A drag chain conveyor moves material by dragging — the chain lies flat on its side and slides along low-friction tracks, pulling the carrying surface with it. Bolt steel flights between the chains and it drags material straight along a steel bed. Bolt on rubber or PVC belting instead and it becomes the workhorse feed conveyor of the recycling industry. Remcon builds both, on the same heavy-duty platform.
What Is a Drag Chain Conveyor?
A drag chain conveyor is a chain conveyor whose chain slides — drags — rather than rolls. Two parallel strands of welded steel chain lie flat on their sides and slide along tracks made of angle iron with UHMW wear surfaces to reduce friction. Steel cross members connect the two strands at regular intervals and either drag material directly along a solid bed (the steel-flight style) or carry rubber or PVC belting (the belt style). The chain is guided around both ends of the conveyor on sprockets; the sprockets at the discharge end grab the chain as the shaft is turned by a motor with a reducer, so the drive is positive — the belt cannot slip the way a friction-driven belt can. And because the pulling element is chain, it can be repaired link by link.
Drag chain is one branch of the chain conveyor family, alongside roller chain belts and bulk container conveyors.
See all chain conveyor styles compared →Two Drag Chain Styles: Steel Flights or a Belt
Drag Chain with Steel Flights (Beltless)
The beltless drag chain conveyor has no belt surface to puncture or bend. Steel cross angles — 3 x 3 x 1/4" angle iron, standard — are bolted between the two chains and slide along a solid conveyor bed, pulling material with them. The bed is built in replaceable sections of 1/4" steel plate, with hardened plate or UHMW-covered steel available for harder duty. This open-frame style works especially well for metering material being fed out of a hopper, and it is a common choice for conveying metal.
Full details: drag chain with steel flights (beltless) conveyors →Drag Chain with Rubber or PVC Belt
The drag chain belt conveyor is the most basic type of chain belt. Rubber or PVC belting is bolted to 4" x 3/8" steel flat-bar cross members which connect the two strands of chain, giving a flexible yet durable carrying surface for a variety of materials. The belting is heavy — 3-ply, 330 lbs. per inch width MOR rubber, or 450 lb. PVC — and UHMW-faced impact beams back it up in the loading area, where the abuse happens.
Full details: drag chain with rubber/PVC belt conveyors →
Steel Flights vs. Rubber/PVC Belt Compared
Both styles share the same chain, tracks, and drive — the difference is what the chain pulls. The table below is drawn from the two product entries above; follow those links for full construction details.
| Factor | Steel flights (beltless) | Rubber/PVC belt |
|---|---|---|
| Carrying surface | None — 3 x 3 x 1/4" steel cross angles drag material directly along the bed | Rubber or PVC belting bolted to 4" x 3/8" steel cross members between the chains |
| Conveyor bed | Solid, replaceable sections of 1/4" steel plate; hardened plate or UHMW-covered steel optional | No solid bed — the belt carries the load, with UHMW-faced impact beams under the loading area |
| Best materials | Metal and abrasive, metal-laden material — anything that would puncture, cut, or bend a belt | Mixed recyclables and solid waste — the workhorse belt for MRF feed duty |
| Wear & repair | Bed sections, UHMW chain tracks, and hold-down guides all bolt on and off; chain repairable link by link | Belting is a replaceable item; UHMW chain tracks and hold-down guides bolt on and off; chain repairable link by link |
| Belt width | 24" to 72" | 24" to 72" |
| Chain | 4" pitch or larger, welded | 4" pitch or larger, welded |
| When to choose | Scrap and metal conveying; metering out of a hopper; belt-damaging material | Baler feed, infeed, and sort line duty where a continuous surface keeps material on the conveyor |
One Platform Under Both Styles
Whichever carrying surface fits your material, the machine underneath is the same Remcon build:
- Drag chain tracks — steel angle iron faced with 1/2" thick x 6" wide black reprocessed UHMW polyethylene. The plastic bolts on, replaces easily, and has slotted holes for thermal expansion.
- Hold-down guides — Remcon's special UHMW guides carry the chain up or over curves where the conveyor changes angle; easily replaced.
- Take-ups — cantilevered telescoping tube style with manual screw adjustment: 12" of travel on shorter conveyors, up to 18" on the longest, adjusted with one wrench.
- Drive — shaft-mounted Dodge Torque Arm II reducer, v-belt driven. If the conveyor jams, the v-belt slips instead of something breaking; a VFD is especially recommended on chain belt conveyors.
- Frame — heavy-duty structural steel open frame, shop fitted and welded in sections up to 40 ft., aligned in the shop and aligned again at installation.
Every orientation runs in-ground (in a pit) or above ground: horizontal, incline, incline with nose-over, dual-angle incline, horizontal with elbow-up incline — or two conveyors in series.
Standard vs. En-Masse Drag Conveying
In industry catalogs, "drag chain conveyor" covers two different working principles, and it helps to know which one you're shopping for. A standard, flight-style drag conveyor — the style on this page — pulls a loose bed of material along an open bed or trough with flights, and the material can tumble and settle as it moves. An en-masse conveyor instead runs a skeletal chain through an enclosed casing, and the material moves together as a solid column at close to chain speed. En-masse designs are common for fine, free-flowing bulk solids such as grain, wood chips, and ash, where the enclosed casing controls dust.
Remcon's version of bulk-material drag conveying is the single-strand drag chain: one wide strand of chain slides along a flat wear surface, dragging loose material with it — either just the material inside the links, or inside and on top of the chain, which is en-masse conveying. For sorted recyclables and solid waste, though, the flight and belt styles above are almost always the right call. Contact us if your material is a loose bulk solid and you're not sure which principle fits.
Drag Chain Conveyor Applications
Drag chain conveyors live at the feed end of recycling plants, MRFs, and scrap operations — the point where a loader or a hopper meets the processing line and the material is at its roughest. Both styles are commonly built as:
When the load gets heavier still, the next step up is the roller chain belt conveyor — the same principle, but with rollers in each link that roll on rail, moving heavier loads with less power.
Drag Chain Conveyor FAQ
What is a drag chain conveyor?
A drag chain conveyor is a chain conveyor whose chain slides — drags — along low-friction tracks instead of rolling, pulling the carrying surface along with it. Remcon builds two styles: steel flights (beltless), where steel cross angles drag material along a solid steel bed, and rubber/PVC belt, where belting bolted to steel cross members carries the load. Both use a positive sprocket drive, so the belt cannot slip the way a friction-driven belt can.
What is the difference between a drag chain and a roller chain conveyor?
A drag chain conveyor slides its chain flat along angle-iron tracks with UHMW wear surfaces, while a roller chain conveyor has steel rollers built into each link that roll on rail tracks instead of sliding. Rolling reduces the drag of the belt as it travels, so a roller chain conveyor can move a heavier load with less power. The drag chain is the simpler, more basic build — and for most feed and metering duty, it is all the conveyor the job needs.
Steel flights or a rubber/PVC belt — which drag chain conveyor do I need?
Choose steel flights (beltless) when the material would puncture, cut, or bend a belt — metal, most of all — or when metering material out of a hopper. Choose a rubber or PVC belt when mixed recyclables need a continuous carrying surface for baler feed, infeed, or sort line duty. Both styles ride on the same UHMW tracks, take-ups, and drive platform, so the choice comes down to the material.
What materials do drag chain conveyors handle?
Drag chain conveyors are built for the rough end of recycling and solid waste — mixed recyclables on the belt style, and metal and other abrasive, belt-damaging material on the steel-flight style. Both are commonly built as baler feed, infeed, and sort line feed conveyors for recycling plants and MRFs, installed in-ground (in a pit) or above ground.
How much does a drag chain conveyor cost?
Price depends on the style (steel flights or belt), width, length, orientation, hoppers, and drive options, so Remcon quotes each drag chain conveyor individually. Tell us the material, the load, and the layout and we will quote it — and if a simpler conveyor such as a slider bed can do the job for less, we will tell you that too. Call (509) 244-9439 for a quote.
Every Remcon drag chain conveyor is designed and fabricated at our Airway Heights (Spokane), Washington shop, then shipped and installed nationwide — with replacement chain, belting, and parts supplied for the life of the machine. Tell us the material and the layout, and we'll tell you which style it wants.
Get a quote for a drag chain conveyor →