StandardShift.com

Rope-Pusher wrote:

InlinePaul wrote:When I was on that urban forestry job I once drove the F350 dump truck (cool truck with 4 speed floor shift and creeper gear) a few miles in traffic with the wood chipper on a pintle hook that was wide open and the chains not hooked up.

Cudda bean the New Process Gear A435 - You could find them in Fords, Chevys & GMCs and UPS trucks to name a few.
http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/tr ... nual/np435

That transmission with shifter is a beauty, suitable for framing. If I were a bachelor I'd have stuff like that hanging on my walls.

Well the F350 dump did have that big long bent lever in it, so that probably was the transmission I drove. It was a mid 1980s truck. I can't remember what shifter was in the Hi-Ranger truck as I only drove it a couple times but do remember it had a stick. Seems it might also have been that long bent lever setup and it was a creeper first too. When one of the regular crew was out sick I would ride in it with the trimmer guy. On rainy days we would drive around town all day looking at trees that we needed to someday cut. On garbage day we might do a little garbage picking too.

Once the tree trimmer decided I should try out the bucket and parked at the edge of the parking lot. Not sure why he parked directly under a streetlamp, and sure enough I did not have my hard hat on. I had no idea how sensitive the controls were and when I hit the up button/lever I flew up very fast and managed to let go in time that my head came within a foot of taking out the bulb in the street lamp (or should I say bulb nearly took out my head). Needless to say, I did not get any more training on the bucket after that. Was fine with me, I am not fond of heights.

InlinePaul wrote: Was fine with me, I am not fond of heights.

Do you share similar feelings for widths and/or lengths? ....depths?

Rope-Pusher wrote:

InlinePaul wrote: Was fine with me, I am not fond of heights.

Do you share similar feelings for widths and/or lengths? ....depths?

Depends. Depth is an issue as in canyon depth if I am standing near the edge. Width is fine as is length.

I also don't like airplanes (or birds for that matter) flying overhead. May have something to do with heights, but stuff drops off of (or out of) birds--sometimes airplanes too (stuff drops off or out of).

InlinePaul wrote:

Rope-Pusher wrote:

InlinePaul wrote: Was fine with me, I am not fond of heights.

Do you share similar feelings for widths and/or lengths? ....depths?

Depends. Depth is an issue as in canyon depth if I am standing near the edge. Width is fine as is length.

I also don't like airplanes (or birds for that matter) flying overhead. May have something to do with heights, but stuff drops off of (or out of) birds--sometimes airplanes too (stuff drops off or out of).

I know what you mean. I'd much rather have the birds and airplanes flying underfoot than overhead.

Speaking of Birds being underfoot, I drive past 50 or 100 Canada Geese each day. They make no effort to turn back or cross the road more quickly as my car nears. It's as if they know that I won't hit them. I beep the horn, I rev the engine, but nothing seems to faze them. They continue to waddle past in a single-file line and seemingly dare me to hit them.

I heard a story on migratory birds and they said that the birds are staying in the big cities, like Chicago, more now, because they have "learned cities are safe places". No hunters or other predators bother them in the cities. He said it's not the food availability, it's the safety aspect.

Made me think that we ought to draw straws at work and loser (Winner?) has to drive through the flock without slowing or swerving to avoid hitting them. After a while, they will all move to the backcountry to get away from the crazy city drivers.

Rope-Pusher wrote:Made me think that we ought to draw straws at work and loser (Winner?) has to drive through the flock without slowing or swerving to avoid hitting them. After a while, they will all move to the backcountry to get away from the crazy city drivers.

Worse yet, some people put food out for them! Flying rats! That's what they are. Sky carp! It is a public health hazard with goose droppings in all our parks.

Rope-Pusher wrote:Made me think that we ought to draw straws at work and loser (Winner?) has to drive through the flock without slowing or swerving to avoid hitting them. After a while, they will all move to the backcountry to get away from the crazy city drivers.

The large 50mph main road near my house has a section where geese love to hang around. People put up tons of handmade signs begging drivers to slow for geese, be careful of them, etc.

One day I was driving along and saw a bunch of odd looking duffel bags littered all over the road. I wondered what truck lost them. As I got closer I realized it was a goose massacre. Somebody must have had enough of the geese and the large quantity of signs and just plowed through a flock at 50+mph.

I don't like the damnable things but I have no interest in massacring them like that. That's just too much. Maybe issue more hunting licenses for them or something, let people shoot/trap and then eat them, but FFS don't just cruelly massacre them, leave them to rot, and leave a huge mess for someone else to clean up.

theholycow wrote:

Rope-Pusher wrote:Made me think that we ought to draw straws at work and loser (Winner?) has to drive through the flock without slowing or swerving to avoid hitting them. After a while, they will all move to the backcountry to get away from the crazy city drivers.

The large 50mph main road near my house has a section where geese love to hang around. People put up tons of handmade signs begging drivers to slow for geese, be careful of them, etc.

One day I was driving along and saw a bunch of odd looking duffel bags littered all over the road. I wondered what truck lost them. As I got closer I realized it was a goose massacre. Somebody must have had enough of the geese and the large quantity of signs and just plowed through a flock at 50+mph.

I don't like the damnable things but I have no interest in massacring them like that. That's just too much. Maybe issue more hunting licenses for them or something, let people shoot/trap and then eat them, but FFS don't just cruelly massacre them, leave them to rot, and leave a huge mess for someone else to clean up.

Hey, possums and coons and stray dogs and cats gotta eat too! Don't think of it as a massacre, think of it as a live-fire training session. The smart survivors will maybe think about leaving the area or at least lern to stay out of the roadways.

Thing is, they have no natural predators in the city areas. Hunting won't be allowed in the city areas. If there was a cheap and effective way to feed them birth control pills,......

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."

Kenichi Yamamoto, architect of the Mazda rotary, dies at 95
In his free time, Yamamoto analyzed the specs and tolerances on the transmission components he was assembling, and he ended up getting promoted to an actual engineering position for his diligence. At the age of 25, Yamamoto designed Mazda’s first overhead valve engine, which opened even more opportunities for him.

The president of Toyo Kogyo entrusted him to develop a rotary engine in 1961 with a specially chosen group of 47 others known now as the 47 Ronin (47 Samurai). By 1963, Mazda showed a prototype of the Cosmo Sport with a twin-rotor engine that persuaded Japan’s government to let Toyo Kogyo make cars. Previous to that, Japan’s Ministry of Trade and Industry had determined that Toyota, Nissan and Isuzu would be the country’s sole carmakers. The Cosmo Sport saw production in 1967, which kick-started Mazda’s romance with the Wankel-style engine.

In addition to the rotary, we can thank Yamamoto for greenlighting the Miata project for production as president of the company.

Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/people/keni ... z53BT9zT9H

Roadtest of 1984 Mazda RX7 - when it was a new product!

http://autoweek.com/sites/default/files ... zdaRX7.pdf

http://autoweek.com/article/car-life/th ... dailydrive

They even tried it in motorcycles:

On This Day in 1902, Felix Wankel was 1 day old

http://www.autonews.com/article/2018081 ... ne-is-born

Mazda to revive rotary engine in push to electrify entire lineup
As part of the push, Mazda will develop one pure electric vehicle and another range-extender hybrid. The range extender will drive like a normal battery-powered electric vehicle but have a compact rotary engine to recharge the battery and give the car a longer cruising range.

Mazda says its rotary engine is well suited to the task because it is compact, powerful and quiet. For an extra touch of green, it can also burn liquefied petroleum gas, Mazda said.
http://www.autonews.com/article/2018100 ... ary-engine

Mopar Hellephant Crate Motor Brings 1,000 Horsepower To SEMA



[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoTSnElu6s8[/youtube]

http://fcauthority.com/2018/10/mopar-he ... r-to-sema/

Now to find an Amish transmixer that can handle all that torque.

Sky Fly!



http://canada.autonews.com/article/2018 ... ews-weekly



The Skyactiv-X variant will be positioned as the higher grade. It will have the driving dynamics of the 2.5-litre gasoline setup but the fuel economy of a 1.5-litre diesel, Marumoto said.

"Skyactiv-X is a very efficient engine in the first place, so we don't need a full hybrid. Mild hybrid is good enough," Marumoto said. "And by using the mild-hybrid system, linear driving dynamics can be pursued as well ... That's why we believe the grade should be higher."