Totes & parts · P-08
Cages &
pallet bases.
Short answer
- Cages straightened, shot-blasted and weld-inspected
- Base swaps performed during reconditioning at no extra labour
- Plastic bases mandatory on most sanitary floors
- Bulk cage supply for rebottlers and fabricators
Price cages or bases
Base types
Four bases, and the failure mode of each
Nobody chooses a pallet base. It arrives under the tote and then becomes your problem. Here is how each one actually fails, so you can choose deliberately next time.
Galvanised steel
35 – 42 lb · 4-wayStrengths
- Highest crush rating
- Survives repeated forklift abuse
- Cheapest to repair — it can be welded
Failure modes
- Rusts at weld scars if stored outdoors
- Not washable to food-plant standards
- Heaviest option
The default for chemical, ag and industrial duty. If nobody specified, you have a steel base.
Injection-moulded plastic (HDPE)
20 – 26 lb · 4-wayStrengths
- Fully washable, no harbourage points
- Chemically inert
- No rust, no splinters, no nails
Failure modes
- Cracks rather than bends under impact
- Cannot be repaired in the field
- Softens near heat sources
Mandatory in most food, beverage and pharma plants. Ask for it by name.
Composite (steel frame, plastic deck)
28 – 34 lb · 4-wayStrengths
- Steel strength with a washable deck
- Good compromise for mixed-use fleets
Failure modes
- More expensive
- Deck-to-frame fasteners are a wear point
The right answer for a pool that moves between a chemical plant and a food plant.
Hardwood (48 × 40 GMA)
40 – 52 lb · 4-way notchedStrengths
- Lowest unit cost
- Field-repairable with a hammer
Failure modes
- Absorbs product and water
- ISPM-15 heat treatment needed for export
- Fails fastest in a return loop
Fine for a one-way trip. A false economy for anything returnable.
Full comparison with crush ratings and wash compatibility on the pallet types page.
Bare cages
What we sell and who buys it
| Item | Condition | Price band | Typical buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galvanised cage, 275 gal | Straightened, shot-blasted, weld-checked | $38 – $62 | Rebottlers, fleet repair |
| Galvanised cage, 330 gal | Straightened, shot-blasted, weld-checked | $46 – $75 | Rebottlers, fleet repair |
| Cage, as-removed | Unstraightened, sound welds | $22 – $38 | Fabricators, planter and rack builders |
| Steel base | Inspected, re-welded where needed | $26 – $44 | Fleet repair |
| Plastic base (HDPE) | Washed, crack-inspected | $34 – $58 | Food and pharma plants |
| Composite base | Deck and frame inspected | $48 – $72 | Mixed-use return loops |
| Hardwood base, 48 × 40 GMA | Sound, ISPM-15 on request | $18 – $30 | One-way shipments |
| Cage + base assembly | Matched, ready for a bottle | $68 – $125 | Rebottling programmes |
Quantities above 50 are quoted per unit on a sliding scale; above 500 we quote by the trailer. Fixing centres and strap positions differ between manufacturers, so include the maker’s name from the specification plate in your request.
The circular case
A cage outlives three bottles
Galvanised steel tube does not fatigue the way blow-moulded HDPE does. In our own pool, a cage typically survives three bottle generations — about twenty-two fill cycles — before a weld finally fails and it goes to the baler.
That is why we pay money for totes with cracked bottles and why rebottling exists as a grade at all. Scrapping a sound cage because the plastic inside it aged out is the single largest avoidable waste in this industry, and it happens by the trailer-load every week.
If you are holding a pile of crushed-bottle totes, you are holding about 27 kg of reusable steel per unit. Do not send it to a scrapyard before you ask us what the cages are worth intact.
Cage triage, in order
- 01Welds. Any cracked weld at an upright-to-rail joint is terminal. Pressing it straight hides the crack rather than fixing it.
- 02Uprights. A bowed upright can be pressed. A kinked one — a sharp fold rather than a curve — cannot.
- 03Galvanising. Surface rust at weld scars is cosmetic. Flaking, blistered zinc over a whole rail means the cage has been outdoors for years and will not take another decade.
- 04Base fixings. Sheared or missing fixings are replaceable. A base whose fixing holes have torn through is not.
Questions
Cage and base questions
Can I buy just the cage without the bottle?
Yes, and it is a normal order. Bare straightened cages go to rebottlers, fabricators building racks and planters, and fleet operators who need to replace a crushed cage without buying a whole container. Expect $38 – $75 depending on condition and quantity.
Can I swap a wooden base for a plastic one?
Yes. Base swaps are routine during reconditioning and we also sell bases on their own. A plastic base costs $34 – $58 and pays for itself the first time a food-plant auditor walks your receiving dock.
Are IBC cages interchangeable between brands?
Broadly within the 48 × 40 in composite standard, but not reliably. Bottle shoulder geometry, strap positions and base fixing centres vary between Schütz, Mauser, Greif and Snyder assemblies. Tell us the manufacturer stamped on the plate and we will match it.
What does a crushed cage mean for the bottle inside?
Usually that the bottle is fine. The cage carries the stacking load, so a crushed upright has often absorbed an impact the bottle never felt. Those units are our best rebottling candidates — and they are why we pay for totes other dealers reject.
Compatibility
Cages are not universal, and the differences are small
Within the 48 × 40 composite standard, bottle shoulder geometry, strap positions and base fixing centres vary between manufacturers. The differences are a few millimetres and they matter.
| Feature | Why it varies | What goes wrong if it mismatches |
|---|---|---|
| Bottle shoulder profile | Mould design | Bottle sits proud or rocks in the cage |
| Upper rail height | Cage design | Lid fouls the rail, or the bottle is unsupported |
| Strap or clip positions | Retention method | Bottle not retained; it shifts in transit |
| Base fixing centres | Base design | Holes do not line up; cage cannot be fastened |
| Outlet cut-out position | Valve placement | Valve fouls the cage or cannot be operated |
| Tube diameter and wall | Cost and rating | Mixed stacks behave unpredictably under load |
Send us the manufacturer name from the specification plate with any cage or base order. We match on it, and where we cannot we will say so rather than shipping something that nearly fits. A cage that nearly fits is worse than no cage, because somebody will make it work.
Buying in volume
How cage and base orders are priced
Components are quoted differently from containers. Quantity breaks are steeper, freight is better, and condition grading is simpler.
| Quantity | Pricing basis | Freight | Typical buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – 10 | Unit price from the band | LTL, often the larger cost | Fleet repair |
| 11 – 50 | Sliding scale per unit | LTL or partial | Small rebottler, fabricator |
| 51 – 200 | Quoted per unit on volume | Partial or full trailer | Rebottling programme |
| 201 – 600 | Quoted by the trailer | Full trailer | Industrial rebottler |
| 600+ | Quoted by the load, scheduled | Multiple trailers | Contract supply |
Cages nest, bottles do not
Bare cages nest far better than complete units: 96 to 120 per 53-foot trailer against 42 complete totes. On a component order freight per unit is a fraction of what it is on containers, which is why volume cage buying makes economic sense at distances that would be prohibitive for finished units.
Ask for one grade, not a mix
Straightened-and-blasted cages and as-removed cages price very differently and are useful for different things. Fabricators generally want as-removed at the lower price; rebottlers want straightened. Specify which, because a mixed load satisfies neither cleanly.
From the Yard Journal
Longer pieces from the people who run the wash line, the test bay and the trading desk.
6 December 2022 · 6 min
Reading a cage weld: a field guide to the joint that kills totes
The upright-to-rail joint decides whether a cage is rebottled or baled. Here is what we look at, in what order, and why a bowed upright is fine but a kinked one is not.
Priya Raghunathan · Head of reconditioning
Read21 May 2026 · 4 min
What a crushed cage tells you about the bottle inside
Counterintuitively, the worse the cage looks, the better the odds on the bottle. We pulled three years of intake records to check.
Priya Raghunathan · Head of reconditioning
Read21 November 2024 · 4 min
A short history of the 48 × 40 footprint
Every composite IBC in North America is built to a grocery-industry pallet standard from 1968. That accident governs trailer loading, rack design and half our freight arithmetic.
Marcus Vreeland · Founder
Read
Next move
Got a pile of crushed totes?
Before you call a scrapyard, send us the count. Sound cages with dead bottles are worth real money intact, and we would rather rebottle them than watch 27 kg of galvanised steel go through a furnace.