240 Gardner:
r slicker:
wilson epicyclic and coventry self changing gears.the wilson box was definatly tried in a aec as for csg im not 100% if this was a bus only aplication. the wilson box was normally for coaches maybe someone can enlighten me on the use of a wilson “air change” box in a aec ■■
Not sure about it being used in AEC lorries, but it appeared in the “2 Pedal Beaver” and also in Atkinsons to special order. There is even an ex-Schweppes Borderer preserved with its original semi-auto box - 250 ■■■■■■■ and 4-speed SCG box at 32 tons!
I think they fit wilson boxes in AEC buses in Australia
Didn’t Self Changing Gears become part of Leyland? What make of box was the semi-automatic one in the Two peddle Beaver? Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
Didn’t Self Changing Gears become part of Leyland? What make of box was the semi-automatic one in the Two peddle Beaver? Cheers Dennis.
SCG again, I think
And could be had with a splitter
When i drove for malc hillage of coventry we had 2 v8 Bedfords with spicer boxes,you used to get a good tune out of them until you got the hang of then,my favorite was the 9 speed fuller i had in my leyland marathon,no need.to use the clutch
Bewick:
Didn’t Self Changing Gears become part of Leyland? What make of box was the semi-automatic one in the Two peddle Beaver? Cheers Dennis.
Hi Dennis,
Compliments of the season to you.wasn’t there a connection between self changing gears and scamell?the two pedal beaver pneumocyclic gearbox was, I am told used extensively in buses both well before and after the two pedal beaver.at 46 years old I suppose I am too old to appreciate the latest generation of autos, give me my 15 speed under drive road ranger.
Regards Andrew.
the mack(ch) i drive has the 12sp maxitourqe gearbox & a 460 maxitdenye engine (yup spellings crap i know) ,think its a better box than 13sp fuller/460 setup on some macks.
also drive mack (80s) mixers wi the 5+3…6+2 boxes (both twin stick)
fastest way loaded with 5+3 is 1,2,3 in low then 4,5, in high ,take ere up to 2100revs each change up an down, i tried to treat it like a euro truck at the start but you have to to floor them to keep moving. good having 5 reverses on site. 
jimmy
Reading the comments about the Mercedes EPS gearbox reminds me of when we used to put them out on rental.
Just couldn’t get some drivers to understand it was just a switch, and not a lever to be grabbed and wrenched about.
The best way to get through to them was to ask them how they turned the lights on in their front room, “with my finger” came the reply, there you go, that’s how this works, the worst bit was trying to get them to slow down trying to get it into reverse, attempt it to quick and it effectively gave you Microsoft blue screen and threw a paddy, patience was definitely a virtue when it came to that gearbox.
Progress had to start somewhere.
TDL102:
Reading the comments about the Mercedes EPS gearbox reminds me of when we used to put them out on rental.Just couldn’t get some drivers to understand it was just a switch, and not a lever to be grabbed and wrenched about.
The best way to get through to them was to ask them how they turned the lights on in their front room, “with my finger” came the reply, there you go, that’s how this works, the worst bit was trying to get them to slow down trying to get it into reverse, attempt it to quick and it effectively gave you Microsoft blue screen and threw a paddy, patience was definitely a virtue when it came to that gearbox.
Progress had to start somewhere.
I didnt mind the EPS i thought they were very straight forward to use i took a merc 1729 to Germany in`89 my biggest sin was bringing the pile of crap back nice cab but the most gutless motor i have driven
ramone:
TDL102:
Reading the comments about the Mercedes EPS gearbox reminds me of when we used to put them out on rental.Just couldn’t get some drivers to understand it was just a switch, and not a lever to be grabbed and wrenched about.
The best way to get through to them was to ask them how they turned the lights on in their front room, “with my finger” came the reply, there you go, that’s how this works, the worst bit was trying to get them to slow down trying to get it into reverse, attempt it to quick and it effectively gave you Microsoft blue screen and threw a paddy, patience was definitely a virtue when it came to that gearbox.
Progress had to start somewhere.
I didnt mind the EPS i thought they were very straight forward to use i took a merc 1729 to Germany in`89 my biggest sin was bringing the pile of crap back nice cab but the most gutless motor i have driven
And they had the cheek to put " POWERLINER" on the sunvisor 
Know were your coming from mate,drove one meself for a while .Used to drop down a gear passing Strensham to get a run at Birdlip hill 
killsville:
Eaton Twin Splitter - a gearbox to sort the men from the boys!
Once you mastered them I reckon it was the best gearbox I’ve ever had. My first was in a D reg MAN twin steer unit, my next Twin Splitter was a £430 option when I bought a new DAF & the best £430 I ever spent. I could never understand why they stopped offering them.
BB
Basilbrush:
killsville:
Eaton Twin Splitter - a gearbox to sort the men from the boys!Once you mastered them I reckon it was the best gearbox I’ve ever had. My first was in a D reg MAN twin steer unit, my next Twin Splitter was a £430 option when I bought a new DAF & the best £430 I ever spent. I could never understand why they stopped offering them.
BB
Got to agree with you there mate, got one in my EC11, and i love it to bits. They all stopped offering the Twinsplitter because of poxy european noise regulations 
Well I fully agree the ETS GEAR BOX was the best one I ever had, but I did like the old Foden 12 speed, with a gear for every hill, I also liked the Eaton 2 speed axlels, it made a great difference on the hills as well as improved fuel returns, I drove a 4 wheeler Atki with a 4 LK Gardner plus the 2 speed, and it would bo 20 mile to the gallon with 8 ton on its back. Regards Larry.PS. DGR822, Ended its days at Shorties running to Hull, Regards Larry
Drove buses 1970/74 alot of them late 50s early 60/s AEc/s mostly syncro but the leyland tiger & leyland leopard were a crash box which I enjoyed driving, the semi auto boxs were either on the Leyland atlantean double decker or on a couple of Leyland Leopards one a George Alexandria bodied semi coach these had a big giude box and seemed to operate on air it was a lovely drive but the deckers seemed to be a different box. Didnt ever see any of the AECs with auto perhaps someone on here will be able to explain the differences & what gearbox was what?
Suedehead:
ramone:
TDL102:
Reading the comments about the Mercedes EPS gearbox reminds me of when we used to put them out on rental.Just couldn’t get some drivers to understand it was just a switch, and not a lever to be grabbed and wrenched about.
The best way to get through to them was to ask them how they turned the lights on in their front room, “with my finger” came the reply, there you go, that’s how this works, the worst bit was trying to get them to slow down trying to get it into reverse, attempt it to quick and it effectively gave you Microsoft blue screen and threw a paddy, patience was definitely a virtue when it came to that gearbox.
Progress had to start somewhere.
I didnt mind the EPS i thought they were very straight forward to use i took a merc 1729 to Germany in`89 my biggest sin was bringing the pile of crap back nice cab but the most gutless motor i have driven
And they had the cheek to put " POWERLINER" on the sunvisor
Know were your coming from mate,drove one meself for a while .Used to drop down a gear passing Strensham to get a run at Birdlip hill
I had a blindfold in mine 
greek:
Drove buses 1970/74 alot of them late 50s early 60/s AEc/s mostly syncro but the leyland tiger & leyland leopard were a crash box which I enjoyed driving, the semi auto boxs were either on the Leyland atlantean double decker or on a couple of Leyland Leopards one a George Alexandria bodied semi coach these had a big giude box and seemed to operate on air it was a lovely drive but the deckers seemed to be a different box. Didnt ever see any of the AECs with auto perhaps someone on here will be able to explain the differences & what gearbox was what?
I would guess the AEC synchro would have been a ZF
Birds transport from Birmingham put an eaton twin splitter into a 142 and it seemed to work really well,very handy up and down the A75
every night. Did around 102 mph if you gave it the beans.
Would the Scammell box (gate change ) be the last crash box in production fitted as standard as they moved onto constant mesh gear boxes as I can’t recall anyone else using a crash box up to the late 60s as I know they changed to the thornycroft box in the later handyman and trunkers
Even they were constant mesh although 1st (crawler) and reverse gear on most constant mesh boxes then were not, hence the crunch if you tried to engage without being almost at a standstill, most drivers would select crawler stationary and leave it there until the hill was climbed, that would be far too slow for todays traffic. You couldn’t drive a true crash box at the speeds and weights 60’s vehicles were required to do, the old crash boxes rarely went above three speed and constant mesh boxes were being manufactured as early as the 30’s, if you drove a big motor in the Sixties it had a Constant Mesh box, so stop saying “I had a such n such with a crash box” no you didn’t, you just made terrible noises on a constant mesh box until you got used to it, hopefully! Cheers Franky.
Easily the best (once mastered) was the Eaton twin split, once you knew how to use it , to “bunny hop” to speed up the changes even more it was a delight… more so on the ERF’s that had linkage than Sedddon Atkinsons that had cable
A ■■■■■■■■ Eaton, Rockwell combination to me gives the ultimate drive train, solid and reliable, even today I would take an E10 325 with a twin spilt, the cab may not be up to todays level, but the drive train was almost unbreakable
The worst gearbox… the early EPS - bloody things were a nightmare you had to time your changes more than you did with a twin spilt or just be left with the ■■■■ thing clicking at you while you were in no gear
I do enjoy watching all the ways of changing gear on various gearboxes in loads of different wagons on you-tube on a rainy evening (sad eh). By far the best to watch is the twin-stick yanks ‘what were they thinking’ a bit of an art form. NOT a job I would want…