http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...ewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_975 Funny it is original owner too.
I have seen several of those brutes with autos. Oddly all of them were purchased for AG operation though.
There were quite a few Allison automatics around for a while in the 70s. The gov. agencies still buy them. What stopped it for most private guys in big dump trucks was that typical life before rebuild in those days was around 75 to 100, 000 miles and not cheap to rebuild. And the price of a new truck in the 90's with an auto became very much more than a stick, like 12 or $13000.00 more. Cousin had one in a 15 yard dump which they really liked but three rebuilds and he gave up. the local big quarry operation had a bunch of GMC 10 yard trucks but same thing, the drivers would just burn them up.
Manwell Shiftor One thing to remember is that even the most seasoned cog master is going to get tired or sloppy every once and a while. I think the autos of today are much more bulletproof (think buses) and more companies spec them to prevent abuse from a lazy or aggressive driver. Most new mixers and dumps around here use the Allison. Oh yeah and no clutches to adjust or replace. Also helps to obtain or retain drivers as they like to just steer and not gear.
We probably had 100 IHC's with the old MT-40 six speed. They were almost bullet proof. We bought maybe 50 with the MT-650 transmissions before we quit buying gas engines and switched diesels. Had 25 KW K-125's with 8V-92 TTA's and allison HT-740's. Those transmissions were bullet proof, no almost about it. Ran those trucks almost around the clock in a slip seat operation, averaging over 225K miles a year.
The big contractor in town ran a couple of dozen GMC dump trucks with Allisons (they also owned the GMC dealership). They were changing transmissions pretty often, I don't believe they ever got 100 thousand miles on one. Dump truck service is pretty hard, but basically their service guys said the drivers were cooking the transmissions when they went in the dirt. I know they disconnected all the foot pedal retarders to try and keep the heat down. One problem was they had no temp gauge for the transmission just an idiot light.