A heavy, chain-type flexible conveyor capable of being advanced with the face without dismantling. It is designed either to carry a coal cutter or a cutter loader or to guide and hold a plow against the face. It may be advanced by horizontal hydraulic rams that are fixed at about 20-ft (6-m) intervals on the waste side of the conveyor. It is often employed on prop-free-front faces with hand filling, and it has a capacity of about 200 to 300 st/hr.