I'm So Old I Remember...

[SenorXm/Sirius]

But do you remember when the 3 on the tree was a 4 speed?
My Cousin rebuilt a 52 truck that still had the 1st gear, which had a top speed of a fast walk.
It would actually pull a light plow, and was the right speed to pick up hay bales behind the bailing machine.
When they dropped the VERY low first gear, they did not change the transmission, which meant you were starting
in second gear. This is why the 3 on the tree clutches were so difficult to get used to.

That's right. 3 on the tree...

I learned to drive on a standard. 4 on the floor, but I did drive cars with the stick on the column. Don't remember now if they were 3 or 4 speed..

 

[grip]

I'm so old I remember when one paycheck was sufficient for most households.

 

[NewfieMom]

But do you remember when the 3 on the tree was a 4 speed?
My Cousin rebuilt a 52 truck that still had the 1st gear, which had a top speed of a fast walk.
It would actually pull a light plow, and was the right speed to pick up hay bales behind the bailing machine.
When they dropped the VERY low first gear, they did not change the transmission, which meant you were starting
in second gear. This is why the 3 on the tree clutches were so difficult to get used to.

I drove cars where the stick was on the steering column as well as when it was on the floor, but I have no idea what this 3 on the tree means. I suspect it has to do with where I grew up (no hay or bailing machines) and not with my age! I'm plenty old and drove when I was plenty young.

 

[Hamish Howl]

DIS ME

 

[Rexedgar]

DIS ME

Mummie, is that you?

 

[longview]

I drove cars where the stick was on the steering column as well as when it was on the floor, but I have no idea what this 3 on the tree means. I suspect it has to do with where I grew up (no hay or bailing machines) and not with my age! I'm plenty old and drove when I was plenty young.

Three on the tree is a reference to the shift being on the steering column.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

Someone mentioned manual typewriters and corded phones for sure.

I learned typing on a manual typewriter.

Corded phones are still in use everywhere.

 

[Loulit01]

Three on the tree is a reference to the shift being on the steering column.

I drove dad's Ford Econoline work van (3 on the tree) all over construction sites at 14. At 18 I bought a Triumph Spitfire (4 on the floor) and drove it to Orlando to hook up with my girl who was on an NHS trip to Disney World. On the way back the battery quit and I had to put my shoulder to the A pillar, get a running start, hop over the door and pop second gear to get it started all the way back to Jersey.

Later, my friends and I put together muscle cars for fun and profit. To run them at Englishtown for quarter mile times we installed in Hurst shifters with reverse lock. A little red lever you pulled back that prevented people accidentally shifting into reverse. Englishtown required reverse lockout so you didn't turn your tranny into shrapnel and make divots all over their track.

-

 

[bluesmoke]

The logo is very similar to “Flexible-Flyer” sleds. Those were the hot lick in the winter. No wheels just rails....



View attachment 67333955

"No wheels just rails...."

And no brakes. Speaking of brakes, on the Flexy, the handles had a metal flange at the front. When turning the handle towards the front, it would rub on the rubber of the wheel to slow it down. However, with a varnished wood surface and a cotton T-shirt, sudden braking at the bottom of a hill, which was a sooner-or-later necessity, could send you flying fast forward off the sled and onto the asphalt. Ah, those were the days.

 

[NewfieMom]

Three on the tree is a reference to the shift being on the steering column.

That was what I meant when I wrote the "stick" was on the steering column. Two female friends and I drove the family car of one of the women up the West Coast Highway from the Bay area to Vancouver one summer after we finished our studies at UC Berkeley. I think we ruined the transmission in that car. We were not exactly experienced at using the column shifter when we started our journey and I think there was a fair amount of shoving into gears.