Franglais:
Many moons ago, I remember an old Atkinson Borderer tractor unit with an Allinson box mated to a Gardner 180; two pedals with 5 or 6 speed box and two speed axle. Gear chosen by driver via stubby air selecter by steering wheel. Pretty sure buses and some fire engines had similar set up. That would have been made 1970-ish.
Smooth but thirsty.
That sounds more like SCG (Self Changing Gears (Coventry)), than Allison.
I could well be mistaken. I remember being told it was an Allison, but couldn’t say for sure it was.
Although not catalogued, Atkinson did build a small number of tractors with SCG gear boxes and this Borderer is one of the two survivors I know of:
The other is an unrestored Mk.2 ‘Silver Knight’ from about 1970 with a Gardner engine, as seen by Franglais perhaps. The SCG 'box was also used in a batch of nine 4x2 ‘View-Lines’ for Pickfords.
They did build a small number of heavier tractors with the Allison box - Graham Adams had one in a steel-cabbed 6x4 Atki tractor, and they also had a 6x2 View-Line with an SCG gearbox. Somewhere, I have an in-cab photo showing the gear selector of the Allison example
Later on, Seddon Atkinson supplied some Allison-equipped 400 Series to Watneys for trunking
Allison 'boxes are available as factory options on Scania and Renault rigids (distribution and construction).
The ‘screaming along at 2000 rpm’ reputation comes about because dustcart chassis have low-geared axles, and the gearboxes themselves are programmed for low-speed use.
You can get a wide ratio Allison gearbox with ‘economy’ programming, and with a suitable axle ratio the truck won’t rev any higher than a conventional one. The torque converter locks up when the truck is cruising.
The big advantage is instant drive…much more responsive yet smoother acceleration than the best automated manual boxes. The big disadvantage is cost.
Allison are trying to sell more transmissions to the UK, particularly to London operators, but not as a fitment in tractors so far as I know.
GasGas:
Allison 'boxes are available as factory options on Scania and Renault rigids (distribution and construction).
The ‘screaming along at 2000 rpm’ reputation comes about because dustcart chassis have low-geared axles, and the gearboxes themselves are programmed for low-speed use.
You can get a wide ratio Allison gearbox with ‘economy’ programming, and with a suitable axle ratio the truck won’t rev any higher than a conventional one. The torque converter locks up when the truck is cruising.
The big advantage is instant drive…much more responsive yet smoother acceleration than the best automated manual boxes. The big disadvantage is cost.
Allison are trying to sell more transmissions to the UK, particularly to London operators, but not as a fitment in tractors so far as I know.
The screaming its nuts off situation is definitely all about converter slip under acceleration from stationary and there’s obviously no point in using a torque converter if it was permanently locked.That’s geared for at least around 70 mph or more.
Franglais:
Many moons ago, I remember an old Atkinson Borderer tractor unit with an Allinson box mated to a Gardner 180; two pedals with 5 or 6 speed box and two speed axle. Gear chosen by driver via stubby air selecter by steering wheel. Pretty sure buses and some fire engines had similar set up. That would have been made 1970-ish.
Smooth but thirsty.
That sounds more like SCG (Self Changing Gears (Coventry)), than Allison.
I could well be mistaken. I remember being told it was an Allison, but couldn’t say for sure it was.
Although not catalogued, Atkinson did build a small number of tractors with SCG gear boxes and this Borderer is one of the two survivors I know of:
The other is an unrestored Mk.2 ‘Silver Knight’ from about 1970 with a Gardner engine, as seen by Franglais perhaps. The SCG 'box was also used in a batch of nine 4x2 ‘View-Lines’ for Pickfords.
They did build a small number of heavier tractors with the Allison box - Graham Adams had one in a steel-cabbed 6x4 Atki tractor, and they also had a 6x2 View-Line with an SCG gearbox. Somewhere, I have an in-cab photo showing the gear selector of the Allison example
Later on, Seddon Atkinson supplied some Allison-equipped 400 Series to Watneys for trunking
The one I (half!) remember was with Lambert Brothers at Eastleigh. They would have sold it on about '77, or 78? I’d guess it was bought second hand as most of their fleet was at that time. Pretty sure it had an “H” suffix.
The regular driver was John Winterburn. I’m sure i had at least a short drive in it. Luxury of power steering too!
GasGas:
Allison 'boxes are available as factory options on Scania and Renault rigids (distribution and construction).
The ‘screaming along at 2000 rpm’ reputation comes about because dustcart chassis have low-geared axles, and the gearboxes themselves are programmed for low-speed use.
You can get a wide ratio Allison gearbox with ‘economy’ programming, and with a suitable axle ratio the truck won’t rev any higher than a conventional one. The torque converter locks up when the truck is cruising.
The big advantage is instant drive…much more responsive yet smoother acceleration than the best automated manual boxes. The big disadvantage is cost.
Allison are trying to sell more transmissions to the UK, particularly to London operators, but not as a fitment in tractors so far as I know.
The screaming its nuts off situation is definitely all about converter slip under acceleration from stationary and there’s obviously no point in using a torque converter if it was permanently locked.That’s geared for at least around 70 mph or more.
That transmission will have the ‘performance’ shift program, which means that it revs high if you boot it. Other programs are available, and they keep rpm within normal parameters if you drive normally.
Atkinson Borderer, TMG227M, Torbay Steam Fair, Brixham 06.08.2016 by Darren Gallop, on Flickr