Vulcan brand 2 x 10 ll & bco

[leonard_nemoy]

My neighbor just gave this to me. I've never seen anything like it. It's cool as hell.

Does anyone know what it is? I'm assumming it's a jack stand.

Any idea how much weight it can hold?

 

[e9999]

assessing the size from the handle, it looks like a pretty big ACME thread, so I'd guess it can handle a pretty significant load. I'm thinking that might have been a truck stand back in the day, not just a little car. But Google will reveal all...

 

[LDowney]

House jack is what it looks like, so I searched on Vulcan house jack and the following appears to confirm this.

Vintage Vulcan Railroad House Jack Works Great Cast Iron Nice 1 1/4 x 8 | #1993243444

here up for auction is a Vintage small Vulcan Railroad / House jack in what i believe to be great condition. this jack is very clean , i see no damage as far as breaks , cracks or repairs and it still

www.worthpoint.com

 

[e9999]

If it's anything to do with railroads, it should be strong allright. I saw an image of a catalog of something similar that suggests a 2 in screw would handle 25 tons ($6.75 back then, dang expensive...) :

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/tools--471611392239550647/

 

[leonard_nemoy]

It's definitely cool, I am going to grease it up and find a handle for it. Than I will use it to lift my 80 series.

I'm almost tempted to toss the handyman jack and carry this thing on the trail instead

 

[pb4ugo]

I've used Jack's like that to jack up the main beam in a few houses to replace a support post or 2.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Welp, I got the screw to budge, it was rusted in there. Unscrewed it all the way, brushed the threads well, and greased it up. Works great now. 13.5" - 23" of range.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

I've used Jack's like that to jack up the main beam in a few houses to replace a support post or 2.

How long was the handle on the jack you used?

I'm thinking of getting a 3ft piece of pipe to use for a handle.

 

[pb4ugo]

I don't recall, may be 15", 2ft. It wasn't 3ft.

 

[PAToyota]

As mentioned, railroad jack. I see a number of them around here at yard sales and such with the PRR Enola Yard being local. They're great as jack stands or for moving heavy stuff, but a modern jack will likely beat it for regular use.

 

[e9999]

^ I love old iron more than most, but yup, the screw jack seems great for super heavy loads or semi-permanent installation but to raise a car or truck temporarily, a hydraulic jack seems vastly easier. Although, on the plus side, with a screw jack you don't need an additional fixed height jack stand like you should have if you plan to work under the truck if lifted with hydraulics. And this particular example is probably a lot heavier than the OEM 80 screw jack, so seems like a big load to carry in the truck.

 

[PIP]

These are used where fixed positioning and infinitely small adjustments are required.

In the machining world we call these planer jacks. They are used for supporting and minutely adjusting large parts during setup for machining. I use jacks like these and many other different styles on my 4" HBM when machining oddly shaped parts.

I believe these are often called house jacks or railroad jacks because that's what the majority of folks think they could be used for when they see them.

Basically, these are good for situations where you can run the threads out by hand and then you use a tool to turn the screw and position the load the last tiny bit.

If you are using one of these to lift a vehicle- If you are turning the screw under load for more than a 1/2" or so this is not the ideal tool for the job.

 

[PIP]

Oh, and I believe Vulcan was gobbled up by Williams way back in the day. I have many Vulcan brand Machinist/Pipefitter type tools. Vulcan saw a lot of success manufacturing a line of large chain wrenches. My smallest Vulcan chain wrench has a 4ft handle. My largest has a 7ft handle for 24" pipe and is made with an eye on the end of the handle to tighten stuff with a crane or chainfall.

 

[e9999]

dang, any handtool that has a 7ft handle is definitely made for serious jobs...

 

[PIP]

dang, any handtool that has a 7ft handle is definitely made for serious jobs...

I got it from a friend of mine when he closed down his heavy machine shop. He rarely used it, but when you need to tighten or loosen something big...

His big lathe was 60" swing by 40' between centers. He had a 5" spindle floor mill and a 120" Bullard as well.

I've not used it. Probably will someday. I work on some big stuff now and then.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Yeah, I played with it a but. It lifted the 80 right up no problem with a 2ft piece of pipe. This thing has some serious lifting power.

But due to the size range it wouldn't be a practical jack for the 80 series, rather an awesome jack stand.

 

[e9999]

I would be cautious using this as a jack stand all the way up as the base looks pretty narrow, it may be comparatively easy to topple sideways.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

I would be cautious using this as a jack stand all the way up as the base looks pretty narrow, it may be comparatively easy to topple sideways.

That's what makes it fun like starting a fire in the neighbors yard with fireworks.

 

[ntsqd]

Acme thread is designed to transmit power so they will not bind up. How this matters to a jack like that is if there is any vibration you can expect it to move. Given the size it probably won't move under a little vibration, but create enough vibration and it will.

I once worked with an Engineer who used three Acme threaded posts to level an engine stand and get it's crankshaft coaxial to the dyno's input shaft. He couldn't understand why it wouldn't stay in adjustment, he'd put jam nuts on it....... We got him back doing analysis where he was really good at and out of design.