vision386 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Found a pretty neat old ad for the Maxidyne/ R-model from 1968,thought it might be of some interest!................Mark Quote Mack Truck literate. Computer illiterate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxfymn Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Great find. When I ws in school a friend of mine who drove a lowboy happened to be in the parking lot dropping off a machine when I was leaving for the day. He had just gotten a new tractor with the brand new Maxidyne engine. I'll never forget his offer to let a 17 year old take it for a ride around the parking lot with the comment "Hell it's only got five speeds;anybody can drive it." Quote Money, sex, and fire; everybody thinks everyone else is getting more than they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Great find. When I ws in school a friend of mine who drove a lowboy happened to be in the parking lot dropping off a machine when I was leaving for the day. He had just gotten a new tractor with the brand new Maxidyne engine. I'll never forget his offer to let a 17 year old take it for a ride around the parking lot with the comment "Hell it's only got five speeds;anybody can drive it."I'll bet it was looked at as simple cause most everything else at that time had two sticks and varying shift patterns for each manufacturer.Rob Quote Plodding along with no job nor practical application for my existence, but still trying to fix what's broke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peelermack Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Excellent find! I'm proud to say I'm a "millionaire"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GearheadGrrrl Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 The ad was quite accurate- at the time all the other trucks were pretty crude with narrow power bands that required constant shifting. The other trucks had lousy aerodynamics and noisy, uninsulated cabs. Macks were quiet, needed little gearshifting, and were downright civilized compared to the competition. It's too bad Mack has lost their leadership in truck building and competitive advantage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxfymn Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I'll bet it was looked at as simple cause most everything else at that time had two sticks and varying shift patterns for each manufacturer.Rob Yep; He was a salty old dog who just knew the world as he knew it was coming to an end. To him if this kept up any kid with a learner's permit would be able to replace him.Obviously, this was pre CDL days and before the boss replaced it with the Maxidyne he drove a B-81 quadra-plex with basically one arm after a nasty fall from a machine he was unloading left him with very limited use of his left arm. Now that's a driver! Quote Money, sex, and fire; everybody thinks everyone else is getting more than they are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmackattack Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 the first few years of my Driveing career all I drove were 237/5 speed, 285/6speeds or 300/6speeds. First time I got into a truck with a 13 speed or 18 speed. I found myself shifting way to slow. In the big city I love the 5 and 6 speeds as you dont have to shift as much putting along in traffic. For the big road I liked the 9 and 12 speed macks as you could maintain a faster road speed pulling the grades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Yep; He was a salty old dog who just knew the world as he knew it was coming to an end. To him if this kept up any kid with a learner's permit would be able to replace him.Obviously, this was pre CDL days and before the boss replaced it with the Maxidyne he drove a B-81 quadra-plex with basically one arm after a nasty fall from a machine he was unloading left him with very limited use of his left arm. Now that's a driver!I know my grandpa had a few drivers that did not like the power combination at first, but grew to like it with experience. I'll bet this was due to one's natural resistance to change. Grandpa had two B61 tractors with 237, and five speeds for evaluation in 1964, (I believe). Everything else was a 673, or 711 with a duplex. and either single drive, or tag axle. I know he didn't like them much at first also.Rob Quote Plodding along with no job nor practical application for my existence, but still trying to fix what's broke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 the first few years of my Driveing career all I drove were 237/5 speed, 285/6speeds or 300/6speeds. First time I got into a truck with a 13 speed or 18 speed. I found myself shifting way to slow. In the big city I love the 5 and 6 speeds as you dont have to shift as much putting along in traffic. For the big road I liked the 9 and 12 speed macks as you could maintain a faster road speed pulling the gradesI really like this 10 speed air shift Mack transmission in my RL797 truck. This thing is smooth with a good gear spread that works well behind the V8 engine. I like the 13 speed Fuller behind the E6-315 in the winch truck, (R612) also, but the Mack transmission takes less force on the stick to shift. I've not looked into the Fuller yet but think something is abnormal in the forks, or rails.Rob Quote Plodding along with no job nor practical application for my existence, but still trying to fix what's broke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmackattack Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 one thing I liked about the older Mack transmissions is that they had a positve feel for the gear change. its like a light switch. your in or out. if you miss you get a scratch. it was hard to "bang into gear" you really needed to force the stick in if your revs were off. This new Junk if your just a few RPM off it will give a split sec scratch, fall into the gate and "bang" into the gear. even with gentel stick Presser its very unforgiving. Sometimes you think your Reved matched and "Bang" I find myself then trying to go easy and you still will meet resistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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