RZE16 Culvert Puller

The RZE16 is a 16-tonne culvert puller for joining concrete pipes and box culverts. It runs on an internal 12V battery with a cordless remote, so there are no trailing hoses or cables in the trench. It handles internal pipe diameters from 800mm to 3000mm, pulling sections squarely home without damaging pipe faces or joints.

Applications and pipe types

Our customers use the RZE16 on large-diameter concrete pipe runs where every section has to be drawn home squarely onto the last one. Typical work includes:

• Surface water and foul sewer runs in reinforced concrete pipe
• Highway and access road drainage crossings
• Box culvert runs
• Outfall and headwall connections
• Attenuation and storage pipe runs
• Jointing where the trench is too tight to work around the outside of the pipe

How the RZE16 operates on site

The machine is lowered into the pipe on a chain sling. It runs along the invert on four wheels, and at the push of a button clamps hydraulically against the bore, the wheels swivelling up as the clamps take hold. Three large clamping surfaces spread the radial load across the bore to prevent concrete damage, and the maximum hydraulic pressure is steplessly adjustable to protect delicate joint details.

A pulling bar and polyester sling attach to the section going in. As the hydraulic cylinder retracts through its 500mm stroke, it draws that section squarely into the joint. The cylinder then extends again, a push button releases the clamps, and the machine rolls forward by one pipe length to the next joint.

Sections are lowered into the trench beforehand using pipe grabs or a pipe caddy.

Box culverts, special profiles and tandem pulls

The RZE16 adapts to non-standard pipe profiles and complex layouts:

• Rectangular box culverts: Dedicated wide pulling bars (1400–2000mm and 1800–2600mm) ensure square pulls across flat culvert faces.
• Kite and egg-shaped profiles: An optional four-track undercarriage keeps the machine stable in non-circular profiles.
• Invert dry-weather channels: An undercarriage enlargement widens the wheelbase to 700mm to straddle invert channels (cunettes) cleanly.
• Tandem pulls for wide culverts: Two RZE units can be operated in tandem for wide twin-cell box culverts or heavier draws.

If you need advice on profile matching, spindle setup or beam sizing, contact our team or request familiarisation training with delivery.

Common Questions

Hire the RZE16 Culvert Puller

We send the RZE16 out as a complete kit: the machine, a cordless remote, a spare battery and charger, polyester strops in 4m, 6m and 8m, and the pulling beam sized to your bore. Tell us the bore, the profile and the section weight and we will specify the rigging before delivery, and can run familiarisation training on site. To talk it through, contact your nearest depot.