Shaftless Machines

Shaftless Machines for Large, Heavy, and Difficult Reels

Shaftless wire handling machines eliminate the axle shaft entirely — the reel rides on self-aligning cone cradles or saddles rather than a center shaft that must be threaded through the reel arbor. This makes a fundamental difference when the reels are too heavy to safely thread onto a shaft, too wide to fit the shaft, or arriving from an extrusion or drawing line without stopping to change a shaft between every reel. Graham International shaftless machines cover the full spectrum from high-speed automated extrusion takeup to heavy-duty shaftless payout for the largest reels on the floor.

The H20SP Shaftless Payout handles reels up to 108 inches in diameter at 20,000-pound lift capacity — handling sizes and weights that make conventional shaft-based equipment impractical or unsafe. Push-button hydraulic lift and an open-frame shaftless design mean the operator never touches a heavy shaft. The H20SP is the right choice for cable manufacturers, utility wire distributors, and industrial operations paying out from the largest sizes in the industry.

For production line integration, the E125T20 Model Shaftless Automated Self-Propelled Takeup brings full automation to wire takeup. HMI touchscreen control, stop-to-length capability, automatic wire traverse, automatic floor lock brakes, and zero-turn maneuverability via dual joysticks allow one operator to manage a high-throughput takeup operation without manual shaft changes between reels. The E125T20 handles reels up to 60 inches in diameter at 10,000-pound lift capacity with 20,000-pound pulling capacity standard and configurations up to 40,000 pounds available.

Shaftless machines are the right tool when: reels exceed the practical weight limit for manual shaft handling; reel arbors are too large for standard shaft diameters; production speed requires fast reel changes without stopping to thread a shaft; or the wire is coming off an extrusion or drawing machine continuously and must be taken up without a manual spool change interrupting the line. If you are handling the heaviest or fastest production applications in wire and cable, shaftless equipment is not optional — it is the only safe and efficient path.

Graham International manufactures both shaftless takeup and shaftless payout equipment, and can configure shaftless systems into integrated takeup-payout lines for wire processing operations. All shaftless machines are built in Michigan, USA, with the same wearproof materials and heavy construction that define every Graham International product. Contact us with your reel sizes, weights, production speed, and application requirements — we will specify the right shaftless configuration.