Mack Triplex

Anyone ever run the old triplex Mack with three sticks? I got to try my hand at this in the oil patch for one day. Sure am greatfull they invented the air shift. Turning and shifting took a real truck driver. At the time I was just a kid. Would love to try my hand at it today 40 years of experiance later. At the time I just plain sucked at it. Al

Never drove a three sticker but i did start out on a five and four twin stick mack . The BIG truck at the company i worked for had the three sticks , main was a six speed then a five speed then a four speed . That truck was and Autocar and made the B61 Mack look like a pick up . . The Autocar sported true 24 inch rubber huge double frame massive springs and almost 400 Hp. the boss drove that one on the big moves . It's been 35 years since the last twin stick , but it is like riding a bike ya never forget .

Was the Autocar a model Known as a Michigan special? I was to a contractor out in the oil patch and they had several of them. They all had a model L cummins under the hood.

(quoted from post at 09:14:49 12/18/17) Never drove a three sticker but i did start out on a five and four twin stick mack . The BIG truck at the company i worked for had the three sticks , main was a six speed then a five speed then a four speed . That truck was and Autocar and made the B61 Mack look like a pick up . . The Autocar sported true 24 inch rubber huge double frame massive springs and almost 400 Hp. the boss drove that one on the big moves . It's been 35 years since the last twin stick , but it is like rideing a bike ya never forget .

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On my way to work one afternoon I came up on an autocar tractor stopped at a light at a "T" intersection,2 lanes in all directions.No idea what trans. it had but I counted 5 shifts for him to get through the "T" and blowing smoke with every shift.

Friend had one to move his dozer with. Got to drive it a good bit. Fun after you got used to it..If you were turning corners with it best be in the gear you wanted.

An 18 speed could be shifted probably 12
times through an intersection. If you
wanted to... lol

(quoted from post at 10:32:24 12/18/17)

(quoted from post at 09:14:49 12/18/17) Never drove a three sticker but i did start out on a five and four twin stick mack . The BIG truck at the company i worked for had the three sticks , main was a six speed then a five speed then a four speed . That truck was and Autocar and made the B61 Mack look like a pick up . . The Autocar sported true 24 inch rubber huge double frame massive springs and almost 400 Hp. the boss drove that one on the big moves . It's been 35 years since the last twin stick , but it is like rideing a bike ya never forget .

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On my way to work one afternoon I came up on an autocar tractor stopped at a light at a "T" intersection,2 lanes in all directions.No idea what trans. it had but I counted 5 shifts for him to get through the "T" and blowing smoke with every shift.

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Yes, for a heavily loaded truck just starting off, the crown in the road is a big hill. Like Boots said with an 18 speed like my triaxle had, it took three shifts just to get to the top of the crown, then you could make three more on the other side, but then you might also skip a gear because once your center of gravity got over the crown your load is pushing you down the other side of the hill, LOL.

There were a lot of 4x4's out west here back in the '70's-'80's. I did a lot of figuring how to drive one. I got my chance once and jumped in an old Pete with a 318 Detroit and 4x4. It was a 10 wheeler with an end dump not loaded but a load of itself. I set the brownie in 2nd, grabbed 2nd in the main and took off. I went up through all the gears like a pro. I don't see why anyone would shift two sticks at once. To go up a hole I dropped the brownie out of over and dropped the rpms way down to catch under, knock the main out and go up to normal rpm to go to the next gear.

The driver was next to me, obviously impressed. Then he said "Start coming out of it". I didn't know what to do. I had never thought about slowing down. I should have just dropped it in direct and come down on the brakes and grabbed each hole in the main on the way, then I would have looked like a pro.

Friend of mine had an old R600 dump with and 673T and a Quadraplex in it. Man he could make that thing talk. All the way up through the gears and back down to a stop and never touch the clutch except starting and stopping. I never did even come close to mastering it myself.

I learned to drive a 5+4 twin stick driving a Mack B42 "yard goat" in the local gravel pit while still in high school.

Some years later my father in law acquired a well-used IHC 10 wheel farm dump (R200 maybe?) with a 5+4. Surprisingly I remembered how to shift the 5+4. After a few minutes of practice I was able to go up/down in sequence without thinking.

My father in law was impressed; he never did master shifting the 5+4. Instead he drove it like a simple 5 speed - slow, but he always got where he was going(!)

Went to driver school in 1972 in Middletown ohio with a brand new sky blue el camino, another student backed into it the first day there, only had 500 miles on it. Teacher gave me a Mack tri plex for my driver test. Never forgot it

I have driven both a du-plex and a tri-plex,both in Macks, but they both only had 2 sticks. I have also driven a 12 speed Spicer, which only had 3 holes to put into all gears. Probably the hardest one I ever drove. I ran the road for over 25 years.

This is what Grandpa made me learn on, it's all been downhill since then...

last time i saw that tractor was end of June 1966 and i do not remember the model number of it i think it was a 1960 model the Mack was a 57 B model engine was was and industrial cummins like what was in a couple Cranes/ Shovels way bigger then what was in normal trucks . at that time in my life it was all about drag racing and not truck engines . Driving truck was a necessary evil that went with my job . with being one of the full time employee's i wore many hats . First off i was and operating engineer , Next on the list was mechanic / Welder /machinist/ mexican drag line operator / Grade man / farm hand /go fetch this or that parts runner/ powderman/ and at the bottom of the list lowboy truck driver . I drove the B61 Mack that pulled the 50 ton Rodgers Lowboy , i would haul what ever up to 100000 lbs John my boss drove the Autocar, Willis drove the White Mustang with the 35 ton Rodgers and Jessey drove the other White Mustang with the other 35 ton . When i first started driving the Mack it was a gas burner with a big 6 cylinder and here again i don't know much about that one i just know it got 3.5 MGP and a 150 gallon did not take you far . About a year after i started driving it we did and engine swap to a 711 with a turbo with the fuel turned up . I knew Detroits as to size and Hp. back then only because i learned how to work on them . I could work on Cats of the time Allis Chalmers and The old gas start I H diesels and the Detroits but never got into Cummins till i owned my own .

We were talking about driving 18 and 20 speed transmissions. Then my Mother-in law asked "what is that like?" To which my Brother-in-law replied, "it's not easy, 'till you get to high gear, you're reaching all the way over to the glove box!"

Go to You-Tube and type in "Twin-Stick Pappy".
You'll see a beautiful B Model Mack and a guy who really knows how to shift it.
Then, you can click on a whole bunch of other videos showing guys driving trucks with twin stick and triplex transmissions ....some really, really good at it.
Very entertaining!

becarefull showcrop though you never hauled any over loads!!

My Daddy's first truck was a 1962 G model Mack with the 13 speed MACK Triplex two stick gear box. He said you could shift it fine until you got tired and then you'd fudge up and get both sticks in neutral at the same time!! You stopped, got the main (front) box back in gear, then the back (compound) box in gear and started all over!! I over hauled a Mack 12 speed one time a fellow had for moving heavy equipment, must have been all of four foot long. It was fun getting it back under the truck to put it in.

(quoted from post at 16:43:56 12/19/17) becarefull showcrop though you never hauled any over loads!!

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No, at least never intentionally. I have been put on the scale by DOT only once. I couldn't believe what the cop told me for weight. I had only 2/3 of a load. The loader operator was inexperienced, And the guy I was working for still charged the customer for a full load. I picked up the check for COD, lol.

You made that up!