Self Loader - Need Opinions Please

[fordf150]

we have hashed out proper shifting technique but when are we going to get into the proper use of the clutch pedal/clutch brake

 

[rocketnorton]

not takin nuthin from you Pete, maybe alot of dudes out there just don't do it right.
that kw, was it aluminum frame? if so we had one just like it. i very much preferred the feel of those clutches..........you can't slip this one in the ford, makes it a bich stretching a pole trailer by your self.

this one was steel, guy I bought my truck from & worked for had '54 kw bullnose, alum frame. have seen few other alum framed kw over the years. those frame rails made nice ramps for small/light equip to get on lowbed. gds.

 

[SliverPicker]

Having had several of my guys get their CDL's while working for me, I can say that the State of Alaska will deduct only 1 point total for not double clutching. My last two guys looked the examiner in the eye and said "deduct that point now because double clutching is stupid and hard on my bosses truck". Same examiner and he laughed both times, because he agreed. It is worth asking the examiner in your state how they handle it.

Having driven trucks commercially for 28 years, and self loaders occasionally over the last five years, I will say that driving the truck is the easy part. Learning how to use that crane, not tear crap up, and run it safely is WAY harder than driving the truck.

I can run the loader just fine, but the truck is a different story.

 

[SliverPicker]

The Colorado CDL test requires double clutching. No double clutch. No paso amigo.

 

[rocketnorton]

bc does too. the tester in my case realized I mighta done it before, and let it go. 1st time drivin [truck] was @ 12 yo, on a ranch. sticker right on dash instructing on how 2 spd rear was to be shifted w/o clutch. 73 ford f-500.

 

[SliverPicker]

My instructor will realize just the opposite! hehe

I will be required to double clutch or I will be failed. Also, any gear grinding will result in failure.

Heck, gear grinding is the only thing I am good at when it comes to trucks. The only thing I know about log trucks is that if one loaded with logs drives by I can look up and say; "There goes a log truck.". If the truck is empty I will have to ask someone more knowledgeable than myself if that was, indeed, a log truck.

 

[northmanlogging]

Two speed rear can totally be shifted without clutch but its so much smoother to use the clutch... even just a little dusting to ease that gawds awful bang... could be me though, really not much different than shifting the tranny without the clutch, just noisier...

Sometimes I wish my ole dumper could be shifted without the clutch but alas the synchro's are nearly gone, and catching 2nd with the clutch isn't always possible.

 

[SliverPicker]

I'm gonna try to get the ball rolling again on this thing first thing tomorrow. I gotta get with the money man and with the seller and hope it can be made to work.

If the stars align and I end up with this Mack I am in for quite an education.

The good news is that I live in the sticks and can practice the driving part all day, solo, with little to no worry about having a run in with any LEOs.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Also, any gear grinding will result in failure.
.

When I took my test they told me excessive grinding or coasting out of gear (can't get it in) for x amount of feet would be a fail. Scratching a gear or two here and there isn't a big deal.

 

[SliverPicker]

That's what I was told. Grinding (and coasting) is no good.

I should probably call one of the instructors and get a more accurate account.

 

[SliverPicker]

... miss one little gear and its pull over and start all over again.

Now there's a statement that is not lost on me.

 

[AKDoug]

Off the throttle, clutch in to break torque, .5 sec pause or so, clutch out, back on throttle.
Little bit tricky when also shifting a full gear, or skipping a gear, or range shifting too.

Eaton still maintains that double clutching is the best method.

One thing I've learned is each truck has its own personality pretty much.

Well, I guess that's one way to do it. It's so simple to do without the clutch I haven't figured out why guys would bother. Range shifting is handled clutchless for me as well.

 

[AKDoug]

we have hashed out proper shifting technique but when are we going to get into the proper use of the clutch pedal/clutch brake

LMAO... new drivers that get frustrated and jamb that clutch pedal to the floor at 60mph expecting the truck to go into the next gear are HARD on clutch brakes.

 

[fordf150]

Those 2 piece brakes are life savers

 

[northmanlogging]

The clutch brakes are for 9spd and some 13 spds aren't they? Not sure As I've never dealt with one, but what I've heard is its a secondary spot on the pedal, at the bottom you hit the clutch brake, and its only supposed to be used at a complete stop so you can get the truck into first, being as there are no synchros.

 

[treeslayer2003]

Those 2 piece brakes are life savers

but its no fun getting the old one off

 

[Skeans]

The clutch brakes are for 9spd and some 13 spds aren't they? Not sure As I've never dealt with one, but what I've heard is its a secondary spot on the pedal, at the bottom you hit the clutch brake, and its only supposed to be used at a complete stop so you can get the truck into first, being as there are no synchros.

Correct they are for a non synchronized transmission, the brakes travel is from 1 inch from the floor and if pushed well at speeds will break the two tangs off the brake or once in a while will twist the input shaft.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Skeans]

LMAO... new drivers that get frustrated and jamb that clutch pedal to the floor at 60mph expecting the truck to go into the next gear are HARD on clutch brakes.

Not just the brakes but also the input shafts.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[AKDoug]

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The clutch brakes are for 9spd and some 13 spds aren't they? Not sure As I've never dealt with one, but what I've heard is its a secondary spot on the pedal, at the bottom you hit the clutch brake, and its only supposed to be used at a complete stop so you can get the truck into first, being as there are no synchros.

Pretty much every big truck transmission has one. Some you can't feel, but you know they are there if you can easily slip into 1st and reverse from a stop. My old truck with a 10 spd had one, my truck with a 15sp has one.