load close to your body past a large flange, a wooden flange offers no handle so the coupling is poor, reels are picked up from floor level, and setting one down almost always involves twisting.

So the practical recommended weight limit for lifting a reel by hand is a fraction of 51 lb, against actual loads in the hundreds or thousands. That is the quantified case for mechanical handling. It is worth noting the equation's own limit: NIOSH designed it for two-handed lifting and it is not validated for rolling, pushing or team lifts, which is how reels most often get moved in practice. The rolling hazard is addressed in Section Thirteen instead.

The 32.5 inch rotation floor

A published operating restriction that changes how you lay the work out.

On the models with electric rotation, the listings publish that rotation is only possible at lifting heights above 32.5 in. This applies to ELFRR 1001, ELFSRR 1001, SELFRR Maxi 1003 and SELFSRRE Maxi 1003.

It is a clearance requirement, and it has practical consequences that are easy to miss at quote stage:

• You cannot rotate a reel near the floor. The reel must be lifted above 32.5 in. before the rotation function will operate. Any workflow that assumed rotating at ground level has to be redesigned.
• Overhead clearance is set by the reel, not the machine. A 48 in. reel whose center is at 32.5 in. reaches roughly 56.5 in. at the top of the flange, before you add whatever the gripping arms occupy. Measure your lowest obstruction: sprinkler heads, door headers, mezzanine undersides, conveyor runs.
• The receiving equipment sets the useful height. If the reel is being loaded onto a payoff or a machine spindle, the spindle height and the rotation floor together define the working window.

Models with manual rotation carry no published height restriction, which is a real functional advantage of ELFRRM and ELFSRRM over their electric-rotation siblings, and one the price ladder does not reflect. If your operation needs to index reels at low height, the cheaper machine may be the more capable one for that task.

Straddle widths, and the option that changes capacity

Four leg widths, one of them priced, and a published capacity note that does not read correctly.

Three of the four straddle-leg reel rotators (LFSRRM 1001, ELFSRRM 1001 and ELFSRR 1001) publish a straddle width option at order:

Options A, B and C carry no price adder, so the straddle width is effectively a free specification within that range. Choose it against the widest pallet, base or reel stand the legs have to pass on the outside of, and against your narrowest aisle, since a wider stance needs more room to turn.

The fourth straddle model, SELFSRRE Maxi 1003, publishes no straddle width option at all despite being on the same straddle chassis. If you need a specific leg width on the fully powered straddle machine, treat it as a question to ask rather than an option to select.

OSHA: which of these needs a certified operator

The line runs between powered and not powered, and it does not run where most buyers assume.

This is the most consequential thing in the guide, and it is not on any product page. Some machines in this category put you inside the OSHA powered industrial truck standard, with a full training, evaluation and certification obligation for every operator. Others do not. The dividing line is whether the machine has an electric motor.

What the standard actually covers

29 CFR 1910.178(a)(1), the scope paragraph, reads:

Two phrases matter. "Motorized hand trucks" brings pedestrian-operated equipment squarely inside the standard, and OSHA's own classification lists Class III as "Electric Motor Hand Trucks or Hand/Rider Trucks." The fact that the operator walks rather than rides changes nothing. And "powered by electric motors or internal combustion engines" is the test that leaves manual equipment outside it.

OSHA restated the test in a Letter of Interpretation dated 19 September 2023: "The equipment referenced above is powered by electric motors and designed to carry, push, or pull material, and is thus subject to the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.178." The same letter quotes an earlier interpretation to the effect that "it is the design of the vehicle that is the determining factor of whether or not it is considered a powered industrial truck, rather than the manner in which it is utilized."

How that maps onto this category

What the obligation actually is

Under 1910.178(l), where it applies:

• (l)(1)(ii) Training must be completed before the employee operates the truck, other than for training purposes.
• (l)(2)(ii) Training must combine formal instruction, practical training, and evaluation of the operator's performance in the workplace. All three.
• (l)(3) Content must cover both truck-related topics (controls, vehicle capacity, vehicle stability, attachment use limitations, battery charging) and workplace-related topics (surface conditions, load stability, pedestrian traffic, narrow aisles, ramps).
• (l)(4)(iii) "An evaluation of each powered industrial truck operator's performance shall be conducted at least once every three years."
• (l)(6) "The employer shall certify that each operator has been trained and evaluated ... The certification shall include the name of the operator, the date of the training, the date of the evaluation, and the identity of the person(s) performing the training or evaluation."

Note that (l)(6) is an employer certification. There is no OSHA-issued licence and no card from any agency, whatever the training market implies.

Handling a reel, specifically

Three paragraphs of the standard read directly onto reel work:

• 1910.178(o)(1): "Only stable or safely arranged loads shall be handled. Caution shall be exercised when handling off-center loads which cannot be centered." A reel gripped by its flanges is the textbook off-center load.
• 1910.178(n)(4): "If the load being carried obstructs forward view, the driver shall be required to travel with the load trailing." A large-flange reel on a pedestrian truck is exactly that case.
• 1910.178(q)(7): "Industrial trucks shall be examined before being placed in service, and shall not be placed in service if the examination shows any condition adversely affecting the safety of the vehicle. Such examination shall be made at least daily. Where industrial trucks are used on a round-the-clock basis, they shall be examined after each shift."

Also worth knowing, for anything left standing with a reel in the arms: 1910.178(m)(5)(i) requires that when a powered industrial truck is left unattended, "load engaging means shall be fully lowered, controls shall be neutralized, power shall be shut off, and brakes set," and (m)(5)(ii) defines unattended as the operator being 25 ft or more away, or out of sight of the truck.

Manual does not mean unregulated

For the RL-500 and the two fully manual rotators, 1910.178 does not apply because they are not powered. That is a conclusion from the scope text, not from an OSHA interpretation letter; no letter squarely addressing manual stackers appears in OSHA's published interpretations index. Three things still apply:

• 29 CFR 1910.176 continues to govern the material handling operation.
• The General Duty Clause, section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, continues to apply to a recognized hazard such as an unrestrained reel.
• The manufacturer's instructions still govern how the machine is used.

Design standards, and what CE marking does and does not mean

OSHA 1910.178(a)(2) requires that new powered industrial trucks meet the design and construction requirements of ANSI B56.1-1969, which is incorporated by reference. Current production is built to a much later edition, ANSI/ITSDF B56.1-2020, but the edition OSHA's text legally mandates is the 1969 one. The B56.1-2020 scope covers trucks "controlled by a riding or walking operator," so pedestrian-controlled trucks are inside it. The manually propelled equivalent is a separate standard, ANSI/ITSDF B56.10, Manually Propelled High Lift Industrial Trucks. ITSDF publishes the B56 series free on request.

Logitrans is a European manufacturer, and European pedestrian trucks are designed to EN ISO 3691-5, Industrial trucks, safety requirements and verification, part 5, pedestrian-propelled trucks. That standard covers manual and battery-powered pedestrian lifting in one document, which is a structural difference from the United States position where manual and powered attract different standards and different regulatory duties. It supersedes the older EN 1757-1, 1757-2 and 1757-4; a supplier still citing those as current design standards is citing something withdrawn.

Storing reels once they are off the machine

There is a federal standard that names cable reels expressly, and almost nobody cites it.

Buying a reel handler solves the lifting problem. It does not solve the storage problem, and a reel standing on edge is a rolling hazard the moment it is set down. The most directly on-point federal provision is in the telecommunications standard:

The printed word in the CFR is "checked," not "chocked." Both osha.gov and eCFR render it that way. Chocking is plainly what the sentence means in context, and many secondary sources quietly correct it, but the regulation says checked and that is how it is quoted here.

The scope caveat matters: 1910.268 applies to telecommunications work as defined in 1910.268(a). It is not a general-industry-wide reel storage rule. For a warehouse or an electrical contractor it is the closest express federal treatment of the hazard, and it is best cited alongside the general provisions rather than presented as universally binding.

The general provisions

• 1910.176(b), Secure storage: "Storage of material shall not create a hazard. Bags, containers, bundles, etc., stored in tiers shall be stacked, blocked, interlocked and limited in height so that they are stable and secure against sliding or collapse." Note that this paragraph does not name reels.
• 1910.176(a), Use of mechanical equipment: "Where mechanical handling equipment is used, sufficient safe clearances shall be allowed for aisles, at loading docks, through doorways and wherever turns or passage must be made. Aisles and passageways shall be kept clear and in good repair, with no obstruction across or in aisles that could create a hazard. Permanent aisles and passageways shall be appropriately marked." This one is worth reading before you choose a straddle width, because the legs and the turning space are exactly what it is about.
• 1926.250(b)(9), on the construction side: "Structural steel, poles, pipe, bar stock, and other cylindrical materials, unless racked, shall be stacked and blocked so as to prevent spreading or tilting." The enumerated examples are solid stock rather than reels, so this is supporting rather than primary.

If you were considering a sling and a crane instead

Slings carry an inspection burden that a reel lift does not. 1910.184(d) requires that "each day before being used, the sling and all fastenings and attachments shall be inspected for damage or defects by a competent person designated by the employer," with additional inspections during use where service conditions warrant. That is a daily, competent-person, documented obligation. The equivalent for a reel handler, 1910.178(q)(7), applies only if the machine is powered, and not at all to the manual models.

What is not published

The specifications that appear on no listing in this category. Ask for all of them in writing.

This category publishes capacity, lift height, reel diameter, holder widths and a real price on every one of the seventeen listings, which is more than most equipment categories manage. Nothing here is behind a call-for-price. What it does not publish is unusually consistent, and the gaps are close to identical across all seventeen pages.

There is also no metric figure anywhere in the category, which is unusual for a Danish manufacturer and suggests the US listings were converted rather than dual-published. If you are cross-referencing a European datasheet, expect rounding differences.

A worked selection

Same operation, three different budgets, three defensible answers.

An electrical contractor's shop takes delivery of cable on wood reels, stages them, and loads them onto a payoff cart for the field. The mix runs from 24 in. to 48 in. flanges. The heaviest reel weighs 980 lb on the scale. Reels arrive on the trailer floor and on pallets, and the pallets are a mix of open-entry and solid-deck. Twelve to fifteen reels a day. Travel distances inside the shop are under 60 ft.

Step one: does the reel fit

Largest flange is 48 in., inside the published 50 in. limit with 2 in. to spare. Heaviest reel is 980 lb, inside the published 1,100 lb rating with 120 lb of margin. Both tests pass, but the margin on weight is thin enough that the next heavier cable spec would fail it. That gets recorded and revisited if the product mix changes.

Step two: fork over or straddle

The pallets are mixed, including solid deck. Fork over is ruled out by the published pallet compatibility note in Section Four. Straddle legs. On the reel rotators that decision adds very little, which is not a decision worth agonizing over.

Step three: straddle width

Widest pallet the legs must pass on the outside of is 48 in. That falls inside option C, 44 in. to 51 in., which carries no adder. Option D is not needed, which also avoids the unresolved capacity note in Section Eleven.

Step four: which functions to power

Twelve to fifteen picks a day is moderate frequency. Travel is under 60 ft, so powered drive, the largest step in the category, is hard to justify. Reels need to be laid over onto the payoff, so rotation is genuinely used on every cycle.

Step five: what to budget beyond the machine

• Operator training and certification for the electric models, before the machine is used, with a workplace evaluation and a named employer certification under 1910.178(l)(6). Not a line item on any quote.
• Freight, quoted separately and described on the listings as complicated.
• Charging, on the fourteen electric models, with no published battery or charger specification to size it from.
• Reel chocks or a reel rack for everything the machine sets down. See Section Thirteen.

And the case for not buying a rotator at all

If this same shop only ever lifted reels onto a payoff shaft and never needed to lay one over, the RL-500 would do it, provided the reels are inside its published 20.5 in. reel length limit, which is worth confirming in writing because the label is not the same as flange-to-flange width. That is a difference of roughly a factor of six. It is worth ten minutes with a tape measure across your actual reel mix before ruling it out, because nothing on the category page prompts you to ask the question.

Common and costly mistakes

Ten failures, in rough order of how much they cost.

1. Sizing against the reel instead of the load. A 48 in. reel fits. A 48 in. reel of 500 kcmil copper weighs roughly 1,800 lb and exceeds the 1,100 lb rating by 60 to 70 percent. Fit and capacity are independent tests and both have to pass.
2. Not knowing electric lift triggers OSHA operator certification. The modest step from manual to electric lift moves the machine inside 29 CFR 1910.178 and brings a full training, evaluation and certification obligation with it. Budget for it up front.
3. Buying fork over when the pallets are solid deck. Published on the listings: fork over requires open-entry pallets and does not handle closed-bottom pallets or solid decks. On the reel rotators the straddle version costs barely anything more.
4. Assuming reels over 50 in. are covered. They are not, on any model, with no option to extend it. 54, 60 and 72 in. reels are outside this entire category.
5. Designing a layout that rotates near the floor. Electric rotation is published as available only above 32.5 in. of lift. Manual-rotation models carry no such restriction, which sometimes makes the cheaper machine the more capable one.
6. Buying powered drive for short travel. The S models carry the largest single step in the category. Under 60 ft of travel it rarely pays, and two manual machines often beat one powered one.
7. Ordering a fixed box holder without recording both the fork span and the holder width. The fixed models are available in four discrete widths per fork span, from 31.5 to 47.2 in. Which widths you can have depends on which fork span you order, and neither can be changed afterwards.
8. Taking option D on the straddle legs at face value. Its published capacity note conflicts with the machine's rated capacity. Get the configuration's rating in writing before ordering.
9. Skipping reel restraint. The machines interlock so a reel is only released on floor or pallet. What happens after release is a storage question, and 1910.268(k)(2) addresses it expressly for cable reels.
10. Treating CE marking as US compliance. It carries no legal force here and satisfies no OSHA requirement.

Frequently asked questions

The questions buyers actually ask before ordering.

Quick-reference tables

The five things worth having on one screen.

The decoder

Published envelopes

What each step up costs you, reel rotators

Regulatory position at a glance

Specify-it checklist

1. Largest reel flange diameter. Against the 50 in. published limit. Over 50 in. rules out the category.
2. Heaviest loaded reel, weighed. Against the 1,100 lb rating. Do not estimate it.
3. Widest reel, flange face to flange face. Not published for any model, so this is a question for the quote. The RL-500 publishes a 20.5 in. maximum reel length.
4. What the reels sit on. Any solid-deck pallet or closed-bottom container means straddle legs.
5. Widest thing the straddle legs must pass. Picks option A, B, C or D.
6. Cycles per day. Below roughly 30, manual rotation. Above it, consider electric.
7. Travel distance. Under about 60 ft, powered drive is hard to justify.
8. Rotation height available. Electric rotation needs above 32.5 in. of lift plus the reel radius above that.
9. Operator training plan. Required before first use on any electric model.
10. The unpublished specs in Section Fourteen. In writing, on the quote, before the order.