Vulcan 140C Hammer: Specifications and Information

The 140C was a groundbreaker in many respects because of its place in Vulcan’s product line.

First, it was one of the first of Vulcan’s hammers to be larger than the Warrington-Vulcan hammers. Second, it was the first with a “single-acting version,” in this case the 014. In that respect it was a significant break from the Warrington-Vulcan construction, being much heavier.

2872 — The Vulcan 140C hammer, perhaps the earliest general arrangement.

The 140C was one of the first (if not the first) Vulcan hammer to be taken offshore. McDermott purchased one (actually the “onshore” version, as shown above) in 1954, and several thereafter, the last one in 1956. Vulcan developed a true offshore 140C, using the Super-Vulcan derived design that became standard with Vulcan’s offshore hammers. The 140C was the smallest Vulcan offshore hammer which was really viable; a general arrangement is shown below.

D10155-54A — The offshore 140C, with male jaws and outside cables.

The hammer sported the 54″ male jaws, which were standard on Vulcan offshore hammers, single-acting and differential-acting alike, for hammers up to the 530 and 535.

Specifications for onshore and offshore 140C alike are shown below.

Bulletin 70F Specifications

Bulletin 70D Specifications

Bulletin 70A Specifications

Vulcan Drawing DWPB-1961 (Offshore Hammer Specifications)

140C-Sand-Drain-Closeup — A Vulcan 140C hammer installing sand drains.

Another application for the 140C was the sand drain hammer, shown at the left. Sand drains are not conventional driven piles but are used for accelerating consolidation drainage, as described here. The cylinder head is different (to allow for a retractable hook to raise the hammer) but otherwise the hammer is pretty much the same as a standard onshore 140C.