Well Gang... Our local fire department purchased 4,000 gallon water tender. It's a 1984 Kenworth Water Truck. It's got a Eaton/Fuller 9 speed transmission. So far I got a quick lesson from one of my fire fighter in my station. I've mastered the up shifting just fine but down shifting I tend to get stuck. So maybe there is a few gents here that done some big rigs that can school me up on shifting this beast. I got to admit its a wonderful water truck (Cummins Big Cam 400) it climbs steep mountain grades with a full load water without even struggling. I've just spent 2 days driving it around loading water tanks.So could some one give me some pointers... This is what I found...

NINE speed is the easiest tranny to learn on as you do not have any gear splits just high and low range, take the same 9 speed and change out the tail section to get a 13 speed and then you can split all the gears in high range.

A 9 speed is a lot easier than a truck with a straight 4-5 speed and a 2-speed rear end, those were always a pain to drive.

Thats the only big truck trannys I ever drove. Other than the first couple months learning them, they wer pretty easy for me. I do remember having to pull over and stop so I could start over quite a few times in that first couple months. it was to say the least . We had a nice GMC straight flatbed and an old raggedy assed Ford gas burner pulling a 1957 Great Dane trailer that had more irom in the frame than you could put on the trailer. Did not have much trouble with the tranny, stopping was the real adventure.

NINE speed is the easiest tranny to learn on as you do not have any gear splits just high and low range, take the same 9 speed and change out the tail section to get a 13 speed and then you can split all the gears in high range. A 9 speed is a lot easier than a truck with a straight 4-5 speed and a 2-speed rear end, those were always a pain to drive.

I definitely agree with you. The really fun ones are the 18 speed transmissions and 2-speed rear axles. The old R model Macks with the twin stick transmissions were also fun to drive. Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

Be aware there might be a clutch brake.. so when clutch is fully depressed, a brake will come into contact with the clutch disk! (that makes it almost impossible to shift w/o buzzing the gears)... but it sure speeds up stopping the disk to engage from neutral. (and holding the truck on a hill whilst stopped) 3 legs no longer needed~ I had a heck of a time before I realized pressing the clutch harder made it worse! If yours does, find the sweet spot in the middle!

That's some great advice there! Every time we broke in a new driver, I just went ahead and ordered a clutch brake for his truck:doh: Loved the 9 spd's, I learned to drive in a old Tandem dump with a 534 Ford gas , and a 5X4 trans LOL what a pain that dog was.. My Favorite was a Old White with a strait piped ,big cam Cummins, 9 spd. It was horrible on a tight job-site because the turning radius was about 4 football fields, but the sound of that old Cummins, with the turbo making boost was pure music..

Thank you all... You make a huge difference in my driving skill I've managed to drive it now into town and get the tender loaded with water and fuel and ready to attack fire tomorrow morning at 6am. I'm not going to sleep much tonight. So I'll get some posting done. But I wanted to say thank you all for all the wonderful information and getting me schooled up for this water tender.

in oklahoma if you get a CDL with an auto trans then you get a restriction on the license for only autos.having said that, lots get a class A with auto then retest in a B truck to remove the restriction. the hardest thing for ppl that have stick shifts in their cars is double clutching. u have to move that foot like a ninja to sink the gears up. a large number of class D vehicles have had sycroed trans for decades but far less on medium and heavy duty vehicles. perfect practice makes perfect, so get your fill