sold bus

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I had a neighbor who owned a garage and he used to loan it to people when he was working on their cars.  Some drove automatics and some drove standards.  So he modified a car to have both and then anyone could drive it. 

There are times when I would like a stick shift in my bus like in the mountains and other times when I like an automatic like in the city.  Maybe I will go down to Cliff's and have him convert my bus so I can have the best of both worlds. 

[pabusnut]

Clifford,

I kept the flywheel when I sold my 8V71--been hauling it around in the 2nd bay ever since it is to stinkin heavy to move anywhere else!

[dtcerrato]

At almost 68 I (& the wife) happily shift our gear head turtle & will continue to do so until I (we) can't anymore... that's our story & we're stickin' to it.

[Jim Blackwood]

I was tempted to go look at that one, and would have if it hadn't been 1500 miles away.

Well, I can shift a manual just fine but would rather have an automatic just because it is easier. So I'm looking for a conversion with an auto. Am I lazy? yeah, maybe so, I dunno. Never really thought of it that way. The automatics have just gotten so much better across the board. I blame it on my lawnmower. It's a John Deere 1600T batwing and it'd be just about impossible to operate if it didn't have a hydrostatic transmission. Compare that to the little manual Yanmar where the PTO quits when the clutch goes in... it's a simple choice. How's that compare to a bus? well it doesn't. Except that it's given me a new appreciation for simplicity in operation. Push the pedal forwards it goes forwards. Push backwards it goes backwards, what could be simpler? Is there really a reason it has to be more complicated than that? Well used to be, yeah. But not now. And really, if you're tooling about downtown watching for curbs and signs and little cars you might run over, is it any advantage to also have to deal with the clutch and gears and hills and all that? I'd really just as soon just push the pedal and go. Yep, just lazy I guess.

Jim
(Still building the bankroll for the bus conversion purchase. The more the better.)

[Geoff]

I've been working on a 4104 owned by a lady.  First thing I had to do was put a clutch in it.  She burned what was left of it when a car cut her off as she was climbing a hill in first gear.  She ended up rolling back into a lot and an almost went into a ditch but the embankment saved her.

So I put a new clutch in it and gave her some driving lessons. 

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I was tempted to go look at that one, and would have if it hadn't been 1500 miles away.

Well, I can shift a manual just fine but would rather have an automatic just because it is easier. So I'm looking for a conversion with an auto. Am I lazy? yeah, maybe so, I dunno. Never really thought of it that way. The automatics have just gotten so much better across the board. I blame it on my lawnmower. It's a John Deere 1600T batwing and it'd be just about impossible to operate if it didn't have a hydrostatic transmission. Compare that to the little manual Yanmar where the PTO quits when the clutch goes in... it's a simple choice. How's that compare to a bus? well it doesn't. Except that it's given me a new appreciation for simplicity in operation. Push the pedal forwards it goes forwards. Push backwards it goes backwards, what could be simpler? Is there really a reason it has to be more complicated than that? Well used to be, yeah. But not now. And really, if you're tooling about downtown watching for curbs and signs and little cars you might run over, is it any advantage to also have to deal with the clutch and gears and hills and all that? I'd really just as soon just push the pedal and go. Yep, just lazy I guess.

Jim
(Still building the bankroll for the bus conversion purchase. The more the better.)

Yup. Same thing with heavy equipment. Once you've used a hydrostatic tranny in a dozer or backhoe, you will never go back to a stick shift.  It is nice to be able to control all of that power with just a couple of fingers rather than dealing with a clutch and a long throw transmission shifter.  It is so much faster to move from forward and reverse, which as you know, you do a lot of on a dozer. 

[Jim Blackwood]

Then there is the whole, "starting on a hill" problem. Much easier if it just isn't a problem to start with.

Jim

[buswarrior]

Starting on a hill isn't a problem, unless you make it one.

Poor training and popularly inaccurate folklore...

happy coaching!
buswarrior