News

A pipe feeder is a conveyor-based machine that applies continuous axial force to push large-diameter steel pipelines through pre-bored ground — without stopping, without friction spikes, and without open excavation. Unlike cylinder-based pushers that work in strokes, the UNI-PF250 uses a 4-track conveyor to maintain uninterrupted pipe movement across river, road, and railroad crossings from 20 to 56 inches in diameter.

There are four main trenchless methods for pipeline river crossings: HDD (fastest for crossings under 5,000 ft), microtunneling (best for grade-critical and hard ground), pipe jacking (for large diameters with crew access), and Direct Pipe® (one-step bore and install with TBM + pipe feeder simultaneously). The right method depends on pipe diameter, crossing length, and ground conditions. The UNI-PF250 pipe feeder supports all four.

The UNI-PF250 is a 200-short-ton conveyor-based pipe feeder built by Universal HDD in Lake Zurich, Illinois. It supports steel pipelines from 20 to 56 inches, delivers 200 short tons continuous and 250 short tons peak force, requires no crane for installation, and ships in 3 modular units. It is used in HDD pullback, microtunneling, pipe jacking, and Direct Pipe® tunneling. Lead time is 16–18 weeks. Full specs available at unihdd.com.