Towing Heads

Towing heads are the fastest way to pull, winch, or reposition HDPE pipe without cutting or fusing the pipe end. Built with high-tensile, drop-forged steel eyebolts and solid aluminium noses, Advanced Piping's towing heads grip the inside wall of the pipe and hold firm under load, whether you're pulling pipe through a bore, dispensing coiled pipe, or dragging above-ground pipeline across a site.

What Are Towing Heads Used For?

A towing head fits over the end of a pipe and locks in place when the eyebolt is tightened, expanding the internal grippers against the pipe wall. This makes it suited to a wide range of jobs:

• Pipe winching – pulling pipe strings into position without damaging the pipe wall
• Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) – towing HDPE pipe through a drilled bore during trenchless installation
• Dispensing coiled pipe – unwinding and feeding coil without kinking
• Above-ground pipeline movement – relocating pipe runs on mining, civil, or irrigation sites, protecting the open pipe end from rocks and debris in the process

Read more on how towing heads reduce downtime on mining sites, where poly pipe is regularly dragged behind heavy machinery.

Standard, Rear Eye and Pressure-Tight Options

Advanced Piping stocks towing heads in three configurations to suit different jobs:

Standard Towing Heads

The general-purpose option for winching and site pipe movement.

Rear Eye Towing Heads

Designed for applications needing the pull point set further back from the pipe end, useful when clearance around the bore entry is tight.

Pressure-Tight Towing Heads

Sealed for jobs where the pipe end needs to stay pressure-tight during the pull, common in directional drilling where drilling mud or water can enter an open pipe end.

How to Fit a Towing Head

1. Slide the towing head onto the end of the pipe.
2. Rotate the eyebolt until it's tight. This expands the internal gripper set against the pipe wall.
3. Confirm the grip is secure before applying load.
4. To remove, loosen the eyebolt and slide the head off. It's fully reusable on the next job.

No special tooling is required, and the gripper set can be replaced if it becomes worn, so one towing head can serve a fleet of projects.

Why Choose a Towing Head Over Cutting or Fusing

Cutting a temporary pull fitting onto pipe, or fusing on a pulling eye, adds time and wastes pipe. A towing head avoids both. It clamps on in minutes, pulls the full tensile load the pipe can handle, and comes straight back off when the job is done, leaving the pipe end untouched and ready for the next fusion joint. If you're new to why HDPE performs so well under these pulling and trenchless conditions, our guide to the benefits of using HDPE pipe in projects covers why it's the standard choice for HDD across Australia.

Available Sizes

Advanced Piping's towing heads are available across a broad size range to suit almost any HDPE or poly pipe diameter:

• Size range: 32mm to 630mm
• An optional lifting eyebolt can be added for controlled lowering of pipe into a trench
• Suits all types of plastic pipe, including black poly pipe used in mining and irrigation

Choose a towing head that matches the outside diameter of your pipe. For guidance on installation practices around directional drilling, PIPA's POP technical guidelines are a solid industry reference.