Like a boss. Way before my time but thank you for showing me a glimpse on trucking of yesteryear. I loved the truck mechanic i used to work with,he started in the 50s. You guys are my heros
Mack has always been my favorite truck. I cut my teeth on a my Mack many years ago. The coolest I saw, was a B model, cement mixer, had 3 sticks, which would be equivalent to the 15 speed w/deep reduction. I drove an early R model 2 stick, 5/2 with the Mack 350. Could pull like crazy. Also drove some gas powered tandem dumps with a 5 and 4. These things were crazy, you couldn't keep the rev's up like a diesel, so had to be spot on with shifts. Great experience. Great to see these old trucks.
Learned on B61/duplex in my late teens. The old guy who taught me said when the RPMs come up against the governor and she says, "Ahhhhh", then you shift. I had a big learning curve to get it right. You can hear the "Ahhhh" very distinctly in the clip. Very cool!
This guy is the triplex daddy. No dramatic two hand shifts through the wheel. He always knows just the right rpm and has exactly the right touch to float the upshifts and downshifts smoothly. I wish I had half his skills.
Yes! A lot of the older trucks had setups like this. I drove a '69 international that had a 10 speed main transmission (5 speed with air operated high/low range selector), 3 speed secondary transmission (with a little driveshaft inbetween the transmissions) and an air operated 2 speed rear axle, making a total of 60 forward and 12 reverse gears! Normally you just shift the 10-speed and use the others as conditions require.
What got me into trucking was an Uncle who lived across the street and when he came into town i'd ride along with him. He taught me to drive an old B-62 MAck .. that was 40 years ago, I've been driving for 34 years now and still look forward to going to work..
Should-a put a face to those talented hands. A true professional, and expert. You deserve some recognition. Thanks for showing the proper way to drive an old Mack.
I gotta give any of the truckers serious props who can do this! A two stick shift??!? That takes some skills I never learned standard shift and I would love to do this!
Yeah that is right. I drove several different B-61's back then & all were green inside. Also I remember a switch for wet roads that was just below wiper knob below the ashtray. It's one of the two you see in the video. I never used that & can't remember what the deal was now. And I remember a black plate on the dash with silver letters that warned you not to lug the engine. I think the plate for the shift pattern was just above the windshield on the ceiling. Lots of B61's when I started in 63.
brings back memories when i first learned to drive it was for a towing company and the owner was a fan of macks he told me since i was new that i would be in that truck till i proved i could appreciate his newer equipment so i had to learn to drive in it and after i got confratable with it it wasnt so bad it could out pull any other truck in his fleet and i made a nice check each week
cool thanx. Love the sound of diesel, keep them road a rollin a them trucks a truckin guys. Thaks for being there to drive and demonstrate the simple to simplistic.
The usual shift pattern would be from, say first lo split, hi split, direct, then change main into second, back to lo split and repeat. The change sequence can change depending on the gradient or load carried and compound and main gears can be skipped if needed; the driver did this in the video. Theoretically, if you were bobtail, the compound lever could be left in direct and only the main lever used. We used to bend the levers together and fit longer andthinner Cat levers.
Yup. You can see in the picture the lever closest to him gives small changes, call it under/straight/overdrive. The one on the right is a 5-speed with larger changes. So you can go 1-under, 1-straight, 1-over, 2-under, 2-straight, 2-over etc 3x5=15 speeds. Watch the video "Quad Box Shifting" starting at 2:20 he goes through (almost) the whole sequence.
I am another old goat that could drive the 15 speed truck and eat rice pudding out of a coffee container all at the same time smoking a cigarette. I am still bouncing.
my dad drove b-61`s f-model`s and r-models for Ryder Tank Lines and Chemical Leaman Tank Lines from 1962-1978. He has a few pictures. I would love to have an old Mack someday. great video!!
In drove a B-61 with a 711 and a duplex. Motor mounts GONE and you could track it by the parts falling off it but it was a sweet running/shifting rig ever. Then a DM with a 673 and a quad with 3/4 round of slack in the steering. If the left one don't get you, the right one will.
I've heard a lot of storys from guys who used to drive quad boxes and they say it was common practice to put one arm through the spokes of the steering wheel so they could change both sticks at the same time and still keep the steering happening.
I haven't had any desire to drive a truck for 5 yrs. Gotta tell you if I could drive a two stick again I'd do it!! My dad and I had a 63 B61 with 673 turbo and a triplex. 85mi/hr top end. Also a 65 B615 with V8 thermodine and a quadreplex. 82mi/hr top end. That quad would drop into first at an idle with no clutch. They may not have had power steering but the handled like a dream. I remember coming down hwy 11 before it was redone. Middle of the night at 75 and 80 mi/hr ( empty, no radar, and I
mike richardson me too!!!!. And then we'd come back home and my mom would ask me so how was it ??? Well Mom my head hurts but I learn how to use a stick shift. And then my father would tell my mother " the boy has a hard head"
You said that right. I really enjoyed the "B" Mack's. They all had a great sound too. Not much power by today's standards but lots of SMOKE!! After being in a Pete, I've been back in a Mack for a little over a year but it's not a two stick. It's been so long, I doubt I could drive one now:-) Also back in the 60's I drove an IH cabover "emoryville" with 250 Cummins & 10 sp roadranger. Shift 5, hit the button & go though them again. Still see a few B Macks' but not the old cab over IH's.
Like I mentioned, it's a "married unit", but the 3spd is "like" a aux. You use it to split the 5 spd main. They are bolted together, though separate boxes because that is how they configure what was ordered. 5spd main box(either straight or OD), then bolt on 2,3,4 spd on the back. They made 9-18 spds depending how the ratio's worked out between the two boxes. This truck has a 5x3 in it, I know this because it's my truck.
This tri plex Mack brings back a lot of memories, this is what I learned on. I always like a tri plex but was never very fond of a quad. Would not want to make my living with either one now!
Its a Swedish truck maker. They did try to sell trucks here in the states back in the late 80's but it didn't work out. Over the course of 7 or 8 years they only sold about 900 trucks. They can still be seen running around New York city and northern New Jersey.
That is the very way that it takes to get up to speed; at the same time with all the shifting, he is loaded and at top road speed it takes the shifting to keep a steady speed. I drove them in the 1950`s
I started learning how to drive a quad box. We got this Mack B81 water truck and it's tough ol' girl. I leave it in 1st gear, but I'll use the low/low, low split, high split and then direct. I still can't figure how to shift into 2nd, though.
It's a standard H pattern on the left and you bang out the six on the right, or five. You dont' have to hit every gear of course as you can routinely skip shift. Most trucks today have 10 speeds for company drivers. Most owners opt for 13 speeds, or 18 speeds if they feel they'll need the extra slow speed gears. You can still get 2-4 speed aux. and high and low speed rear ends if you haul heavy, but a 13 to 18 is sufficient for most truckers.
WOW! (I've heard of setups like that. The older midwestern Rocky Mountain three trailer and Australian 12 or so tailer trucks 60 years ago had to have had a lot of gears).
god I forgot the crap my father put up with back in the day.When I was a kid back in 65 he got a new B model triplex and he thought he was in heaven. I'm glad all I ever had to deal with was a 10 speed road ranger.
Grew up with a flinni ,first a quad box ,then Mack 10 speed ,then a 13 speed road ranger ,best part was the air start ,made many people shit themselves
@1BEAVIS13 That is a quad box 5x4. The lo lo shift is usually not used. The triplex box has the main and compound sticks reversed to the quad box. ie: main lever on left, compound lever on right.
Thanks David Hunn. That would explain why I had trouble with them. Some mechanic told me the way I described. I guess he was just messing with me. Good thing I never got going fast enough to find out the hard way.
before there were air shifted compounds(like the typical 13 spd), you had to do it manually, thus a second stick. Match road speed/rpm and you don't need the clutch but to start out.
don't forget: Mack also offered the B series with gas engines too. They were built by chrysler and were similar to the period hemi. most were installed in fire trucks and lighter duty rigs.
The person who said " you should step on the clutch while shifting" Obviously knows nothing about semi trucks. I mean I always wondered why the shifter always made grinding noises when I tried to shift!! Thank you for clearing that up for me! HAHAHAHAH
Yes Sir I figure you've floated through gears before,Thanks for the video,it sure brings back some thoughts of yesteryear in my life,please tell me does She give you a flame,you know these younger drivers will never see that red haze at night,thanks and please show more Great video...Johnny B.
Thanks. I couldn't remember. It would be fun to drive a B 61 again. I was in a Pete yesterday & a Mack Granite today. Both 2006 or 7 models. Maybe I'm getting old & just remember the good old days with fondness but those two sticks, a loud stack. lots of black smoke, a huge steering wheel..it just was fun. Now it's just a job. I can't wait to get out of a truck now & go home.
This tri plex Mack brings back a lot of memories, this is what I learned on. I always liked a tri plex, but was never very find of a quad. Wouldn't want to make a living with either one noe'
4 stroke trucks with a sufficient torque band to overcome a bigger gear spacing, would burn less fuel when you dont interrupt the power as often, because you dont have to re spool the turbo. Modern trucks all go back to 12 speeds. They had a need for 20 speeds because of the Detroit 2 stroke with narrow torque band, and in Europe they used a maximum of 16 speeds because the older turbos didnt give such a wide torque band. Modern trucks have VGT turbos and they are more efficient with just 12 spd
Yeah the old "B" Macks with the Mack thermodyne 672 & the 250 Cummins in old Whites, IH & Autocar trucks (those 4 were the most common in the east) would shoot a flame when they were pulling a bit uphill at night. I didn't drive a Jimmy back then so I don't know if they did. You rarely saw a Freightliner back then. Now 5 out of 10 trucks are. When you got out west, you saw a good number of Pete's & KW's. Here in the east: Mack, Autocar, IH & White were the big ones. Diamond T was around but rare
The older the driver the better they are. We used to have this older guy that would deliver steel to our shop and we had a very old small skinny truckwell loading dock and that old man would put it in reverse and put it to the floor and back that trailer right in that tight small loading dock well in one shot while the younger truck drivers would usually take a half a dozen times a backing up until they got it right and one of them just totally gave up and we had to unload him in the parking lot.
I remember starting at a company and they sent me out with one of these in the city, 1st reaction WTF? lost it and had to stop and start again, never got enough time in it to learn before I got a 13 eaton thank god. That old Mack was a strong old bugger to. No power steering or air ride seats. No wonder women didn't drive in the old days, no disrespect but it took alot of strength to back up in tight places
@aqua707 This truck has a Triplex(it's mine, so I know). Yes, you don't use lo/lo split in Quad for normal driving. The Duplex has the levers reversed. The compound is on the right and the LO is forward unlike the others being down/back.
my dad always tells me how he used to drive one of these back in the day looks like a pain in the but but i guess once a person knows wich stick to shift at the time i gues it would be ok i wonder when a person comes to a stop and starts back up you have to set both sticks again from the beginning ?
Good job at shifting. I ran many miles in Macks. The "B" Model made Mack and the F-Models really fuck'em. I drove a Model LR Mack that was fitted with a 3rd transmission that was a 4 speed with the 1st gear being a compounds low. (90 under). 5 speed Main, 4 speed aux. and a 2 speed Johnson bar.
You have lo-lo lo direct and hi. You only use lo-lo for crawling out of holes and very low speed work. You leave the compound stick in lo-lo and progressivly shift the main 1-5. For regular driving you split each gear. 1-lo-direct-hi 2-lo-direct-hi etc and you can skip gears depending on the weight your pulling. Trick is to not get both sticks in neutral or your in trouble unless you know what your doing.
It's just like a newer 13-18 spd, only instead of flicking a little lever on the stick(to split gears) you have to move a lever. Same principle, different action.
@jdkl81 I think he's shifting 2-4-5 with the l/h gear shifter and going up thru the r/h gear box. I never used 1 in the l/h when I drove a Mack B-61, but I never tried to skip 3rd.
@transamfan81 I drove one of these back in the 1960's (Concrete Truck) and later had a DM with a Maxidyne transmission which is 5 on the first stick and hi, low, netural and reverse on the second stick. Low was mostly off road. On road even with a heavy load, start in third on the lowside and go to first on high side and on to 5th gear. Later with an R, only one stick with hi, low, n and reverse on a switch. They put me in a KW a couple years ago. Back to Mack (Granite) but with Fuller damn it.
T his guy is GOOD , only time he used the clutch was to take off from a dead stop ! Is one stick a high range / low range & the other a 5spd main stick ?
Thats the same thing I said when I watched the video. These guys and gals come out of school and get right in the big condo, some with auto. I learned on a 56 B model in 79, the truck was a year older than me. And I'm still at it today. My mother said that if I did'nt stay in school I'd be digging didtches. Boy was she wrong.
Nice vid on handling the TRT/TRQ with a light load. The TRQ-77 has me wanting to figure out what shoehorning one into a Cummins 6BTA5.9-powered Dodge BE2500 4x4 entails---I've had it with the TF518.
![เปิดใจ "อาจารย์เบียร์ คนตื่นธรรม" อดีตเคยสุดทุกทาง ถ้าใช้หนี้หมดไปบวชแน่ l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IxeE0xVhy08/mqdefault.jpg)
That engine sounds beutiful and you shift that monster flawlessly, 10 of 10 you earned it.
Listen to that engine! Beautiful music to my ears
Drove one of these back in the sixties this brought back a lot of memories. Hauled many loads of wheat to Houston, Texas
It's amazing how this guy can shift that old B model Mack without using the clutch at all, and not grind or miss a single gear !!!
TIMING AND PRACTICE,PRACTICE,PRACTICE
garthks I'm sure the guy can do this in his sleep.
When you shift without a clutch, it’s called “Cowboying “
Learned to drive one of these bad boys, shifting without the clutch, was sweet! 1st truck I ever drove.
Like a boss. Way before my time but thank you for showing me a glimpse on trucking of yesteryear. I loved the truck mechanic i used to work with,he started in the 50s. You guys are my heros
Mack has always been my favorite truck. I cut my teeth on a my Mack many years ago. The coolest I saw, was a B model, cement mixer, had 3 sticks, which would be equivalent to the 15 speed w/deep reduction. I drove an early R model 2 stick, 5/2 with the Mack 350. Could pull like crazy. Also drove some gas powered tandem dumps with a 5 and 4. These things were crazy, you couldn't keep the rev's up like a diesel, so had to be spot on with shifts. Great experience.
Great to see these old trucks.
Learned on B61/duplex in my late teens. The old guy who taught me said when the RPMs come up against the governor and she says, "Ahhhhh", then you shift. I had a big learning curve to get it right. You can hear the "Ahhhh" very distinctly in the clip. Very cool!
Yeah♥️
Dude knew how to float the gears.
Love the sound of that Thermodyne! Haven't heard one of those since I was a kid.
This guy is the triplex daddy. No dramatic two hand shifts through the wheel. He always knows just the right rpm and has exactly the right touch to float the upshifts and downshifts smoothly. I wish I had half his skills.
Owen McCaffrey ya only way I could shift my mack was 1 arm through steering wheel
Yes! A lot of the older trucks had setups like this. I drove a '69 international that had a 10 speed main transmission (5 speed with air operated high/low range selector), 3 speed secondary transmission (with a little driveshaft inbetween the transmissions) and an air operated 2 speed rear axle, making a total of 60 forward and 12 reverse gears! Normally you just shift the 10-speed and use the others as conditions require.
What a pleasure to watch this guy shift, what a pro!
What got me into trucking was an Uncle who lived across the street and when he came into town i'd ride along with him. He taught me to drive an old B-62 MAck .. that was 40 years ago, I've been driving for 34 years now and still look forward to going to work..
Brings back memories of my first job driving Semi’s, (my Dad taught me to drive in a twin stick 1961 B model green just like the one in this video)
Should-a put a face to those talented hands. A true professional, and expert. You deserve some recognition. Thanks for showing the proper way to drive an old Mack.
I gotta give any of the truckers serious props who can do this!
A two stick shift??!?
That takes some skills
I never learned standard shift and I would love to do this!
Yeah that is right. I drove several different B-61's back then & all were green inside. Also I remember a switch for wet roads that was just below wiper knob below the ashtray. It's one of the two you see in the video. I never used that & can't remember what the deal was now. And I remember a black plate on the dash with silver letters that warned you not to lug the engine. I think the plate for the shift pattern was just above the windshield on the ceiling. Lots of B61's when I started in 63.
brings back memories when i first learned to drive it was for a towing company and the owner was a fan of macks he told me since i was new that i would be in that truck till i proved i could appreciate his newer equipment so i had to learn to drive in it and after i got confratable with it it wasnt so bad it could out pull any other truck in his fleet and i made a nice check each week
At least this would keep you awake on a long haul.
cool thanx. Love the sound of diesel, keep them road a rollin a them trucks a truckin guys. Thaks for being there to drive and demonstrate the simple to simplistic.
The usual shift pattern would be from, say first lo split, hi split, direct, then change main into second, back to lo split and repeat. The change sequence can change depending on the gradient or load carried and compound and main gears can be skipped if needed; the driver did this in the video. Theoretically, if you were bobtail, the compound lever could be left in direct and only the main lever used. We used to bend the levers together and fit longer andthinner Cat levers.
Drove one of these with a tanker and a pup in the oilfield back in the day.
Yup. You can see in the picture the lever closest to him gives small changes, call it under/straight/overdrive. The one on the right is a 5-speed with larger changes. So you can go 1-under, 1-straight, 1-over, 2-under, 2-straight, 2-over etc 3x5=15 speeds. Watch the video "Quad Box Shifting" starting at 2:20 he goes through (almost) the whole sequence.
That's what I learned on to drive. Man memories of the farm.
I am another old goat that could drive the 15 speed truck and eat rice pudding out of a coffee container all at the same time smoking a cigarette. I am still bouncing.
My respect to you, regardless, Sir - they're makin Teslas for kids today
Me too Bruce, learned on a triplex 15. I was 14 at the time. And also, still bouncing LOL
Bruce Geiger , lol
i had an uncle that drove from the 40's to the 70's he could light a match one handed (for his camel) and shift at the same time
my dad drove b-61`s f-model`s and r-models for Ryder Tank Lines and Chemical Leaman Tank Lines from 1962-1978. He has a few pictures. I would love to have an old Mack someday. great video!!
Great gear changing, man I would love to drive me a B61 Mack awesome sound that’s what got me into trucking the sound of a Mack truck
Like the George Jones song goes....."As smooooooooth, as Tennesse whisky...."
Beautiful smooooooth shifting, like an automatic. Much respect, Bravo!
In drove a B-61 with a 711 and a duplex. Motor mounts GONE and you could track it by the parts falling off it but it was a sweet running/shifting rig ever. Then a DM with a 673 and a quad with 3/4 round of slack in the steering. If the left one don't get you, the right one will.
I've heard a lot of storys from guys who used to drive quad boxes and they say it was common practice to put one arm through the spokes of the steering wheel so they could change both sticks at the same time and still keep the steering happening.
I haven't had any desire to drive a truck for 5 yrs. Gotta tell you if I could drive a two stick again I'd do it!! My dad and I had a 63 B61 with 673 turbo and a triplex. 85mi/hr top end. Also a 65 B615 with V8 thermodine and a quadreplex. 82mi/hr top end. That quad would drop into first at an idle with no clutch. They may not have had power steering but the handled like a dream. I remember coming down hwy 11 before it was redone. Middle of the night at 75 and 80 mi/hr ( empty, no radar, and I
10 acre field one of these BEASTS and my stepdad's firm left hand to the back of my head and i learned how to drive
mike richardson me too!!!!.
And then we'd come back home and my mom would ask me so how was it ???
Well Mom my head hurts but I learn how to use a stick shift.
And then my father would tell my mother " the boy has a hard head"
Good thing about the Quadraplex, is that except Lo Lo, the transmission splits on the aux box are even 200 RPM split unlike Spicer or Fuller.
driving one these old trucks with two sticks was a real adventure.
Mack, The Greatest Name In Trucks!!!!!!
You said that right. I really enjoyed the "B" Mack's. They all had a great sound too. Not much power by today's standards but lots of SMOKE!! After being in a Pete, I've been back in a Mack for a little over a year but it's not a two stick. It's been so long, I doubt I could drive one now:-) Also back in the 60's I drove an IH cabover "emoryville" with 250 Cummins & 10 sp roadranger. Shift 5, hit the button & go though them again. Still see a few B Macks' but not the old cab over IH's.
Like I mentioned, it's a "married unit", but the 3spd is "like" a aux. You use it to split the 5 spd main. They are bolted together, though separate boxes because that is how they configure what was ordered. 5spd main box(either straight or OD), then bolt on 2,3,4 spd on the back. They made 9-18 spds depending how the ratio's worked out between the two boxes.
This truck has a 5x3 in it, I know this because it's my truck.
This tri plex Mack brings back a lot of memories, this is what I learned on. I always like a tri plex but was never very fond of a quad. Would not want to make my living with either one now!
Its a Swedish truck maker. They did try to sell trucks here in the states back in the late 80's but it didn't work out. Over the course of 7 or 8 years they only sold about 900 trucks. They can still be seen running around New York city and northern New Jersey.
The man knows his truck!!
Floating the gears. 👍
My brother had a Pete with that setup. With both sticks up against the dash it was "Granny bar the door and get out of the way".
Old things didn't have much power hence all those close coupled gears. He has all the right moves......
Brings back memories!
Ahh, quad box shiftin. Gotta love the old days
Glad to have learned on "sticks". I felt as if I could drive damn near ANYthing.
I could never drive that truck. How does he know where gear stick to grab?
That is the very way that it takes to get up to speed; at the same time with all the shifting, he is loaded and at top road speed it takes the shifting to keep a steady speed. I drove them in the 1950`s
I started learning how to drive a quad box. We got this Mack B81 water truck and it's tough ol' girl. I leave it in 1st gear, but I'll use the low/low, low split, high split and then direct. I still can't figure how to shift into 2nd, though.
It's a standard H pattern on the left and you bang out the six on the right, or five. You dont' have to hit every gear of course as you can routinely skip shift. Most trucks today have 10 speeds for company drivers. Most owners opt for 13 speeds, or 18 speeds if they feel they'll need the extra slow speed gears. You can still get 2-4 speed aux. and high and low speed rear ends if you haul heavy, but a 13 to 18 is sufficient for most truckers.
WOW! (I've heard of setups like that. The older midwestern Rocky Mountain three trailer and Australian 12 or so tailer trucks 60 years ago had to have had a lot of gears).
god I forgot the crap my father put up with back in the day.When I was a kid back in 65 he got a new B model triplex and he thought he was in heaven. I'm glad all I ever had to deal with was a 10 speed road ranger.
Grew up with a flinni ,first a quad box ,then Mack 10 speed ,then a 13 speed road ranger ,best part was the air start ,made many people shit themselves
@1BEAVIS13
That is a quad box 5x4. The lo lo shift is usually not used. The triplex box has the main and compound sticks reversed to the quad box. ie: main lever on left, compound lever on right.
Thanks David Hunn. That would explain why I had trouble with them. Some mechanic told me the way I described. I guess he was just messing with me. Good thing I never got going fast enough to find out the hard way.
Imagine listening to that from NY to LA.
before there were air shifted compounds(like the typical 13 spd), you had to do it manually, thus a second stick.
Match road speed/rpm and you don't need the clutch but to start out.
This guy is all over it!
Used to have an old 77 KW with the double sticks, fun to drive
They could crawl out of a hole in "Granny Gear" a lot better than the 5 speeds that ran with us!
now that is skill i learned on a r-model i couldn't do a twin stick id be grindin them up
don't forget: Mack also offered the B series with gas engines too.
They were built by chrysler and were similar to the period hemi. most were installed in fire trucks and lighter duty rigs.
The person who said " you should step on the clutch while shifting" Obviously knows nothing about semi trucks. I mean I always wondered why the shifter always made grinding noises when I tried to shift!! Thank you for clearing that up for me! HAHAHAHAH
Yes Sir I figure you've floated through gears before,Thanks for the video,it sure brings back some thoughts of yesteryear in my life,please tell me does She give you a flame,you know these younger drivers will never see that red haze at night,thanks and please show more Great video...Johnny B.
Thanks. I couldn't remember. It would be fun to drive a B 61 again. I was in a Pete yesterday & a Mack Granite today. Both 2006 or 7 models. Maybe I'm getting old & just remember the good old days with fondness but those two sticks, a loud stack. lots of black smoke, a huge steering wheel..it just was fun. Now it's just a job. I can't wait to get out of a truck now & go home.
This tri plex Mack brings back a lot of memories, this is what I learned on. I always liked a tri plex, but was never very find of a quad. Wouldn't want to make a living with either one noe'
ME AND MY RADIO JUST KEEP ON TRUCKIN HOME. Good song.
Still amazing, compared to other Mack twin stick drivers. (I'll be back...in a few yrs) :)
4 stroke trucks with a sufficient torque band to overcome a bigger gear spacing, would burn less fuel when you dont interrupt the power as often, because you dont have to re spool the turbo.
Modern trucks all go back to 12 speeds. They had a need for 20 speeds because of the Detroit 2 stroke with narrow torque band, and in Europe they used a maximum of 16 speeds because the older turbos didnt give such a wide torque band. Modern trucks have VGT turbos and they are more efficient with just 12 spd
Yeah the old "B" Macks with the Mack thermodyne 672 & the 250 Cummins in old Whites, IH & Autocar trucks (those 4 were the most common in the east) would shoot a flame when they were pulling a bit uphill at night. I didn't drive a Jimmy back then so I don't know if they did. You rarely saw a Freightliner back then. Now 5 out of 10 trucks are. When you got out west, you saw a good number of Pete's & KW's. Here in the east: Mack, Autocar, IH & White were the big ones. Diamond T was around but rare
Smooth as shifting in butter👍
The B Model Mack Song by THE COUNTRY TIGERS CANADA. Written by Bob Reimer who drove Mack, s and loved ole trucks.
The older the driver the better they are.
We used to have this older guy that would deliver steel to our shop and we had a very old small skinny truckwell loading dock and that old man would put it in reverse and put it to the floor and back that trailer right in that tight small loading dock well in one shot while the younger truck drivers would usually take a half a dozen times a backing up until they got it right and one of them just totally gave up and we had to unload him in the parking lot.
I remember starting at a company and they sent me out with one of these in the city, 1st reaction WTF? lost it and had to stop and start again, never got enough time in it to learn before I got a 13 eaton thank god. That old Mack was a strong old bugger to. No power steering or air ride seats. No wonder women didn't drive in the old days, no disrespect but it took alot of strength to back up in tight places
@aqua707
This truck has a Triplex(it's mine, so I know). Yes, you don't use lo/lo split in Quad for normal driving.
The Duplex has the levers reversed. The compound is on the right and the LO is forward unlike the others being down/back.
Poetry in motion :)
my grandfather use to drive a twin b tanker.
my dad always tells me how he used to drive one of these back in the day looks like a pain in the but but i guess once a person knows wich stick to shift at the time i gues it would be ok i wonder when a person comes to a stop and starts back up you have to set both sticks again from the beginning ?
Good job at shifting. I ran many miles in Macks. The "B" Model made Mack and the F-Models really fuck'em.
I drove a Model LR Mack that was fitted with a 3rd transmission that was a 4 speed with the 1st gear being a compounds low. (90 under).
5 speed Main, 4 speed aux. and a 2 speed Johnson bar.
You have lo-lo lo direct and hi. You only use lo-lo for crawling out of holes and very low speed work. You leave the compound stick in lo-lo and progressivly shift the main 1-5. For regular driving you split each gear. 1-lo-direct-hi 2-lo-direct-hi etc and you can skip gears depending on the weight your pulling. Trick is to not get both sticks in neutral or your in trouble unless you know what your doing.
This is before "air shifted" range boxes. You had to do it manually. The new trucks is all air controlled by switches on the shifter handle.
This cat can change gears!
WOW!! You da man!!! That takes some serious skill.
Ha! I just linked from an article of yours on these versus modern trucks asking how many modern trucks will still
Run not even noticing it was you,
Trucks had many gear combinations, while equla size buses usually had them in the one-digit rtanbge [like 4-speeds, an immensively popular one]...
Ahhh the ole two stick macks....these were easier than Mack's attempt at an Eaton Fuller 9
it's a quad box, the super-low ratio doesn't get used except under heavy load and from a stop.
Not always. B models did have Timken axle, page&page suspension and Cummins engine options. Depends on what you wanted.
It's just like a newer 13-18 spd, only instead of flicking a little lever on the stick(to split gears) you have to move a lever. Same principle, different action.
@jdkl81 I think he's shifting 2-4-5 with the l/h gear shifter and going up thru the r/h gear box. I never used 1 in the l/h when I drove a Mack B-61, but I never tried to skip 3rd.
@transamfan81 I drove one of these back in the 1960's (Concrete Truck) and later had a DM with a Maxidyne transmission which is 5 on the first stick and hi, low, netural and reverse on the second stick. Low was mostly off road. On road even with a heavy load, start in third on the lowside and go to first on high side and on to 5th gear. Later with an R, only one stick with hi, low, n and reverse on a switch. They put me in a KW a couple years ago. Back to Mack (Granite) but with Fuller damn it.
BOB REIMER drove the B Model Macks and did his gear shifting through ths steering wheel. Check out his song B Model Mack.
LOVE THE B MODEL MACK TRUCKS.
THE COUNTRY TIGERS CANADA
T his guy is GOOD , only time he used the clutch was to take off from a dead stop ! Is one stick a high range / low range & the other a 5spd main stick ?
Thats the same thing I said when I watched the video. These guys and gals come out of school and get right in the big condo, some with auto. I learned on a 56 B model in 79, the truck was a year older than me. And I'm still at it today.
My mother said that if I did'nt stay in school I'd be digging didtches.
Boy was she wrong.
very nice! I wish my old chev grain truck with 5 and 4 shifted that nice!~
Yes, left of compound, right is main box.
Some trucks were swapped around.
Nice vid on handling the TRT/TRQ with a light load. The TRQ-77 has me wanting to figure out what shoehorning one into a Cummins 6BTA5.9-powered Dodge BE2500 4x4 entails---I've had it with the TF518.
my goodness, that felt good just watching this. :)
Absolute madness. Is this some kind of an early Twin Splitter?