How many gears do you really need?

Anyone who regularly carries heavy loads, especially in hilly areas, would have a use/need for an 18 speed.

 

The more gears you have,the more chances of staying in your best torque range when you have to have it.You don't HAVE to have an 18 speed by any stretch of the imagination and I personally don't much care for them.Give me good power with a super 10 and I'll just stroll along grinning like a moron shucking corn on the porch.

 

The more gears you have the heavier the transmission is, I like the 13 speed, drive it any way you want.
Bobtail; 3rd. 5th. 8th. 12th. 13th.
Empty; 2nd. 3rd. 4th. 5th. pull up to high range, 6th. 8th. 10th. 12th. 13th.
Pulling a grade with a load; use all of them.

 

An 18 speed is a 13 speed with the ability to split the low range gears as well as the high range gears.
An 18 speed is usually considered a stronger transmission that can handle in excess of 2,000 pounds feet of torque which could damage a nine speed (which is an 18 or 13 speed without the ability of splitting any range) or 10 speed. (A 15 speed is a 10 speed that allows you to split the high range)

A nine or ten speed will git 'er done. And for most road applications an 18 speed is overkill, IMO. Most drivers shift an 18 like a 13 anyway.

A split is like shifting 1/2 a ratio rather than a full ratio. Handy and easier than shifting a full ratio when climbing. Just move a lever, let off the fuel, and it auto-shifts smoothly. Hard to miss a gear split.
To up-shift, flip a lever the other way and increase the rpm and she'll shift up.
Sweet.

And like that scruffy Muleskinner said, it helps keep the engine in that 'sweet spot' where torque best works to your advantage.
It's a Big truck trucker thang to drive 'em the way they perform the best. Steering wheel holders tend not to notice or care as long as the load gets there.

Torque!
It's a beautiful thang.

Personally, I love to shift and I'm good at it. I prefer a 13 speed, and I'd rather drive an 18 speed than a 9 speed. A 15 speed would be my third choice, with a 10 speed being my fourth choice.

While others might prefer an auto-shift type transmission. I say to each their own.
Which one is better?
Which one do you like best?

 

There is a restored 1947 International at Jerome, AZ. The owner uses it for truck drag racing as well as legal highway driving. With the multi-speed single drive axle, etc., this truck has 76 speeds forward. To see a photo of this truck in the link, scroll down to "white truck".

http://www.pbase.com/orangecones/goldking&gcmd=add_comment

On one of the commercial VHS tapes, the owner of an antique fire engine refers to the 1947 International. He says, "We don't have 76 gears forward, but we do the best we can with the six we got."

 

Nice collection!
I wish I'da known about that when I was visiting Jerome.

 

Very well put.Do your thang.

 

I have an 18 but, I skip as many as I can just the get to the big hole. I put two fingers in the big and gouge on it!

 

Git 'er done!

BTW, how often do you split the low range gears?