Vulcan 060 and 360 Hammers: Specifications and Information

The success of the 040 was soon left behind by the deeper and deeper water conventional platforms were being installed into. That in turn called for larger hammers, and Vulcan rose to the occasion with the 060. The first 060 was built for J. Ray McDermott and delivered in the summer of 1968, a summer memorable for many other things.

First, the specifications:

The 060 had the usual growing pains, although Vulcan applied many of the lessons of the 040. Nevertheless it became a popular hammer; in addition to McDermott, J.H. Pomeroy, Ingram, Fluor, AGIP, and Movible Offshore purchased and used the hammer. Some photos are below.

A 060 driving pile offshore. Note the marked pile; the markings were placed to make it easier to measure the blow count of the hammer per foot of penetration and thus confirm that the pile had been driven suitably deep to keep the platform in place.

The first 060 at the Chatanooga facility, June 1968.

The front side of the first 060 at the Chattanooga facility, June 1968.

Another 060 driving pile for McDermott, February 1976. Photos in the same sequence as this one graced Vulcan’s literature during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, including Vulcan’s one and only Spanish brochure.

A 360 in front of Vulcan’s assembly area, ready to ship.

General arrangements are shown below.

An early concept for the 060. Note the keys, which were left behind before the first one went out the door. Also note the raised steam chest and the steam inlet on the back. This was a classic borrow from the differential hammers, but Vulcan opted to put the steam inlet on the front and lower the steam chest.

Vulcan 360

Like the 040, the 060 “became” the 360, with its conversion from a steel to an iron ram and many other modifications. The first 360 was sold to Brown and Root and delivered in the summer of 1973.

A Vulcan 360 driving pile for McDermott, February 1976. This photo was used for the “masthead’ of documents for download from this site, and can still be seen in some of these documents, an important service of vulcanhammer.info.