Modern Amish Transportation

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ClutchFork
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

Post by ClutchFork »

Rope-Pusher wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:22 am
ClutchFork wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:34 am
Rope-Pusher wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 9:22 pm.......of course, if it's shown on top of the shift knob its viewing will probably be obstructed during shifts.
Wow! That is really bad. If you pull it out of a gear then forget where you were, how will you know where to go? Guess one has to hold the shifter sideways or something.
With only 3 forward gears, you've got less to keep track of.
I've only driven a vehicle with this pattern once, a three on the tree, and I don't remember if it was sprung to sit in the middle of the pattern when not in any particular gear.
I had two 3-on-the-trees, a '63 Chevy Biscayne inline six and a '77 F100 inline six. Can't remember if it was sprung to sit in middle. I just remember when the linkage got really worn you had to do the find-em-or-grind-em dance. Mine got so bad seems I had to push partway from first to reverse, then over to 2 in order to make the 1-2 shift. Occasionally the linkage would jam and you had to go under the hood and pry it apart, gaining greasy hands from the action. I had a lot of "fun" with that F100 including the clutch linkage cross shaft dropping off if I gunned it when the motor mount was broken. Best was bogging down in the middle of a soy field in 9 inches of snow (2WD, one-legger by the way) and a F250 4WD could not pull me out (two tries and two sets of ruts), so the farmer got his big tractor with the 6-foot high rear wheels and it walked me right out. Charged me $5! Those were the days.
Stick shiftin since '77
theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

Post by Rope-Pusher »

ClutchFork wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:09 am
Rope-Pusher wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:22 am
ClutchFork wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:34 am

Wow! That is really bad. If you pull it out of a gear then forget where you were, how will you know where to go? Guess one has to hold the shifter sideways or something.
With only 3 forward gears, you've got less to keep track of.
I've only driven a vehicle with this pattern once, a three on the tree, and I don't remember if it was sprung to sit in the middle of the pattern when not in any particular gear.
I had two 3-on-the-trees, a '63 Chevy Biscayne inline six and a '77 F100 inline six. Can't remember if it was sprung to sit in middle. I just remember when the linkage got really worn you had to do the find-em-or-grind-em dance. Mine got so bad seems I had to push partway from first to reverse, then over to 2 in order to make the 1-2 shift. Occasionally the linkage would jam and you had to go under the hood and pry it apart, gaining greasy hands from the action. I had a lot of "fun" with that F100 including the clutch linkage cross shaft dropping off if I gunned it when the motor mount was broken. Best was bogging down in the middle of a soy field in 9 inches of snow (2WD, one-legger by the way) and a F250 4WD could not pull me out (two tries and two sets of ruts), so the farmer got his big tractor with the 6-foot high rear wheels and it walked me right out. Charged me $5! Those were the days.
The car I drove with 3otT was a 62 Chevy II. It was my first time behind the wheel of a car with an Amish transmission and Shirley I didn't know what I was doing. Then suddenly I get even stupider....but no, it was one of the linkage bushings popping out and my friend had to fish-around under the hood and pop it back into place. The fact that he could perform that feat at night, with no artificial illumination, proves that it wasn't the first time it had happened.
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ClutchFork
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

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Rope-Pusher wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:49 am The car I drove with 3otT was a 62 Chevy II. It was my first time behind the wheel of a car with an Amish transmission and Shirley I didn't know what I was doing. Then suddenly I get even stupider....but no, it was one of the linkage bushings popping out and my friend had to fish-around under the hood and pop it back into place. The fact that he could perform that feat at night, with no artificial illumination, proves that it wasn't the first time it had happened.
Ha, he could do it in his sleep. Must have been a frequent experience for him.

I learned clutch the easy way. As a pump jockey, when it was slow, I would hop in the tow truck, stick it in creeper low, turn the key and start the engine with the clutch engaged and it would just roll out, then of course rolling shifts area always easier for a beginner. But also, it was pretty easy taking off from a stop with the clutch since that creeper was so low.

My 3-on-the-tree F150 once had the linkage break off, so I drove home with clutchless shifts and the couple times I had to stop, used the starter to launch.
Stick shiftin since '77
theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

Post by Rope-Pusher »

ClutchFork wrote: Tue Jul 07, 2020 1:34 am
Rope-Pusher wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:49 am The car I drove with 3otT was a 62 Chevy II. It was my first time behind the wheel of a car with an Amish transmission and Shirley I didn't know what I was doing. Then suddenly I get even stupider....but no, it was one of the linkage bushings popping out and my friend had to fish-around under the hood and pop it back into place. The fact that he could perform that feat at night, with no artificial illumination, proves that it wasn't the first time it had happened.
Ha, he could do it in his sleep. Must have been a frequent experience for him.

I learned clutch the easy way. As a pump jockey, when it was slow, I would hop in the tow truck, stick it in creeper low, turn the key and start the engine with the clutch engaged and it would just roll out, then of course rolling shifts area always easier for a beginner. But also, it was pretty easy taking off from a stop with the clutch since that creeper was so low.

My 3-on-the-tree F150 once had the linkage break off, so I drove home with clutchless shifts and the couple times I had to stop, used the starter to launch.
Whether you are a fart smeller or not, there is not much you can do to get a slushbox to limp home.
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Image
Oh come now,....A Manual?....and ransom captive Standard Shifters, who mourn in lonely exile here, until the sunny Z-Car appears.

"While Nissan executives may have been tight-lipped about the full list of powertrain features, we know the concept is powered by a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 paired with a six-speed manual, and the production version is indeed expected to keep this setup while also offering the option of a seven-speed automatic, sending power to the rear wheels."

https://www.autoweek.com/news/sports-ca ... new-z-car/
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

Post by potownrob »

epic winning

Image
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

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Bill B wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2017 10:55 pm Interesting article in Car & Drive about Amish Buggies. They actually have a dashboard and battary and a choice of drum or disc brakes. The brakes are so the buggy won't run over the horse after you pull the reins to stop. Link here: http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-surpri ... awn-buggy/
eye miss the element :cry:
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

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Rope-Pusher wrote: Fri Jun 12, 2020 11:19 pm Speaking of 7-Speed Horses,....
Image

The Ford Bronco IS Getting a Seven-Speed Manual

"But TFLCar just scored a bunch of pictures of the Bronco up close, confirming new details, most importantly the inclusion of a manual transmission with a crawl gear (a super-low gear made for “crawling” over rocks and tough terrain). That technically makes it a seven-speed manual."

https://www.autoweek.com/news/future-ca ... %20Openers
eye would come out of early manual retirement fore this...iff eye had the easy means... :cry:
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Speakin' of Column-Shift Amish Transmissions.....

When I was in Japan 2005-ish, the Taxis were 4-on-the-tree.

https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/class ... -1986-yes/
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ClutchFork
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

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Rope-Pusher wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 11:33 am Speakin' of Column-Shift Amish Transmissions.....

When I was in Japan 2005-ish, the Taxis were 4-on-the-tree.

https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/class ... -1986-yes/
Nice! I should have gone for one when I bought my '84 F150.

I saw somewhere where a guy converted a 3-on-the-tree to 4-on-the-tree by moving the reverse to a lever under the dash and using the original reverse position for one of the forward gears.

How about a 6 speed on the tree! :lol:
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theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

Post by Rope-Pusher »

If you had an Amish hybrid (no, not a mule) you could just reverse the polarity to the electric motor while the trans was in 1st to operate in Reverse.
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

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ClutchFork wrote: Sun Oct 04, 2020 2:11 pm How about a 6 speed on the tree! :lol:
no thanks :shock: :!:
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

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Four on the Floor.....and two in the back seat!

Image

Autoweek thinks they've written the definitive article on when the last 4-Speed Manual was offered on a US passenger car as a 1996 Toyota Tercel.....and some guy writes into the comments about his son's 2002 Chevy Cavalier Amish 4-speed.

Of course, it could have originally been a 5-speed, but with one gear range knocked out of commission, right?

https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/colum ... %20Openers
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

Post by mtheis »

To the best of my knowledge, the 1995 Tercel was the last production year Tercel that offered a 4-spd manual and the 1996 model came with a 5-spd as standard equipment. I still miss my old 4-spd to this day!
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Re: Modern Amish Transportation

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mtheis wrote: Tue Oct 13, 2020 10:35 pm To the best of my knowledge, the 1995 Tercel was the last production year Tercel that offered a 4-spd manual and the 1996 model came with a 5-spd as standard equipment. I still miss my old 4-spd to this day!
was gonna say, fought they did a way whiff the 4 speed. eye almost bought a 91 tercel with the 4 speed. expected it to be slow, but it moved quickly when i test drove it. didn't buy it since the owner's dad who was holding it divulged info about why there was white smoke coming out the tailpipe. owner and his dad were (or had been) both mechanics. kinda whish he had kept his mouth shut. ended up buying my sister's 91 corolla with a 3 speed auto... :|
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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