Incredible person and truck...

[ebinmaine 67,432]

For every society, for every industry, for every hobby, for every little niche of everything in the world, there are the normal things, the slightly above average, and then there's this truck and this driver...

 

I shared this short video with my own Ole Man this morning because him and I both like trucks and he likes purple in particular.

We got to gabbing back and forth about it and it made me a lot more curious so I did some searching and I found the article that's linked below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.tenfourmagazine.com/2014/08/cover-features/still-going-strong/

 

 

The man. 80 plus.

The machine. 1950 vintage with somewhere around TEN MILLION MILES.

 

It's had many drivers and many engines and many parts replaced with at least a couple fairly heavy restorations.

 

 

I'm sure most of you are well aware of the extreme feet of durability that is even with all the changes over the years.

 

[Mows4three 826]

Pretty durn nice if you ask me. 
Dave

[c-series don 8,689]

Great story Eric, thank you for posting! 

[ebinmaine 67,432]

31 minutes ago, c-series don said:

Great story Eric, thank you for posting! 

You're welcome Don!

 

[CCW 1,295]

That is one beast of a truck.  Not being a truck person how does it compare to new trucks today?

 

[ebinmaine 67,432]

1 minute ago, CCW said:

That is one beast of a truck.  Not being a truck person how does it compare to new trucks today?

 

 

 

The size and shape of that thing is pretty much identical. Maybe 6" narrower.

 

The real kicker on that particular mosheeen is the drivetrain.

 

Lots and lots and lots of semis going down the road nowadays have 10 speed transmissions. Good many are 13. More and more nowadays the 18 speed is becoming popular because there's so many choices. Sounds kind of intimidating but once you get used to driving one they really aren't too bad. I shared a video of that the other day as well. Not me driving. They're fascinating.

 

Now you take that truck in the pictures above.

That's a 13 speed WITH a 4-speed divider behind it.

Custom stuff there by the owner for super heavy duty ridiculous weights. You'd only get into that kind of thing if you were wanting to do a very particular type of construction, maybe house moving, or just because YOU CAN.

 

That KTA600 engine was the first real big giant powerplant for road usage that was widely and readily available.  

 

There's something just plain silly like 19L displacement. The torque in those things is incredible.

 

Compared to today's? Mileage might be a little bit less but the power is right there on par or exceeding pretty much anything on the road right now.

 

[Handy Don 12,214]

On 1/16/2023 at 11:50 AM, ebinmaine said:

That's a 13 speed WITH a 4-speed divider behind it.

 

I’m gonna assume there is some overlap in the ratios, but I’ll bet that thing has one heck of a creeper gear right down there with a WH Low-Low!!

 

[ebinmaine 67,432]

1 hour ago, Handy Don said:

I’m gonna assume there is some overlap in the ratios, but I’ll bet that thing has one heck of a creeper gear right down there with a WH Low-Low!!

 

 

I've driven a 13 speed. 

Low is .... Low. 

THAT being divided by another 1st gear would be incredible.  

 

That's divided so far down you'd literally never need the clutch. 

Just gently put tension on the main shifter and the truck would drop between gear teeth and start rolling along.  

 

[Digger 66 3,478]

You would cringe if you saw what I drive 

 

[ebinmaine 67,432]

32 minutes ago, Digger 66 said:

You would cringe if you saw what I drive 

 

Whatcha got??

 

I've been long fascinated by multiple stick drivetrains. Never driven one. 

 

It's definitely a realistic possibility that at some point I'd buy an older heavy truck as a personal worker toy show Horse hauler etc.  

 

5 x 4, 4 x 4 or whatever.   

[Digger 66 3,478]

4 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Whatcha got??

 

I've been long fascinated by multiple stick drivetrains. Never driven one. 

 

It's definitely a realistic possibility that at some point I'd buy an older heavy truck as a personal worker toy show Horse hauler etc.  

 

5 x 4, 4 x 4 or whatever.   

 

A beat-to-heck 05 Kenworth twin-screw day cab / yard tractor . 

[ebinmaine 67,432]

17 minutes ago, Digger 66 said:

 

A beat-to-heck 05 Kenworth twin-screw day cab / yard tractor . 

I'd like to have a lighter (for that size) 60s R or D/DM square cab Mack or Long nose Peterbilt of some sort.  

 

Here's a couple newer ones that are up there on the Awesome scale. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[8ntruck 6,998]

Wow.  That 3 stick setup sure keeps the driver engaged.  

 

I suppose when you operate something like that long enough, it becomes muscle memory and you don't really think about it.  Got to wonder though, how do you remember which gear you are in?

[ebinmaine 67,432]

3 minutes ago, 8ntruck said:

Wow.  That 3 stick setup sure keeps the driver engaged.  

 

I suppose when you operate something like that long enough, it becomes muscle memory and you don't really think about it.  Got to wonder though, how do you remember which gear you are in?

 

With enough practice you just know. 

 

You can look at the stick(s) and at a glance see what's where just like the light switch.  

 

Also, even if you don't immediately see where you're at you can pop the main from a gear, up or down based on RPM, and go from there.   

 

It seems ridiculously complicated to those that don't drive like that every day but it's no more so than any other skilled profession.   

 

I wouldn't have the beginnings of an idea how to run a metal mill or lathe, or what it takes to even so much as turn on the computer programs Trina uses in multiple at the same time all day every day.  

 

 

 

[lynnmor 7,305]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

 

It seems ridiculously complicated to those that don't drive like that every day but it's no more so than any other skilled profession.   

 

I wouldn't have the beginnings of an idea how to run a metal mill or lathe,

 

Grab the wrong handle on a mill or lathe, small metal parts fly across the room.  Grab the wrong handle in the truck, and cause loss of control, large metal objects fly real far.

[ebinmaine 67,432]

9 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

Grab the wrong handle on a mill or lathe, small metal parts fly across the room.  Grab the wrong handle in the truck, and cause loss of control, large metal objects fly real far.

If you grab the wrong handle and it's a shifter it isn't going to do anything but crunch gears for a split second.

 

The only handle in most common semis today that is the wrong one to grab ahold of would be related to the air brakes.

 

If one can't figure out where those are then one really should just get right out of trucking school. 

👍

[Handy Don 12,214]

My ears tell me that I’m hearing automatic transmissions in mid-size trucks. Do they exist for semis? How many gears? (I’ve read of 10-speed autos in some cars, for sure.)

 

[ebinmaine 67,432]

Just now, Handy Don said:

My ears tell me that I’m hearing automatic transmissions in mid-size trucks. DO THEY EXIST FOR SEMIS? How many gears? (I’ve read of 10-speed autos in some cars, for sure.)

 

Not only do they exist, they are becoming the absolute norm.

The days of the gear jammer term are pretty much gone.

ALL the new trucks that my company buys and many others are FULLY AUTOMATIC 6 speed Allison transmissions.

Noting the bold words just above, I called that out because there are many types of AUTOMATED MANUAL transmissions which are NOT automatics. 

Automated manual transmissions are fine for road trucks but IMHO have no place in the construction industry where a truck needs to be driven off road on rough ground at very very low speeds.

 

I've never seen them but one of my co-drivers has been in Peterbilt trucks with 12-speed transmissions that he did not have to shift. I don't know if that was a FULLY Automatic like the six-speed Allison's we have now or an AUTOMATED MANUAL like the 10 speed Eaton Fullers that are in some of our slightly older trucks.

 

 

As much as I love running through the gears in a 10 or even higher speed transmission...

There's a very low demand for those now due to practicality. The federal government has changed the requirement for getting a CDL.

It used to be that you could get your license on an automatic or fully synchronized manual transmission as what would be in a smaller lighter vehicle, and then learn how to shift later.

That's exactly what I did.

Nowadays, the manual transmission in the old school non-automated non-synchronized form can only be driven by somebody who has the proper endorsement on their license in the same manner as a tank or doubles, triples for example.

 

[Handy Don 12,214]

1 minute ago, ebinmaine said:

becoming the absolute norm.

 

Dang, tricked into learning something new again  ,

Checked out the intercyclopedia for some info on AMTs and full autos in Class 8 trucks. Nifty stuff there.

Very intrigued to learn about clutchless AMTs coupled to an electric motor in electric busses and other heavy vocational trucks where precise motor speed control and drive train speed sensors let the transmission change gears perfectly letting a smaller motor work within it’s optimal power/efficiency speed range over a wide range of truck speeds.

Makes me curious about the Tesla Semi drive train!

[ebinmaine 67,432]

7 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

letting a smaller motor work within it’s optimal power/efficiency speed range over a wide range of truck speeds.

 

This is another one of those phrases that sounds great when you write it out on paper but when you put it to practical application doesn't actually make you anywhere near as happy.

Lower power is, lower power. And there's no way one can change that.

 

A half decent driver with half decent shifting abilities can run through the gears in a certain amount of time. Increase horsepower? Decreased time. Doesn't matter if you are a computer that is trying to figure that out or a people person.

 

I was pretty impressed when I heard these things were on the road and doing well a few years ago but then when you start to take a 425 horsepower engine and think you can replace it with a 350 HP ... No sir. Does not work.

 

 

[Handy Don 12,214]

3 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

was pretty impressed when I heard these things were on the road and doing well a few years ago but then when you start to take a 425 horsepower engine and think you can replace it with a 350 HP ... No sir. Does not work.

Even if you use all your fingers and toes and do your “gazintas” and “timeses” right, ya gotta match the power to the load!

[Digger 66 3,478]

2 hours ago, Handy Don said:

My ears tell me that I’m hearing automatic transmissions in mid-size trucks. Do they exist for semis? How many gears? (I’ve read of 10-speed autos in some cars, for sure.)

 

 

Yes , Now in NY you actually need an endorsement to drive a manual in a semi .

[lynnmor 7,305]

52 minutes ago, Digger 66 said:

 

Yes , Now in NY you actually need an endorsement to drive a manual in a semi .

For safety reasons I guess?

[ebinmaine 67,432]

11 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

For safety reasons I guess?

I'd say that's true.  

Non synchronized manual transmissions are a VERY different driving experience from the other types. 

Keeping the vehicle under control while turning braking stopping starting is a whole pile of not the same when you can only use one hand because the other is busy whapping the shifter around.  

 

A 10 speed truck can go through 6 or 7 gears before 30, 35 mph depending on rear axle ratio. 

That's a lot of busy going on while we're making turns in city traffic.  

 

[Digger 66 3,478]

9 hours ago, lynnmor said:

For safety reasons I guess?

 

My boss has 2 autos on a different leg (delivering grain) and I tried one . I have been driving since '92 and there's no way the auto would work for my job as a spotter .

When I'm backing tankers into the loading bays , I have to place the trailers at an exact location very slowly and in a very controlled manner . This is just not possible with an auto .