How do you calculate haul-off speed?

Divide the good pulled length by the elapsed puller time for the raw speed, then multiply by the efficiency factor. Here 1500 ft over 60 min is 25 ft/min raw, and at 94% efficiency the practical speed is 23.5 ft/min.

What is a good haul-off efficiency?

Stable long runs often hit 90-97%; frequent size changes, thin film breaks, or startup-heavy schedules pull it lower. The 94% in this example reflects a well-run line with modest losses.

Why is practical haul-off speed lower than the calculated speed?

The raw rate assumes every minute produced sellable product. Efficiency strips out stops, slippage, and off-spec length, so the practical 23.5 ft/min is what you can actually schedule against versus the 25 ft/min ideal.

How does haul-off speed relate to draw-down?

Pulling faster than the extrudate leaves the die stretches and thins it — that ratio is the draw-down. Haul-off speed is one half of that ratio, so changing it directly changes wall thickness and dimensions.

Haul-off speed vs extruder output — which sets the pace?

They must balance: the extruder sets mass flow, the haul-off sets length rate, and together they fix cross-section. If haul-off outruns output you thin and eventually snap the line; if it lags you get sag and oversize.

How do I use this to quote a run?

Take the required good footage and divide by the practical speed. At 23.5 ft/min, 10,000 ft of good product needs about 426 minutes of run time, versus a rosy 400 min at the raw 25 ft/min.

Plastics Extrusion - Pipe, Film & Profile calculator

Haul-Off Speed Calculator

Haul-off speed is the rate the puller or caterpillar take-off draws extruded product down the line, and it sets both throughput and, through draw-down, the final wall and dimensions. The practical version discounts the raw pulled rate by an efficiency factor that captures stops, slips, and off-spec length so you plan around what the line really delivers. Extrusion supervisors and schedulers use it to quote run times and to reconcile theoretical output against what actually made it to the packaging table. Run the raw number and you overpromise; run the effective number and your schedule holds.

What this calculator does

Calculate practical haul-off speed from good footage, elapsed minutes, and an allowance for slippage, trim, or speed loss.
Use it when setting puller speed for pipe, sheet, film, or profile extrusion and checking it against output and gauge targets.
It computes the raw haul-off speed from good length over elapsed time, then scales it by an efficiency factor to give a practical, plannable take-off speed.

Formula used

Raw haul-off speed = good pulled length ÷ elapsed puller time
Effective haul-off speed = raw result × haul-off efficiency

Inputs explained

Good product length pulled:
Puller run time:
Haul-off efficiency:

How to use the result

Use it when quoting production time, validating a line's real output, or setting a realistic haul-off target that accounts for downtime and scrap.
Efficiency is a blended fudge factor — it rolls stops, slips, and off-spec into one number and won't tell you which of those is dragging the line down.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The producer price index for steel mill products stands at 348.53 (BLS, May 2026), up 6.7% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
The producer price index for aluminum mill shapes stands at 404.859 (BLS, May 2026), up 36.8% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
The producer price index for plastic resins and materials stands at 319.371 (BLS, May 2026), up 19.5% from a year earlier. Quotes priced off last quarter's material cost miss this move.
The U.S. has 3,569 primary metal manufacturing establishments employing about 354,911 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

How do you calculate haul-off speed? Divide the good pulled length by the elapsed puller time for the raw speed, then multiply by the efficiency factor. Here 1500 ft over 60 min is 25 ft/min raw, and at 94% efficiency the practical speed is 23.5 ft/min.
What is a good haul-off efficiency? Stable long runs often hit 90-97%; frequent size changes, thin film breaks, or startup-heavy schedules pull it lower. The 94% in this example reflects a well-run line with modest losses.
Why is practical haul-off speed lower than the calculated speed? The raw rate assumes every minute produced sellable product. Efficiency strips out stops, slippage, and off-spec length, so the practical 23.5 ft/min is what you can actually schedule against versus the 25 ft/min ideal.
How does haul-off speed relate to draw-down? Pulling faster than the extrudate leaves the die stretches and thins it — that ratio is the draw-down. Haul-off speed is one half of that ratio, so changing it directly changes wall thickness and dimensions.
Haul-off speed vs extruder output — which sets the pace? They must balance: the extruder sets mass flow, the haul-off sets length rate, and together they fix cross-section. If haul-off outruns output you thin and eventually snap the line; if it lags you get sag and oversize.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.