Cable drum

Cable drum calculator

Which drum a length of cable needs, how much a drum takes, and what is left on a part-used drum.

Drums are as their makers print them, each linked to its source. Lengths are estimates within a few per cent of the cable makers' own tables: whole layers, with the freeboard stated. Most online tools count to the flange rim and claim 20 to 40 % more.

The cable
The length and the drums
Packing
Advanced: allowance and freeboard

Smallest drum that passes every check: KTG 16 (1600 mm flange), wood, 1 × 500 m, 8 of 8 layers.

Used: wound diameter 1.05 × 38 mm = 39.9 mm (allowance for the cable's tolerance and winding slack); 50 mm freeboard under the flange rim (the larger of 50 mm and one wound diameter).

Drum size (its makers) Drums × m each Takes, m Layers used Free height left Cable, kg Gross, kg (cable + tare) Barrel Load (maker's rating)
KTG 16 (1600 mm flange), woodBayka, KTG 1 × 500 m 591 8 of 8 81 mm - - OK no kg/km given
KTG 18 (1800 mm flange), woodBayka, KTG 1 × 500 m 696 7 of 8 121 mm - - OK no kg/km given
KTG 20 (2000 mm flange), woodBayka, KTG 1 × 500 m 1,025–1,293 5–6 of 8–11 176–261 mm - - OK no kg/km given
KTG 22 (2200 to 2240 mm flange), woodBayka, KTG 1 × 500 m 1,393–1,567 4–6 of 9–13 260–361 mm - - OK no kg/km given
KTG 25 (2500 mm flange), woodBayka, KTG 1 × 500 m 1,758–2,068 4–6 of 10–16 290–486 mm - - OK no kg/km given
KTG 28 (2800 mm flange), woodBayka, KTG 1 × 500 m 2,476 3 of 11 380 mm - - OK no kg/km given

One row per drum size and material. Makers print different dimensions for the same size, so a row gives the range over its makers, takes as many drums as its smallest maker needs, and passes only when every maker's drum passes. Open a row for its makers: D flange, d barrel, W winding width, as each prints them. Free height: from the top of the cable to the flange rim. Pick a row to draw it. Gross weight leaves out lagging and packing.

freeboard 50 mm D 1,600 d 800 W 850
KTG 16 (1600 mm flange), wood, 500 m on 8 layers

Put this drum and its gross weight on your datasheet with Pro. See Pro

Handling and storage

The rules for Bayka 161, each with every source that states it. Print them for the yard. Laying and handling guide

Flange D, mm
1,600
Overall width, mm
1,100
Transport diameter
1,600 mm

Lagging: None (open drum)

Lifting, transport, storage and payout

  1. Forklift: forks longer than the drum (1,100 mm here), under both flanges and at right angles to them, never on the cable; never push a drum with the forks. Nexans uses tines of 1200 mm for small drums, 1800 mm for larger ones and at least 2500 mm for 33 kV, 132 kV and long-length drums.Sources: Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) p. 6 (maker's document); Reka Cables, Drum handling guide (2026) p. 4 (maker's document); Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 3 (maker's document)
  2. Crane: a spreader bar certified for the drum's size and weight, or slings as long as possible, so the flanges are not squeezed.Sources: Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) p. 6 (maker's document); Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 3 (maker's document); Reka Cables, Drum handling guide (2026) p. 4 (maker's document)
  3. Flange 1.2 m or more: never lift two drums at once.Sources: Prysmian Türkiye, Cables and Drums User Guide 1.2, 2.4 (maker's document)
  4. Never drop a drum, not even from a small height or onto a buffer. Without lifting gear: a ramp of about 1:4, the drum let down by ropes or a winch onto a sand bed, or a loading bridge at deck height.Sources: HD 620 S3:2023 Part 1 A.3.3.3 (read in the standard text); HD 603 S1:1994/A2:2003 3-I 3.3 (read in the standard text); Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) p. 6 (maker's document); Reka Cables, Drum handling guide (2026) p. 6 (maker's document); Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 4 (maker's document)
  5. Keep the drum upright, its axis horizontal, in storage and in transport; never lay it flat on a flange. With a flange over 1 m, HD 620 sections 10-A, 10-C and 10-K require it in transport.Sources: HD 620 S3:2023 Part 1 A.3.2.5, A.3.3.2; 10-A-24 item 6 (read in the standard text); HD 603 S1:1994/A2:2003 3-L (read in the standard text); Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) (maker's document); Reka Cables, Drum handling guide (2026) (maker's document); Nestor Cables, Drum handling guidelines (maker's document)
  6. Roll only short distances on flat, firm ground, in the direction of the arrow on the flange (the factory winding direction); with no arrow, against the winding. Paying out, the drum turns against the arrow.Sources: HD 620 S3:2023 Part 1 A.3.3.4; 10-K item 2 (read in the standard text); HD 603 S1:1994/A2:2003 3-I, 3-L (read in the standard text); Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) p. 7 (maker's document); Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 3, 12 (maker's document)
  7. On the vehicle: wedges at the flange rims and lashings; never one rope round the two flanges only; protect chains at the arbor hole. Nexans draws the line at 250 cm: above it, lash through the arbor hole and over the flanges if needed; below it, wedges are a must.Sources: HD 620 S3:2023 Part 1 A.3.3.2 (read in the standard text); Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) p. 7 (maker's document); Reka Cables, Drum handling guide (2026) p. 5 (maker's document); Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 5 (maker's document)
  8. Store on level, firm, dry ground (concrete, timber baulks, firm gravel), never standing in water; wedges at the flange rims, not between the flanges, and no stones. In damp storage leave at least 76 mm (3 in) between drums.Sources: HD 620 S3:2023 Part 1 A.3.3.2 (read in the standard text); Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) p. 7, 9 (maker's document); Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 8, 9 (maker's document); Draka Communications, A Guideline for Laying of Cables and Installation of Sleeves (2010) p. 5 (maker's document); Prysmian Türkiye, Cables and Drums User Guide 3.5 (maker's document)
  9. This drum is not lagged: do not stack it. Avoid stacking. If it cannot be avoided: lagged drums only, flange on flange, the lower layer secured over its full width, planks between the drums; a flange never on another drum's cable or battens.Sources: HD 620 S3:2023 Part 1 A.3.2.5, A.3.3.2 (read in the standard text); HD 603 S1:1994/A2:2003 3-I 3.3 (read in the standard text); Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) (maker's document); Reka Cables, Drum handling guide (2026) p. 3 (maker's document); Nestor Cables, Drum handling guidelines p. 12 (maker's document)
  10. Turn stored drums 90° every 3 months in the direction of the arrow, so the flanges do not set.Sources: Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) p. 8 (maker's document); Prysmian Türkiye, Cables and Drums User Guide 3.3 (maker's document); Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 9 (maker's document)
  11. Wooden drums outdoors: at most 24 months, inspected at least every 12 months in wet climates and every 6 months in the tropics or dry heat of about 35 °C; beyond 2 years, store indoors or rewind onto a steel drum. EFC gives untreated drums 18 months in the open and drums with a salt-based preservative 24.Sources: Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 9 (maker's document); Prysmian Türkiye, Cables and Drums User Guide (maker's document); Electro-Federation Canada, Wire & Cable Reels (2022) p. 17 (secondary source)
  12. Through bolts (at least 4, flange to flange) and the arbor plate bolts: 100 N·m on this flange before the drum moves; check them again after a few turns and at every pause in the payout.Sources: Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 6, 13 (maker's document); Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) (maker's document); Prysmian Türkiye, Cables and Drums User Guide (maker's document)
  13. Cable ends sealed and fixed to the drum in transport and storage; caps stay on until jointing starts. A cap missing for over a month, an end pointing up, rain on an uncapped end, or a swollen or dirty end: cut back 300 mm, check for moisture, cut further while it is wet, and cap again.Sources: HD 620 S3:2023 Part 1 A.3.2.3, A.3.3.5, A.4.7 (read in the standard text); HD 603 S1:1994/A2:2003 3-I 3.3 (read in the standard text); BS 6622:2007 C.3 (read in the standard text); BS 5467:1997+A3:2008 B.4 (read in the standard text); BS 7846:2015 A.7.4 (read in the standard text); Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 7 (maker's document); Draka Communications, A Guideline for Laying of Cables and Installation of Sleeves (2010) (maker's document); Anixter EMEA Wire and Cable catalogue, Sec. 20 p. 20-43, 20-44 (maker's document)
  14. Paying out: the drum on jacks or a payout stand, clear of the ground, an axle through the arbor hole within 5 mm of its diameter (never more than 10 mm smaller); a brake so it turns only while cable is pulled; cable off tangentially, never over the flange; the inner end left free. On the ground, lay the cable in a figure of eight, never in rings.Sources: HD 620 S3:2023 Part 1 A.4.5 (read in the standard text); Southwire, Power Cable Installation Guide (2005) p. 2 (maker's document); Prysmian Kabel und Systeme, Drum Handling, v3 (2024) p. 10 (maker's document); Draka Communications, A Guideline for Laying of Cables and Installation of Sleeves (2010) p. 5, 6, 9 (maker's document); Nexans, Instructions for transportation, handling, storage of the drums and laying of the cables, Rev. 01 (2021) p. 11, 12, 15, 19 (maker's document)

Drum return

KTG pool: no rent for 6 months from the delivery note, then 15 % of the drum's price for each month started; after 12 months the drum is sold to the user at full price, and KTG takes a sold drum back for up to 3 years with a 25 % refund. Collection within 15 working days of notice, return freight free from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux and Denmark. Do not overload the drum, lift it by a flange, staple or glue linings to it, repaint it or label it; keep its barcode labels. Lagging is outside these terms.Sources: KTG, Terms and Conditions for the Use of Cable and Rope Drums, as from 1 May 2022 § 1, § 3, § 4, § 5 (maker's document)

Export: ISPM 15

  • A solid wood drum going abroad must meet ISPM 15: debarked and treated, by heat (HT: at least 56 °C for 30 minutes without a break through the whole profile, core included) or dielectric heating (DH: 60 °C for 1 minute); methyl bromide (MB) and sulphuryl fluoride (SF) are also allowed. The mark, put on by a producer or treatment provider the national plant protection organisation authorises (IPPC symbol, two-letter country code, producer code, treatment code), goes on at least two opposite sides: on a drum, both flanges. Legible, durable, not hand drawn, not red or orange.Sources: IPPC, ISPM 15, 2018 edition (published 2019) section 1 p. 9; Annex 1 p. 14 to 18; Annex 2 p. 20 to 21 (read in the standard text)
  • A marked drum that is not repaired keeps its mark for life. Repaired with up to about a third of its parts new: each new part treated and marked. More than a third new: the old marks removed, the drum treated and marked again.Sources: IPPC, ISPM 15, 2018 edition (published 2019) 4.3.1 to 4.3.3, p. 11 to 12 (read in the standard text)
  • A drum that fails at the border can be held, treated, destroyed or sent back.Sources: IPPC, ISPM 15, 2018 edition (published 2019) p. 12, 23 (read in the standard text)
Rules by country
  • Australia: accepts ISPM 15 marked wood packaging and its own alternative treatments (BICON); the bark tolerance applies; a failure is treated, exported or destroyed at the importer's cost.Sources: Australian Department of Agriculture, ISPM 15 (secondary source)
  • China: entry rules in AQSIQ Announcements 2005 No. 11 and No. 32 and Decree No. 84 (31 December 2005); only their titles were read.Sources: AQSIQ Announcements 2005 No. 11 and No. 32, Decree No. 84 (IPPC country page) (secondary source)
  • European Union: wood packaging from every third country except Switzerland must be debarked, treated and marked; trade inside the EU is exempt, except from pine wood nematode or Asian longhorn beetle areas.Sources: European Commission DG SANTE, Wood packaging material: requirements at EU entry (secondary source)
  • Türkiye, export: the 2024 regulation allows heat treatment only in a permitted kiln of at least 50 m³ with computer control, 56 °C at mid-thickness for 30 minutes, logged every minute to the Ministry. Each drum carries the ISPM 15 mark (TR code, enterprise number, treatment code), a Turkish traceability mark (kiln number, batch number, treatment date) and a QR code, which waits for a Ministry directive. Exporters buy marked wood packaging from permitted enterprises or registered suppliers.Sources: Türkiye, Regulation on Heat Treatment and Marking of Wood Packaging Materials, 26.07.2024 Art. 4, 7, 11, 15, 23(7) (read in the standard text)
  • Türkiye, import: wood packaging over 6 mm, cable reels included, must meet ISPM 15 (Plant Quarantine Regulation, in force 4 August 2026).Sources: Türkiye, Bitki Karantinası Yönetmeliği, 6 May 2026 (secondary source)
  • United States: 7 CFR 319.40-3, fully enforced since 5 July 2006; unmarked wood packaging counts as untreated and is re-exported at once.Sources: 7 CFR 319.40-3, APHIS and CBP guidance (secondary source)

Terms on this page: arbor hole (spindle hole) · barrel bolt (through bolt) · cable drum (reel) · cut-back · flange · lagging (battens) · lashing · payout (unreeling) · spindle (axle) · spreader bar · steel drum · wedge (chock) · winch

Loading planner

How many vehicles or containers the drums need, and whether space or weight sets the limit. Drums stand on their flanges in one layer, never stacked.

For Bayka 161: transport diameter 1,600 mm, width 1,100 mm.

The shipment

Not sure which vehicle? Pro compares every truck and container for your drums. Join Pro

Reeling drum: the rating on a motor-driven drum

A flexible cable wound on a motor-driven drum (a crane, a mining machine, a festoon reel) is warmed by its own layers, so it carries less current than in free air.

The reeling drum

× 0.85

On this drum the cable carries 85 % of its current rating off the drum: multiply the rating by 0.85. (NFPA 79 (2024) Table 12.7.3, read in the standard)

  • The cable leaves and joins the drum, and passes its guides, at no more than 5 degrees to the side (NFPA 79 (2024) 13.4.3.2, read in the standard).
  • At least 2 turns of the cable always stay on the drum (NFPA 79 (2024) 13.4.3.2, read in the standard).
  • Table 12.7.3 gives factors for 1 to 4 layers on a cylindrical drum, none beyond.
  • NFPA 79 leaves the factors to be agreed with the cable and drum makers: their figures win.
  • The IEC and EN counterpart was not read here: NFPA 79 is the only source of these values.

NFPA 79 (2024), Table 12.7.3 and 13.4.3.2, in NFPA's free access.

How this is calculated

The drum takes whole layers of whole turns, and the top layer stays a freeboard below the flange rim:

dc = k × OD
N  = floor(((D − d) / 2 − X) / dc)
n  = floor(W / dc)
L  = π × n × N × (d + N × dc)

D is the flange, d the barrel and W the winding width; dc is the wound diameter, N the layers, n the turns per layer and X the freeboard. L adds up the turns of every layer.

The defaults, k = 1.05 and X = the larger of 50 mm and one wound diameter, were fitted to the cable makers' own capacity tables: Prysmian North America's 298 cells and the 564 of the KTG table. Layers are counted as aligned; real winding nests some turns, which gives between 4 % less and 12 % more by whole layers, so no flat factor is added. A drum maker's table (Miguelez) prints about 15 % more than the cable makers: it fills to the rim.

Each method against the lengths the cable makers publish: median difference, positive when the method claims more cable than the maker prints.
MethodPrysmian North America, 298 cellsKTG table, 564 cells
This page: whole layers, k 1.05, freeboard+1.2%+0.6%
SAP reel calculation, 1 in clearance+21%+19%
NEMA WC 26 formula as distributors print it+19%+18%
Area ratio, π/4 (D² − d²) W / OD²+41%+47%

On average this page's estimate is 4% off Prysmian's lengths and 6.2% off the KTG table's, up or down. The defaults were fitted on the same tables, so this is not an independent score.

Barrel minimum, as a multiple of the cable OD (KTG table, the cable's datasheet wins): flexible 12, low voltage multi-core 15, low voltage single core 20, medium voltage multi-core 20, medium voltage single core 25, high voltage 25, telecom 20, paper and lead 30. That is the limit for winding at the works; the bending radius for installation is a different, larger one.

Drum sizes are pooled. Makers print different barrels, widths, tares and load ratings for the same nominal size (at a 1400 mm flange the barrels in this list run from 650 to 800 mm), so the list shows one row per size and material and keeps each maker's drum inside it. Each series is pooled on its own: KTG, Nordic K, the older DIN series, the Spanish, Turkish and Chinese steel sizes by the flange in decimetres, the way those makers name them; NEMA reels by their flange x traverse x drum designation; Brazil's NBR 11137 drums by the designation printed; a maker's own reference stays a row of its own. A drum whose maker states no material counts as wood, and its row says so. A row gives the range over its makers, takes as many drums as its smallest maker needs, checks the barrel against its smallest barrel and the load against its lowest rating, and passes only when every maker's drum passes: the pick fits whichever maker the drum comes from. The drawing uses that smallest maker's dimensions. The values remain the makers' own, each linked to its source; apart from IS 10418, no drum standard was read.

Weights: gross is the cable plus the drum's tare as its maker prints it, plus the lagging when one is chosen (an estimate, as no maker publishes a lagging mass); other packing is not included. A load rating is the drum maker's own, and each maker rates it its own way.

IS 10418 drums (India) are the exception: their 51 sizes are those of the standard itself, IS 10418:2024 Table 1, read in the standard and named by its size code (the flange, then the barrel, in decimetres; S for a reduced width). The standard covers wooden drums only and gives no tare and no load rating, so no gross weight is given for them. From size 2209 up, the flange Table 1 prints does not match the size code (a column slip in the 2024 print); the flange used is the one the code names. The standard also asks for a clearance from the outer layer to the flange rim of at least 75 mm or one cable diameter, whichever is less, and lagging 16 to 38 mm thick by drum size (Table 3). Its Annex A recommends a barrel of at least 12 to 20 times the cable diameter by cores and voltage (multi-core up to 11 kV 12, single core above 11 kV 20); the barrel check here stays the KTG table's.

Apart from IS 10418 (India), no drum standard was read here (DIN 46391, NEMA WC 26 and SS 84 28 01 are paid documents). Every drum is as its maker prints it, linked to the maker's own list: KTG drums from KTG, Bayka, Meinhart and Partner Cable; Nordic K drums from Reka, Helmacab, Nestor, Draka Keila and Prysmian Denmark; the older DIN series from Eland and Romagna Cavi; Spanish drums from Miguelez, Cables RCT and C3; NEMA reels from American Wire Group and Okonite; Turkish drums from Prysmian Kablo, HES, Ebion, Unka and Ozdeloglu; plastic and plywood reels from Axjo, Nexans, Sonoco and others; own sizes from Southwire, Steinnagel, Elmeridge, Encore Wire, Northern Cables and more.

Sources