which is better Vulcan 880 or Century 412???

[Patrick McVeigh]

i got two wreckers beds im planning to fix up. vulcan 880 and century 412 both dual lines.   The vulcan uses one cylinder for lt tilt on wheel lift. The century uses 2 cylinders on the wheel lift tilt. which one is more heavy duty??

[GRUMPS The Towman]

Both are considered 10 ton units and are considerably similar as far as strength really. It would more or less be a matter of preference of operation. One main point is the Vulcan has two seperate hydraulic valve bodies. One controls the wheel lift and the other the boom and winches. Vulcan equipment is super popular here in upstate NY for some reason. Seems like everyone has at least one Vulcan equipped rig. One thing guys claim they like about them is the way the up/down on the wheel lift is angled giving you a couple extra inches of reach when stretching out to hook up. And of course there is the "Strappless L arm grids " that are standard gear for the Vulcans. I have a Vulcan 880 on a 96 International 4300 And it was always a good unit. It has been off the road for a couple years now but when I used it pretty regularly the only thing I really remember being an issue was the control levers and linkage would sieze up and need constant cleaning and service to free them up. This could be caused mainly because i didnt use this truck every day and it sat more than it was used.  

[Patrick McVeigh]

thanks for the reply/the  century has separate valve bodies too.   a 4 spool and 3 spool. damn caps are broke .     I know exactly what u mean on the vulcan. the boom controls are seized up. there are no grease fittings.How do i lube them up??  i bought in december and the controls were free. now they stuck.  i see shaft collars under neath/

[mooresbp]

I drilled out the collars and put grease fittings on the Vulcans I had. That helped but wasn't the total answer. I have had two handles break on my new 408 already but that is because they are aluminum. Replaced with stainless steel. But hope they all don't do that, it has a lot of handles!

 

I like the Vulcans that I had, they seemed like they would pull better than the Century's. I am sure most of it is owner preference.

[GRUMPS The Towman]

6 hours ago, mooresbp said:

I drilled out the collars and put grease fittings on the Vulcans I had. That helped but wasn't the total answer. I have had two handles break on my new 408 already but that is because they are aluminum. Replaced with stainless steel. But hope they all don't do that, it has a lot of handles!

 

I like the Vulcans that I had, they seemed like they would pull better than the Century's. I am sure most of it is owner preference.

i did the exact same thing. pulled it all apart, drilled and installed grease fittings in the collars. It certainly isnt the be all fix all but it does prolong them from siezing up when the truck sits a bit. The aluminum handles sadly never last. I broke them all eventually on my old jerr dan hpl and replaced them with the stainless ones. Certainly not a cheap upgrade by any means.

[mooresbp]

On 7/4/2020 at 6:52 PM, GRUMPS The Towman said:

The aluminum handles sadly never last.

Already broken three on my new chevron 408☹️

[mooresbp]

Make that 6 handles now😠

[GRUMPS The Towman]

Man, I feel your pain.. It really hurts shelling out that big money on something as trivial as a lever/handle.

Like we dont pay enough for these rigs as it is.