Short answer: if you can use more than about 80% of a standard length on the job, buy standard. Once your usable percentage drops below that, the cutting fee on cut-to-length is cheaper than the waste and the second truck run.
What 'standard length' actually means
At Marshall Steel, structural sections come in 6.0m and 7.5m standard lengths. Bars are 6.0m. Pipe varies. Stock lengths are cheaper per metre because the mill rolls them that way and we don't touch them between the truck and the rack. The price you see is essentially mill price plus a margin.
What cut-to-length adds — and saves
Cut-to-length adds a small cutting fee per cut. In return you save on three things: offcut waste (no leftover 1.2m you'll never use), transport (cut pieces pack into a ute or trailer that would have needed a truck for a full length), and on-site labour (no one fighting a drop saw at the back of the block).
A worked example
Say you need eight 1.8m SHS posts. That's 14.4m of usable steel.
- Standard: three 6.0m lengths = 18.0m of steel. You use 14.4m and bin 3.6m of off-cut. Your effective price per usable metre is 18.0 ÷ 14.4 = 25% more than the headline rate.
- Cut-to-length: 14.4m of steel + 8 cuts. As long as the cutting fee on 8 cuts is less than the cost of that wasted 3.6m, cut-to-length wins.
When standard lengths win
- You can use a full 6.0m or 7.5m piece without trimming much off the end.
- You're running an account on a big build and the off-cuts go back into other jobs (or into your own off-cut bin).
- You've got the truck and yard space to handle full lengths without fuss.
When cut-to-length wins
- Short repetitive lengths — gate frames, brackets, balustrade posts, patio uprights.
- Awkward access — top of a hill in Currumbin Valley, a unit in Burleigh, anywhere a 7.5m length isn't going to fit through the carpark.
- Mixed sizes on a small job — easier to order exactly what you need than juggle five different stock lengths.
And then there's the off-cut bin
If your job is small enough that even cut-to-length feels like overkill, walk into the yard and dig through the off-cut bin. Short lengths, ends and drops priced to clear. Cash and carry. Plenty of fence brackets, chook pens and trailer rebuilds have started life in there.
Send us your cut list and we'll quote it both ways — standard vs cut-to-length — so you can see which way the numbers fall on your job.
Cut-to-length is part of our cutting service at the Burleigh Heads yard.
