Abstract: An electro-mechanical machine for fusing small diameter polyolefin pipe includes a carriage and controls. The carriage has fixed and travelling jaws that grip a pipeline and a pipe stick and electrically driven screws that bring the jaws into and out of close proximity for performance of fusion process tasks. The controls include an electrical closed loop circuit that controls operation of the screws to transfer the travelling jaws to a base axial distance from the fixed jaws and an electrical load cell feedback circuit that controls operation of the screws to reciprocate the travelling jaws in relation to the base axial distance in response to feedback from the load cells so as to maintain a predetermined force between the pipes.