jerr-dan vs century vs vulcan

[Ktowing]

I am looking at upgrading my heavy wrecker have a Holmes 750 that i learned on and I've always been able to get the job done but as i get older something less labor intensive sounds good. Looking at probably 45t or bigger but there are a few 35t that has me interested. Question is what's the pros and cons of these? Main difference I can see is the tilt on the under lift, century has a pivot where the lift attaches to the boom and the jerrdan and vulcan are solid. Why and what are the advantages to the pivot? thanks in advance trying to gather information to make an informed decision and i honestly have no experience with a hydraulic wrecker

 

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[GRUMPS The Towman]

Well I suppose the first question to ask is do you prefer an intergrated boom/wheel lift or independent wheel lift? My perspective on the matter is basically do you perform alot of recovery work or More run of the mill towing? Not to say that either style cant be used for the other but I personally have always preferred an independent boomed rig for recovery work. 

[Ktowing]

I do about 50/50, I have a zachlift on my Holmes  and a zach fifth wheeler so I'm familiar with an independent underlift. I understand the advantages of the integrated for weight distribution and I do some crazy heavy tows occasionally. I really like the concept of the NRC seems very versatile, kind of best of both worlds but finding one like what i want in my price range is tough and they don't seem super popular not sure why. I've found several 50 ton centurys and vulcans that fit the bill for me just trying to find out the difference between the lift pivoting on the boom verses solid, I've asked salesmen and the jus say their brand is better with no explanation. cant believe miller would put that much extra work and fabrication into the pivot without a good reason. Curious to here from operators as to why? As far as preference i have none as i have never operated an integrated other than on a one ton wrecker. One thing that intrigues me on the integrated is lift height, I watched a miller promotional video on using the fifth wheel adapter flipped over with a king pin to hook up to a kw 8 bag, seemed really easy and two of my large clients run all kw and i do quite a few swaps for them.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Ktowing
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[Stuart Wagner]

All I know is I have a Vulcan  V-70 and I love the tilt. It will tilt extremely heavy loads and the angle of lift don't change. I was told a Century tilts at a weird angle that you may have to run the underlift in or out a little and the tilt can't tilt heavy loads. Guys told me the NRC is a recovery beast but the underlift doesn't work as nice as other brands for towing and has very tall underlift sections to get under low trucks.

[WildwoodJack]

I have a Century and a Vulcan. They are both good units, but I like the Vulcan a little better. The tilt function on the Century is done by pivoting what I call the down tower. when tilting up it pushes the down tower out so you do have to adjust your under lift in or out to make the lift. When tilting up, with the down tower being pushed out, it puts your load a little farther back from your tailboard. The control handles on the Century are attached to cables that go to the valve body making it a little harder to feather a control sometimes. On the Vulcan the tilt is what I call positive tilt because it goes straight up and down without having to adjust the in out on the under lift. The control handles on the Vulcan are attached to the valve body making it easier to feather a control if you need to. As far as tilting under a  load I do not have a problem with either of mine doing it under a load. They will strain if you are trying to tilt at full extension if it  is a heavy load. It seems Miller really has not changed much of the design of the heavy duty Vulcans from their original when the Alms owned Vulcan and it was originally made in Canada and Olive Branch, Miss.