A system for the cooling of annular coils of rod or bar includes a plurality of coil carriers movable by a conveyor between coil loading and unloading stations, each coil carrier having a bed which supports one end of a coil with the axis of the coil annulus extending perpendicular to the bed and which permits the circulation of air through the bed to the central space of a coil annulus during passage of the coil carriers through a cooling zone. A plurality of coil covers are provided, and cover handling apparatus located at coil covering and uncovering stations preceding and following the cooling zone is capable of placing a cover on the other end of a carrier supported coil at the covering station, the cover extending across the central space of the coil annulus, and of removing the cover at the uncovering station. Covers removed are returned to the covering station either on empty coil carriers returning to the loading station or on an auxiliary conveyor having carriers circulating between the covering and uncovering stations.
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