On Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:34:09 -0800, Paul Drahn
wrote:

On 2/7/2012 9:47 AM, Ignoramus465 wrote:
On 2012-02-07, Jim wrote:
I never had trouble taxiing - left brake = turn left, right brake =
turn right.

I had a horrible time getting my brain wired to that.

Which brings up a related question. For 17.5 years, I drove cars with
automatic transmission. This is what I learned to drive in the first
place.

Now that I have this semi tractor with non-synchronized manual
transmission, I have great troubles adjusting my brains to operate the
transmission.

I am used to just driving, thinking about stuff, and using the gas
pedal only.

I am wondering if operating a manual trans is a skill that can
actually be learned, given my age of 40 and my past conditioning of
driving auto trans.

Is there any hope or not?

i
I am sure there is hope. There is always hope.

Listen to the engine sounds. They will tell you when to shift up or
down. Someday you will even learn to shift without using the clutch.
Good skill when you are all alone in the boonies with an inoperable clutch.

Paul
He needs to read and understand the tach first before letting the
sound of the engine tell him.

He needs to know X rpm at Y speed in A gear, and X1 RPM at Y speed in
B gear, etc so he will match speeds on the shift. Say 2200 in fist
gear = 10MPH, and 1200 RPM in second at the same speed. To shift to
second he revs the diesel to 2200 RPM, backs off the throttle enough
to unload the gears, knocks it out of gear, drops the tach to 1200 and
pulls the lever into second. Downshifting he drops the rpm to 1200 in
second, unloads the gears with the throttle, pulls it out of gear,
brings the tach to 2200 and pulls the lever into first. Eventually he
will know what 2200 sounds like. And what 1200 sounds like.