Manual Transmission Logic Puzzle

[Shovelman]

Long ago back on the farm my friend and neighbor, at the energetic age of 15, wanted some mobility. Due to misadventures he was not allowed to even sit on a tractor, and the nearest pavement was miles away. But there was a plentiful supply of junk. So he decided to build himself a vehicle. Starting with a 10 hp engine from an old hay baler and the axle from a junked pickup truck he started welding. He used the transmission from an old English Ford (small car) and a belt tensioning mechanism for a clutch.

It was too fast for the conditions. So he stretched the frame and added a second transmission from a Falcon, connecting it to the back of the first transmission. Each had 3 speeds and the lower gears worked out pretty well. So here's the question, assuming none were the same, how many forward gears did he have?

[KennyFSU]

3

[pennsiveguy]

9

[CTinline-six]

9 speeds

[upstatedoc]

car sounds like a piece of shit

[GtiGyver]

9 (3x3) speeds, just like on a bicycle where 3 gears in front attached to 7 gears in back gives you 21 gears.

I'm assuming that the 3 gears each transmission had were forward gears.

[overcoil]

1 forward gear

[pennsiveguy]

I drove many thousands of miles in an old Peterbilt that had 2 transmissions. It was a popular way to gain lots of close-together gears so you could always find one just right for the speed, load, grade, etc.

It had a Spicer main box that was on the back of the engine, like any other transmission. It had 5 forward speeds plus reverse. Off the back of that was a short drive shaft that led to the font of the auxiliary transmission with 4 speeds (no reverse). So you had a total of 20 forward gears (gear combos, really) and 4 reverse.

Shifting that rig was quite an art. Not for the faint of heart. Looked something like this, when you got the knack of it:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...whbNQ7IMa-IRdj

[corn18]

We had an old lift truck that had a 3 speed tranny on the engine and a 2 speed rear axle. You shifted the rear axle by pulling a knob and then letting off the gas to let it shift. When it felt like it.

[Maynard]

I'm thinking 2 speeds: broke-not-moving, and way-too-f'ing-fast-to-survive. But perhaps I'm just channeling my own efforts at early transportation research.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by upstatedoc

car sounds like a piece of shit

You win, Doc.

[Shovelman]

Thanks for the link pennsivguy, that was some fine truck drivin' video. Manual steering and shifting without the clutch, took me back.

So no correct answers on the quiz. I'll lead you with another question.

How many reverse gears did he have?

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by Shovelman

Long ago back on the farm my friend and neighbor, at the energetic age of 15, wanted some mobility. Due to misadventures he was not allowed to even sit on a tractor, and the nearest pavement was miles away. But there was a plentiful supply of junk. So he decided to build himself a vehicle. Starting with a 10 hp engine from an old hay baler and the axle from a junked pickup truck he started welding. He used the transmission from an old English Ford (small car) and a belt tensioning mechanism for a clutch.

It was too fast for the conditions. So he stretched the frame and added a second transmission from a Falcon, connecting it to the back of the first transmission. Each had 3 speeds and the lower gears worked out pretty well. So here's the question, assuming none were the same, how many forward gears did he have?

You said nobody had the correct answer but there is missing info. Each had 3 speeds, but three speeds total (2 forward 1 reverse)? 3 speeds forward? One trans has 3 speeds forward the other 2 speeds reverse because of a different input setup causing it to have reverse rotation?

This isn't a quiz it's a guessing game.

[Shovelman]

The answers are 6 speeds backward and 10 speeds forward.

The extra forward gear he found when he shifted both transmissions into reverse.

And since reverse is much slower than 1st this gave him a real stump puller.

[GtiGyver]

Originally Posted by Shovelman

The answers are 6 speeds backward and 10 speeds forward.

The extra forward gear he found when he shifted both transmissions into reverse.

And since reverse is much slower than 1st this gave him a real stump puller.

Damn. You're right!