Reminds me of the time I rode with my step dad in a '51 Diamond T logger back when I was in 6th grade (1960). The guy driving this Mack is about as good as my step dad was, and muleskinners didn't come any better. I'll never forget the time he put his arm through the steering wheel while rounding a corner on a dirt road (a no-no) to shift the brownie at the same time as the main box. He was a tank driver in WWII, died while driving (which is what he loved), and will be missed. RIP, Dennis.
Nice to see someone on here who actually knows how to shift a twin stick.....most guys I've seen don't use both hands, my dad used to stick his arm through the steering wheel and steer with his elbow as he shifted with both hands, that's how he taught me to do it..... almost a dead art now
It's remarkable that he can shift so smoothly without even using the clutch. He only used the clutch when doubling. Very good work there. And that's a great truck too!
When I 1st started in '78 the company had 2 of these. They sent me out in one and I had no clue at all. Just shifted the main one. They were sold soon after and I never did learn how to use it. You on the other hand are incredible. Hat's off to you Sir.
Cut my teeth on a B-61 Mack with a 5 & 3 Triplex, Purchased a 62 Pete Conventional with a 270 Cat, 5 & 4. Then purchased a 74 Pete with a 1693 T.A. Cat with a 5 & 4. Cant pass a physical been a number of years since I had the privleage of Operating a Tractor. Brings back lots of memories. Never sold the the 62 Pete or the 74. Lots of great memories. Thank you for the post.
I could watch these videos all day, as a truck driver that's only been driving 6 years I realize we have it waaaaay easier now!! Love those old Mack's!!
I grew up in a b Mack every summer when off school, what an experience!!! Truck stops watching my dad shift that twin stick no power steering no ac those old boys could drive!!!! Miss those days I couldn't wait till summer just to ride in that old truck what memories! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!!
Old twin stick pappy is a master of that Mack Triplex transmission. I just love the old iron. It takes me back to when my dad drove one just like this. I eventually had a friend who owned a truck who taught me to drive and I can proudly say I could mix the twin sticks up pretty good myself. A lot of good times for sure. It seems funny to me that some of the posts say they wish they had a chance to drive one of these. Once you do, it just doesn't seem the same to have just one stick to do all the work. Anyway, I enjoy these twin stick videos and the big sound of the 220 and 262's!
This twin-stick Mack is the first truck I drove after getting my CDL in 1985. Thanks for uploading, it really brought back good memories. I had just been recently discharged from the US Air Force when I landed my first trucking job, driving an identical Mack like this.
Beautiful old bulldog! Even though a twin stick is obsolete in today's industry, I'd love a chance to get on to shifting them just to be able to say I could do it '
Drove an old 69 cabover Mack with a duplex. Haven't seen a video yet where the driver shifts and keeps the total power band of the engine up like we used to do. Slow shifts equal loss of engine rpm's. Using the two handed shift, you become one with the truck. Listen and you will never need a tach, the engine will tell you when to shift. Of course that was back in the 70's when I was a youngster.
When I was a kid my dad started out in a dump truck like this. His truck was the only diesel machine that the company owned and shifted like this. I remember watching him shift these things and it looked like a work out. just like every thing else then My uncle also drove a Gmc dump truck
This is one of the few guys who get it.. If your going to use Both hands to shift.. NEVER reach threw the steering wheel.. Love these old Macks.. Great old truck...
My wife actually learned in a "B" model Mack with a duplex in it. OOOOHH so many years ago. She has mastered Duplex, Triplex, Quad box and all the Roadrangers. She has about 3 million miles in an 18 Wheeler, and Zero accidents. I slept very well behind her for over 14 years.
Well done sir. I have a lot of respect for the drivers that ran trucks like that back in the day, that must have been pretty tough at times. That is a beautiful truck. I'm 33 years old and I joke that we'll be telling the future generations of drivers about having a stick on the floor that we had to shift ourselves.
Well, that certainly brought back some old memories. Those old B61's were one of the most popular road train prime movers here in Australia, way back then. Along with a lot of other American and British trucks that have long since disappeared. Makes like Diamond T, REO, White, EAC, Foden, ERF and Atkinson. We also used to see a lot of Internationals, mostly Transtars and ACCO's with 5 speed main boxes and a 3 speed joey box. Now that was a bit of a handful to operate!
My dad learned in a 47 Mack, he tried to teach me once, he got a great laugh out of and I nearly had a break down. I can handle a 13 speed Fuller but this just twisted my gears.
My father taught me how to drive a 52 International 10 yd dump truck when I was 12. It had a 5x4. The thing was a beast. See when he takes his hand off of the wheel, my father put his arm through the wheel shifted with his hand and steered with the bend in his arm. I got pretty good at that. My father drove trucks in the 50's. This truck is sweet.
People did not appreciate how much skill it took to drive one of these older tractors. Does not have a splitter or high/low range level it look likes. Cool truck!
Hi Brings back many memorys, Nice looking LF Started out on a 1942 EQ Mack with a duplex then went to a triplex (which ur LF has right/) then to the B-model with the Quadraplex... Miss those good old days...
I love this video as it brings back the old days when I used to ride shotgun with my father. I remember watching him shift the old quad boxes with one arm over/under the wheel and never rattle any of them. I naturally followed in his footsteps and at age 19 got my Class 1 license. I drove mostly roadrangers and on occasion a quad, but ended up driving an old U model 10 wheeler with a quad and had no problems with going through, but go back into the lower ones was a different story, LOL!
This Driver has been down the road a time or two you can see that. Back in the early 90's I drove an LT Mack with a Cummins Big cam IV with a 15 Over and a 4 speed progressive brownie twin stick with 5;11 rears. Candy Apple Red with Black finders, she was a beauty. I love putting her into Low Low & walking along side her, then out on the open highway runnin to the pulp mill better then 100 M.P.H. out on the super slap. Them where the days, oh how I miss them. Try it without using the clutch
Beautiful truck! Beautiful sound! I've heard my dad's stories about shaking hands with the sticks but I have to see it to appreciate it. I'd love to try it myself someday.
Yeah I love this old stuff , been driving 25 years now & saw out the back end of kit like that... but... I only drive trucks for money not the glory so I,m more than happy with my auto boxed truck that gives over 10 to the gal in AC comfort lol. Great to see guys keepin that old stuff running tho.. respect.
There must be quite a learning curve when stepping into the cab of this old girl for the first time. I worked at a truck body shop and a couple of 2 stick trucks have passed through. One I remember you could get like 5 gears in reverse!
The long, narrow handles on the gear sticks are a bit interesting too. I think the Macks used to come out with round knobs on the sticks and sometimes, with those fitted, when you went for a two-handed gear change in both boxes, you ran the risk of cracking your knuckles together. Down here in Aussie, it was a common thing for Mack drivers to steal the long narrow handles from the control levers on CAT. wheel loaders and fit them to their Mack gear sticks.
I am impressed..really impressed with the restoration and the shifting... I learned in an LJ on a dark morning around 1959......"here kid, take that old piece of crap and run 50,000 lbs of scrap iron to Schmoon NJ".....whaddda ya mean ya never drove trailer.....fuc it, ya aint flying it GO!"......I'd give a million bucks to do that again. But I would like to see this same video, pulling a loaded trailer, up hill in new Jersey traffic on a hot summer day with syraight stacks....just before I die!
This kind of transmission was the reaon for DMV test " don't shift on rail road tracks" reason be was an old fella years back told me , gears would get stuck on RR tracks and some drivers had to jump out quick and hit it with a hammer to unstuck the gears , those were the good oh days 👍
I remember this from when I was a kid.... but I used to know how to shift at 8... in an old white Mack truck... LOL I don't remember how old it really was, I remember something about R series or something like that. It was white in color. The cab was only enough room to have seats, and there was a dash console that had a wood-grain trim to it, which faces the driver. What I DO know, is he has that truck even to this day.
Sweet ol' Mack. The thing is with today, if you had a truck with a set of sticks in it, you could leave it running with the doors unlocked and it would still be sitting there when you came back. The thief would take one look at those two stick and shut the door again. I started in the mid-70's with a long nosed Pete with a 3408 Kitty Cat with a 5&4. Had to be careful in the bottom two holes on the main or you could twist the driveline out of it with all that torque.
I've been driving for 18 years, and I have no idea what the hell you are doing. If I had to drive that truck I couldnt get it out of the parking lot. Awesome video,thanks for sharing.
Nice video. This takes a lot of skill to drive one of these vintage trucks. I can barely double clutch a 1990s bus with a stick shift. Nice truck and good skill.
Reminds me of the time I rode with my step dad in a '51 Diamond T logger back when I was in 6th grade (1960). The guy driving this Mack is about as good as my step dad was, and muleskinners didn't come any better. I'll never forget the time he put his arm through the steering wheel while rounding a corner on a dirt road (a no-no) to shift the brownie at the same time as the main box. He was a tank driver in WWII, died while driving (which is what he loved), and will be missed. RIP, Dennis.
really raises some eyebrows when you pull in on a construction site and start grabbing gears going in reverse
Nice to see someone on here who actually knows how to shift a twin stick.....most guys I've seen don't use both hands, my dad used to stick his arm through the steering wheel and steer with his elbow as he shifted with both hands, that's how he taught me to do it..... almost a dead art now
Truckers in those days really earned their bread...
It's remarkable that he can shift so smoothly without even using the clutch. He only used the clutch when doubling. Very good work there. And that's a great truck too!
When I 1st started in '78 the company had 2 of these. They sent me out in one and I had no clue at all. Just shifted the main one. They were sold soon after and I never did learn how to use it. You on the other hand are incredible. Hat's off to you Sir.
Never get tired of listening to those old Cummins-she sounds so sweet.
Cut my teeth on a B-61 Mack with a 5 & 3 Triplex, Purchased a 62 Pete Conventional with a 270 Cat, 5 & 4. Then purchased a 74 Pete with a 1693 T.A. Cat with a 5 & 4. Cant pass a physical been a number of years since I had the privleage of Operating a Tractor. Brings back lots of memories. Never sold the the 62 Pete or the 74. Lots of great memories. Thank you for the post.
I could watch these videos all day, as a truck driver that's only been driving 6 years I realize we have it waaaaay easier now!! Love those old Mack's!!
I grew up in a b Mack every summer when off school, what an experience!!! Truck stops watching my dad shift that twin stick no power steering no ac those old boys could drive!!!! Miss those days I couldn't wait till summer just to ride in that old truck what memories! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!!
This is the reason why my uncle learned to steer with his knees
Old twin stick pappy is a master of that Mack Triplex transmission. I just love the old iron. It takes me back to when my dad drove one just like this. I eventually had a friend who owned a truck who taught me to drive and I can proudly say I could mix the twin sticks up pretty good myself. A lot of good times for sure. It seems funny to me that some of the posts say they wish they had a chance to drive one of these. Once you do, it just doesn't seem the same to have just one stick to do all the work. Anyway, I enjoy these twin stick videos and the big sound of the 220 and 262's!
This twin-stick Mack is the first truck I drove after getting my CDL in 1985. Thanks for uploading, it really brought back good memories. I had just been recently discharged from the US Air Force when I landed my first trucking job, driving an identical Mack like this.
Man, oh man!!! That does bring back memories!
Beautiful rig, and fantastic operation of it!! Just can't beat those older Macks!
Beautiful old bulldog!
Even though a twin stick is obsolete in today's industry, I'd love a chance to get on to shifting them just to be able to say I could do it '
My Dad drove a Mack back in the '50's. I wanted to be a truck driver, but my Dad said he would kick my butt. Thanks for the memories.
I'm 23 and I have to say wow to this. Was actually thinkin of gettin a Mack B6-1 Thermodyne. 5 spd and 2 spd rear. So cool to have 2 sticks!
TWO THUMBS UP....14 shifts up, a downshift, back up, and I know there was one more gear left......that was beautiful
Drove an old 69 cabover Mack with a duplex. Haven't seen a video yet where the driver shifts and keeps the total power band of the engine up like we used to do. Slow shifts equal loss of engine rpm's. Using the two handed shift, you become one with the truck. Listen and you will never need a tach, the engine will tell you when to shift. Of course that was back in the 70's when I was a youngster.
When I was a kid my dad started out in a dump truck like this. His truck was the only diesel machine that the company owned and shifted like this. I remember watching him shift these things and it looked like a work out. just like every thing else then My uncle also drove a Gmc dump truck
This is one of the few guys who get it.. If your going to use Both hands to shift.. NEVER reach threw the steering wheel.. Love these old Macks.. Great old truck...
My wife actually learned in a "B" model Mack with a duplex in it. OOOOHH so many years ago. She has mastered Duplex, Triplex, Quad box and all the Roadrangers. She has about 3 million miles in an 18 Wheeler, and Zero accidents. I slept very well behind her for over 14 years.
Bought an old Peterbilt with twin sticks to learn how to do this ... want to keep the lost art alive ... plan to teach my daughters as well 😄
What a ride, there's man who loves his truck. I wouldn't call myself a driver compared to him.
No matter how many times I watch this video I'm always in awe of his skill and it never fails to give me a chuckle. Thanks for sharing!
This driver is a pretty smooth boy, those 2 stickers were manageable all right, but some guys had a science for sure.
Poetry in motion!
There is more than a few years of experience there. Very impresive.
Well done sir. I have a lot of respect for the drivers that ran trucks like that back in the day, that must have been pretty tough at times. That is a beautiful truck. I'm 33 years old and I joke that we'll be telling the future generations of drivers about having a stick on the floor that we had to shift ourselves.
Well, that certainly brought back some old memories. Those old B61's were one of the most popular road train prime movers here in Australia, way back then. Along with a lot of other American and British trucks that have long since disappeared. Makes like Diamond T, REO, White, EAC, Foden, ERF and Atkinson. We also used to see a lot of Internationals, mostly Transtars and ACCO's with 5 speed main boxes and a 3 speed joey box. Now that was a bit of a handful to operate!
My dad learned in a 47 Mack, he tried to teach me once, he got a great laugh out of and I nearly had a break down. I can handle a 13 speed Fuller but this just twisted my gears.
It's trucks like these that separate the men from the boys. Great video and shiftwork!
One of the first truck I learned to drive in! Fantastic shifting and I am a die hard Mack lover!
My father taught me how to drive a 52 International 10 yd dump truck when I was 12. It had a 5x4. The thing was a beast. See when he takes his hand off of the wheel, my father put his arm through the wheel shifted with his hand and steered with the bend in his arm. I got pretty good at that. My father drove trucks in the 50's. This truck is sweet.
People did not appreciate how much skill it took to drive one of these older tractors. Does not have a splitter or high/low range level it look likes. Cool truck!
Can't wait to show this video to my grandpa, everytime i'm with him he'd always talk about when he used to drive truck back in the day.
Hi Brings back many memorys, Nice looking LF Started out on a 1942 EQ Mack with a duplex then went to a triplex (which ur LF has right/) then to the B-model with the Quadraplex... Miss those good old days...
a lost art... well driven!
i was never sure what the fuss was about u s trucks , now i know . this is bloody magic
im wasnt even into trucks til now. now thats classic.
thats enough to make a trucker fall in love Mr. Sampaioa you are spot on with your words man
You remind me of my Grandpop who drove these trucks for many years. You and him would of had alot to talk about I'm sure. Great video!
My father had a 1954 LJ Mack which was the last year they were made. It was powered by a 175 HP Cummins with a duplex transmission.
Man and machine working in harmony!
Pappy's Smooth as Silk!
Respect for those skills!!
Beautiful truck. It is good to see someone kows how to drive her to.
you sir as a trucker are a legend
Very nice old Mack...and well done for the triplex shifting...
kinda brings a tear of joy to your eyes, the good old days.
The man is an artist.
I love this video as it brings back the old days when I used to ride shotgun with my father. I remember watching him shift the old quad boxes with one arm over/under the wheel and never rattle any of them. I naturally followed in his footsteps and at age 19 got my Class 1 license. I drove mostly roadrangers and on occasion a quad, but ended up driving an old U model 10 wheeler with a quad and had no problems with going through, but go back into the lower ones was a different story, LOL!
I believe I have finally seen a man that was born driving a truck. Now there is a truck driver.
This Driver has been down the road a time or two you can see that. Back in the early 90's I drove an LT Mack with a Cummins Big cam IV with a 15 Over and a 4 speed progressive brownie twin stick with 5;11 rears. Candy Apple Red with Black finders, she was a beauty. I love putting her into Low Low & walking along side her, then out on the open highway runnin to the pulp mill better then 100 M.P.H. out on the super slap. Them where the days, oh how I miss them. Try it without using the clutch
Beautiful truck! Beautiful sound! I've heard my dad's stories about shaking hands with the sticks but I have to see it to appreciate it. I'd love to try it myself someday.
That is a great video! My fist tractor was a 1959 B-61 with a triplex. Thank you for a great memory
I had a B Model Mack, 5by 4 transmission, I'm damned if I could change gears like this man can.
finally, the proper way to shift triplex.. great vid, great job.. very nice truck.. the lj is one of the best lookin trucks mack has ever built.. nice
Very skilled. Today's drivers done know how lucky we are. Great job mate.
i drove 16s and 20s back in the day and they sure were alot of fun
My father owned a 1954 LJ Mack with a 175 HP Cummins and a duplex.
A 4 speed main, and a 4 speed auxillary, wow, wish we still had them.
Yeah I love this old stuff , been driving 25 years now & saw out the back end of kit like that... but... I only drive trucks for money not the glory so I,m more than happy with my auto boxed truck that gives over 10 to the gal in AC comfort lol. Great to see guys keepin that old stuff running tho.. respect.
the man really knows his gears
It takes something special to be able to do something like that. Whoever this is, he's a boss...
An artist at work......
There must be quite a learning curve when stepping into the cab of this old girl for the first time. I worked at a truck body shop and a couple of 2 stick trucks have passed through. One I remember you could get like 5 gears in reverse!
THAT'S how you drive twin sticks. Keep truck's, Pappy!
The long, narrow handles on the gear sticks are a bit interesting too. I think the Macks used to come out with round knobs on the sticks and sometimes, with those fitted, when you went for a two-handed gear change in both boxes, you ran the risk of cracking your knuckles together.
Down here in Aussie, it was a common thing for Mack drivers to steal the long narrow handles from the control levers on CAT. wheel loaders and fit them to their Mack gear sticks.
Just like driving my 1948 Indian with a foot clutch and a hand shifter with manual spark advance and throttle, keeps you thinking!
I am impressed..really impressed with the restoration and the shifting... I learned in an LJ on a dark morning around 1959......"here kid, take that old piece of crap and run 50,000 lbs of scrap iron to Schmoon NJ".....whaddda ya mean ya never drove trailer.....fuc it, ya aint flying it GO!"......I'd give a million bucks to do that again. But I would like to see this same video, pulling a loaded trailer, up hill in new Jersey traffic on a hot summer day with syraight stacks....just before I die!
One of the coolest rigs Ive ever seen. Reminds me of my dads frist logging truck
A joy to watch, and save.
This kind of transmission was the reaon for DMV test " don't shift on rail road tracks" reason be was an old fella years back told me , gears would get stuck on RR tracks and some drivers had to jump out quick and hit it with a hammer to unstuck the gears , those were the good oh days 👍
I remember this from when I was a kid.... but I used to know how to shift at 8... in an old white Mack truck... LOL I don't remember how old it really was, I remember something about R series or something like that. It was white in color. The cab was only enough room to have seats, and there was a dash console that had a wood-grain trim to it, which faces the driver.
What I DO know, is he has that truck even to this day.
I am not sure how I just came across this video, but that was the coolest thing I have ever seen! Thanks!
Sweet ol' Mack. The thing is with today, if you had a truck with a set of sticks in it, you could leave it running with the doors unlocked and it would still be sitting there when you came back. The thief would take one look at those two stick and shut the door again. I started in the mid-70's with a long nosed Pete with a 3408 Kitty Cat with a 5&4. Had to be careful in the bottom two holes on the main or you could twist the driveline out of it with all that torque.
Man, l love the truck, the sound and the art to changing gears the way you do is sweeeeeet as
excellent job, and a beautiful truck. looks like years of practice there-best shifting i've seen...thanks for the video.
I've been driving for 18 years, and I have no idea what the hell you are doing. If I had to drive that truck I couldnt get it out of the parking lot. Awesome video,thanks for sharing.
LOVE that awesome double clutch at 58 seconds!
Great job shifting them [alternately floating and double clutching as others notice.]
Beautiful , and shows a dying art
now that's what I call old school truck driving. nice upload
epic truck and shifting love don't stop teach your kids if you have any
Great video he makes it look so easy. I learned on a triplex old school!!!
now thats talent. ive only seen 1 person that can shift like that and its was my dad he had the same truck
Beautiful truck!!!!!! Love those oldschool macks..
I never drove one but I love it
That's just out right badass no questions asked :)
thats some bad ass shifting there
That's a very nice looking old Mack. Also great job going thru the gears.
best driver men ..for you hand you are an old men.......greeting from venezuela.....i like the box 5&4 speed...
Nice video. This takes a lot of skill to drive one of these vintage trucks. I can barely double clutch a 1990s bus with a stick shift. Nice truck and good skill.
She sounds great my grandfather had one !!!
This is really a nice truck!
Great video. I love driving my twin stick Mack
And great video, above all. Nice rig
Wow... and I was proud when I learned to drive my dad's old pickup with 5 spd on the floor...
My Dad back in the 50's used to drive a Mack with twin sticks