Pipe Caddy / Pipe Lifter

SEL's Concrete Pipe Caddies are mechanical excavator attachments for offloading, moving, and laying precast concrete pipes from 300mm to 2500mm. We supply two models with safe working loads up to 8,500kg, allowing even heavy pipe sections to be placed in a trench quickly and safely.

Typical Applications

A pipe caddy is an ideal replacement for chains and strops when handling precast concrete sections. Typical uses include:

• Unloading pipes from delivery flatbeds
• Moving and stringing sections along a trench line
• Lowering pipes between trench box struts into an excavation
• Pushing spigot-and-socket joints home to join sections together
• Laying surface water sewers, foul drains, highway culverts and attenuation lines

Inside-the-Bore Support and Narrow Trenches

Because the pipe caddy's lifting arm sits inside the bore rather than clamping the outside like an external pipe grab, you need no extra trench width around the barrel.

The attachment couples onto an excavator's quick-hitch attachment point. There are no hydraulic hoses or electrical cables to connect. In order to lift a pipe, the operator guides the lifting arm into the open pipe end, raises the boom to take the weight and then lowers the section into the trench. Once the pipe is resting on the bed, lowering the arm releases it.

Safer Offloading and Trench Handling

When lifting concrete pipes with slings or chains, a worker has to climb beside the pipe section to hook it up and then jump down into the trench to unhook it again. With a pipe caddy, the operator picks up and releases the pipe from the safety of the excavator cab.

The fact the arm lifts against the inside of the bore also means chains never bear against the concrete joint faces.

Watch the video on the tab above to see our pipe caddy in action.

Two Models for 300mm to 2500mm Pipe

We stock two sizes to suit your pipe diameter and weight. You use the standard Pipe Caddy for 300mm to 1200mm pipes, with a 3,700kg (3.7-tonne) safe working load and a 600kg attachment weight.

For larger sewers and outfalls from 1350mm to 2500mm, the Pipe Caddy Plus has an 8,500kg (8.5-tonne) safe working load and weighs 1,100kg.

Common Questions

Hire or Buy a Pipe Caddy

We supply both the Pipe Caddy and Pipe Caddy Plus for hire or sale across the UK from our depots in Bristol, Cardiff, and London. Every unit is supplied with a current LOLER test certificate. To get a quote, simply contact your nearest depot.