URD cable buyers in Tennessee
For utility stores supervisors and contractors holding underground distribution cable, this page covers where URD accumulates and how a part reel is judged.
Send us your reel list
Six details are enough for a first review: what the cable is, the metal, the size, the footage or reel count, the condition and where it sits. Photographs can follow by text or email. There is no fee and no obligation, and nothing moves until written terms are agreed.
URD is the cable a utility or a co-op buries to feed a house, a shop or a small subdivision: two, three or four conductors, usually aluminum, jacketed together for direct burial. It rarely reaches a plant. It does reach us, because store rooms and jobs that never started leave reels behind.
A cancelled subdivision is the largest single source. The developer ordered cable for a phase that never broke ground, the reel sat in the co-op yard, and eventually somebody has to decide what to do with it. Those reels are often full and tagged, which makes them the cleanest URD lots we see.
Underground cable is sold on its jacket and its footage, not on the nameplate.
Lot basics
- Type
- Underground residential distribution
- Voltage
- 600 V
- Conductors
- Two to four, aluminum common
- Installation
- Direct burial
Where URD reels come from in a utility yard
Utility and co-op store rooms hold the bulk of it. A line crew orders for a subdivision or a long rural lateral, uses part of the reel and returns the rest. Multiply that across a few years of work and the back of the yard fills with part reels of 2/0 and 4/0 aluminum, most of them with the original tag still wired to the flange.
Contractors who do underground service work for the utilities hold smaller quantities. So do farms and industrial sites with their own distribution, where a buried feed to a pump house or a shop was replaced and the surplus stayed in the barn. Those lots are short lengths rather than reels, and they are usually mixed with other cable.
What the cable is and how it is made
URD is a 600 V assembly of two to four conductors, with the neutral sometimes reduced in size, all under a heavy black jacket rated for direct burial. Conductors are usually aluminum in the larger sizes and copper in the smaller ones. Many modern constructions are dual rated as URD and USE-2, and the jacket print will say so.
The jacket is the part that matters underground, since it is the only barrier against soil moisture. It is thick, and on a new reel it is flexible and slightly glossy. A reel that sat in the sun for years will have a chalky surface, and one dragged over gravel will show scuffs and cuts along one side.
Judging a part reel in the yard
Length is the first question and the hardest. A part reel of 4/0 aluminum is heavy, so the remaining cable is measured by weighing the reel and dividing by the weight per foot for that construction, with an allowance for the wood. A wrap count against the drum diameter gives a cross-check before we commit.
Length is the first question and the hardest. A part reel of 4/0 aluminum is heavy, so the remaining cable is measured by weighing the reel and dividing by the weight per foot for that construction, with an allowance for the wood. A wrap count against the drum diameter gives a cross-check before we commit to a figure.
Jacket damage is the second. A cut through the jacket on a direct-burial cable is not cosmetic, and a section with a deep gouge is cut out rather than sold. Sun damage on the outer layer is common on reels stored outdoors, and the first few wraps are normally written off once a reel has stood in the open for years.
Related pages
Questions sellers ask
Is URD the same as USE-2?
They overlap without being identical. URD describes the application, underground residential distribution, while USE-2 describes a single conductor rated for underground service. Many modern URD assemblies are dual marked with both, and the jacket print settles it. A two or three conductor URD assembly is a different product from a single USE-2 conductor.
Which sizes of URD do you see most often?
The aluminum sizes used for residential and small commercial service: 2 AWG, 1/0, 2/0 and 4/0, in two and three conductor constructions. Smaller copper assemblies turn up on farm and outbuilding work. The size is printed on the jacket and usually repeated on the reel tag wired to the flange.
How much footage makes a part reel worthwhile?
There is no fixed threshold, but a part reel needs enough length to serve a service run, which usually means a few hundred feet rather than a few dozen. Short remnants are still bought, though they are priced as recovery material and are better consolidated with other cable in the same load.
Do you take URD with a damaged outer jacket?
Yes, with the damaged section cut away and the remainder measured. A jacket that is scuffed is not a problem. One that is cut through to the conductors is, because moisture will have reached the strands. Send a photograph of the damaged area and we will say how much of the reel we can use.
Send us your reel list
Six details are enough for a first review: what the cable is, the metal, the size, the footage or reel count, the condition and where it sits. Photographs can follow by text or email. There is no fee and no obligation, and nothing moves until written terms are agreed.
Reels of URD in the yard?
Send the conductor count, the size, whether the jacket is intact and a photograph of the reel tags.
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