Helical Works Co.

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Canada
Abbotsford, BC
Helical Works Co.

We design, engineer and manufacture helical solutions. Screw conveyors, screw piles, drills, augers

10/20/2026

Before specifying a screw conveyor retrofit for wet biomass plugging, three things need to be confirmed against the existing installation:

1) Trough diameter, gauge, and material (carbon steel vs. 304L/316L stainless), against the target shaftless spiral or flighting size

2) End-bearing and hanger-bearing spacing, to confirm a shaftless conversion actually simplifies the structure rather than requiring rework

3) Drive and gear-motor torque rating, because a shaftless spiral’s torque curve differs from a shafted screw’s, and the existing drive may need re-rating even when the casing doesn’t change

This is exactly the kind of assessment that belongs in a site visit rather than just a phone quote.

After determining that the trough itself is fine, the sizing of the internals against your actual feedstock will determine whether a retrofit performs or just relocates the problem six months out.

See the full article here: https://mainlandmachinery.com/wet-biomass-screw-conveyor-plugging-retrofit/

10/13/2026

When a screw conveyor keeps failing on wet material, the instinct is to assume the whole system needs to come out, including the trough, casing, drive, and structural supports.

In practice, the casing and mounting are rarely the problem, but the screw configuration inside it usually is.

That distinction changes the scope of the project dramatically: a shaft, flighting, or liner retrofit inside an existing trough is typically a matter of days, at a fraction of the capital cost of a full conveyor replacement, as long as the existing trough and structural mounting are still sound.

Before assuming that a replacement is necessary, it’s worth confirming what’s actually failing.

See the full article here: https://mainlandmachinery.com/wet-biomass-screw-conveyor-plugging-retrofit/

10/06/2026

If your screw conveyor only plugs when the biomass comes in wet, the conveyor probably isn't the problem.

A shafted, CEMA-type screw moves material around a center shaft, and wet, fibrous feedstock (bark, hog fuel, sawdust, wood chips) doesn’t flow past that shaft the way dry material does. Instead you get wrapping, bridging, and a shrinking usable cross-section, which is exactly what shears pins and trips motor overloads.

It’s not a defect. It’s a mismatch between a shafted design built for free-flowing material and a feedstock it was never specified to handle.

The fix very rarely requires a full system replacement.

See the full article here: https://mainlandmachinery.com/wet-biomass-screw-conveyor-plugging-retrofit/

09/24/2026

A screw feeder doesn't fail in isolation. Its performance depends on the silo above it, the equipment below it, the material itself, and the mechanical condition of the feeder — all at once.

Seven mechanisms typically drive recurring plugs:

• Moisture causing adhesion and hydration
• Excessive inlet loading causing compaction
• Restricted discharge backing material up
• Mismatched screw speed destabilizing flow
• Wear and misalignment increasing drag
• Inconsistent silo flow creating surges
• Undersized specification with no operating margin

Once the mechanism is identified, the fix is targeted — not another shear pin or a bigger motor.

At Helical Works, we manufacture the precision components (flighting, liners, bearings) that address these mechanisms at the source, built to fit existing systems.

Every component is backed by over 50 years of material handling experience from our parent company, Mainland Machinery.

For more on the mechanisms behind repeat plugging, Mainland Machinery just published an article on this exact topic: "Why Cement Screw Feeders Plug, and How to Fix the Root Cause."

Read the full article on their blog. (https://mainlandmachinery.com/cement-screw-feeder-plugging-root-causes/)

If your team is ready to move from repeated cleanouts to a lasting fix, call us at 1-833-296-2234.

09/17/2026

A screw feeder sitting under a silo is doing a different job than a conveyor — it's working against a flooded inlet and a constant head load, not a controlled, partial feed.

When the inlet geometry doesn't account for that, the first flights fill completely, the sections downstream run light, and the material compacts right at the inlet instead of moving through.

At Helical Works, we work alongside Mainland Machinery to manufacture feeder and conveyor components engineered around how material actually loads into the system — tapered flighting, purpose-built inlet geometry, and hardware sized for the application it's going into.

Our parent company, Mainland Machinery, just published an article on their website called "Why Cement Screw Feeders Plug, and How to Fix the Root Cause."

Read the full article on their blog. (https://mainlandmachinery.com/cement-screw-feeder-plugging-root-causes/)

If plugging keeps showing up near the silo outlet, it's a design conversation worth having — happy to walk through it with you.

09/10/2026

Screw feeders wear by design. What matters is whether that wear gets caught early or discovered during an emergency cleanout.

As flighting, trough liners, hanger bearings, and end seals wear:

• Clearances open up between flight and trough
• Material packs into the gap instead of moving forward
• Misalignment adds drag and uneven loading
• Torque readings drift before a full plug ever happens

At Helical Works, we manufacture precision flighting, liners, and bearing components engineered for abrasive, high-cycle service — built to hold tolerance longer and give your maintenance team a real measurement to track, not just a guess.

Our parent company, Mainland Machinery, just published an article on their website called "Why Cement Screw Feeders Plug, and How to Fix the Root Cause." See the full article on their blog. (https://mainlandmachinery.com/cement-screw-feeder-plugging-root-causes/)

If plugging on your line correlates with feeder age more than weather or upstream changes, call us at 1-833-296-2234.

09/03/2026

When a screw feeder keeps plugging, clearing the blockage isn't always the fix.

A shear pin, a motor overload, a packed tube — the team clears it, restarts the line, and a few weeks later it happens again. That pattern usually means the blockage is a symptom, not the problem itself.

At Helical Works, we manufacture and retrofit screw feeder and conveyor components engineered around how the material actually behaves — moisture, loading, clearance, speed — not just around a target capacity number.

If your maintenance logs keep telling the same story, it's worth tracing the plug back to what's actually causing it.

Our parent company, Mainland Machinery, just published an article on their website called "Why Cement Screw Feeders Plug, and How to Fix the Root Cause." See the full article on their blog. (https://mainlandmachinery.com/cement-screw-feeder-plugging-root-causes/)

If your feeder keeps plugging and you want to find out why, call us at 1-833-296-2234.

08/26/2026

Reliable equipment starts long before fabrication.

At Helical Works, every conveyor component is built with one objective in mind: helping industrial operations keep material moving safely and efficiently.

Working alongside our parent company, Mainland Machinery, we combine engineering, manufacturing, field service, and installation to ensure the solution built in the shop performs in the field.

The latest blog article by Mainland explores why recurring conveyor failures are often system problems—not simply equipment problems—and how better engineering can reduce downtime across BC sawmills.

See the full article here: https://mainlandmachinery.com/bc-sawmills-conveyor-failures/

08/21/2026

Are you managing multiple bulk material handling facilities?

You may be carrying more variability risk than you realize.

Different conveyor designs, inconsistent component specifications, undocumented modifications, and varying maintenance practices can create costly challenges as operations scale.

A multi-site standardization review can help identify opportunities to improve consistency, simplify maintenance, and reduce downtime across facilities.

If your team is evaluating future upgrades, expansions, or equipment replacement plans, let's start the conversation.

Book a planning call with our team to discuss practical approaches to improving reliability across multiple sites - 1-833-296-2234.

08/19/2026

Not every conveyor problem requires a complete replacement.

Sometimes the best solution is a targeted retrofit which includes:
• redesigned flighting
• improved transfer geometry
• upgraded bearings
• new liners
• better maintainability

At Helical Works, we work alongside Mainland Machinery to manufacture custom conveyor components that fit existing systems while addressing the root causes of recurring failures.

Reliable material handling starts with understanding how your material actually behaves, not simply designing around capacity numbers.

Our parent company, Mainland Machinery, just published an article on their website called “Why Conveyor Failures Continue to Cost BC Sawmills Thousands Per Hour.

See the full article here: https://mainlandmachinery.com/bc-sawmills-conveyor-failures/

If you want to discuss reliability issues for your conveying systems, call us at 1-833-296-2234.

Address

2255 Townline Road
Abbotsford, BC
V2T6H1

Website

http://helicalworksco.com/

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