Having just read a bit of a micky take about manual gearboxes in another thread i wondered how many drivers here are still using them, all our fleet are auto but the oldest is only 7 years old (we change them at 7 years ish) so i didn’t realise drivers may be still using them.
Do you have a manual and if so what do you drive and how old is it?
Eaton / fuller 21 yrs old ,it’s not the box that people can’t do it’s the twin plate clutch and it’s organic not ceramic too .
Driving for a supermarket that run various size rigids and tractor units I have a mixed bag of transmissions including Auto’s, manual straight 6 speeds and 4 over 4 range changers. If cab hopping and doing 2 runs then could be in one or many of these. Nice variety, if I’m feeling a bit lethargic towards the end of a long week then it’s a blessing to have an auto, do love driving a manual though.
I do! Well, for now anyway until I’m made redundant anyway.
2018 MAN tgx 500 wagon and drag which has got a 16 speed range change splitter comfortshift gearbox. Love it and will miss it when they do finally finish me. I asked for a manual when the company I work for were buying it. We do building site deliveries and I find the clutch gives me much more control for tricky tight or muddy situations. Everybody seem to think I’m mad choosing it [emoji23]
The company tried buying another manual about 6 months later from MAN but were told manuals were no longer an option. Seems I must have one of the last ever made. Makes me sad [emoji17]
One of the best boxes in my mind was the Volvo F12, 4 over 4 with a split, a gear for every situation
Anyway Punchy Dan, I have been meaning to tell you the 3 wagon and drags and the rigid at our place are up for sale now so here’s your chance to buy ‘mine’ which could well be the newest manual you’ll ever find?
nomiS36:
I do! Well, for now anyway until I’m made redundant anyway.
2018 MAN tgx 500 wagon and drag which has got a 16 speed range change splitter comfortshift gearbox. Love it and will miss it when they do finally finish me. I asked for a manual when the company I work for were buying it. We do building site deliveries and I find the clutch gives me much more control for tricky tight or muddy situations. Everybody seem to think I’m mad choosing it [emoji23]
The company tried buying another manual about 6 months later from MAN but were told manuals were no longer an option. Seems I must have one of the last ever made. Makes me sad [emoji17]
^^This.
Completely agree that the manual gearbox gives much greater control and involves using your skills more as you’re actually driving it yourself, not just attending the steering wheel.
Robbiebaby:
nomiS36:
I do! Well, for now anyway until I’m made redundant anyway.
2018 MAN tgx 500 wagon and drag which has got a 16 speed range change splitter comfortshift gearbox. Love it and will miss it when they do finally finish me. I asked for a manual when the company I work for were buying it. We do building site deliveries and I find the clutch gives me much more control for tricky tight or muddy situations. Everybody seem to think I’m mad choosing it [emoji23]
The company tried buying another manual about 6 months later from MAN but were told manuals were no longer an option. Seems I must have one of the last ever made. Makes me sad [emoji17]^^This.
Completely agree that the manual gearbox gives much greater control and involves using your skills more as you’re actually driving it yourself, not just attending the steering wheel.
To be fair unless some plonker ordering the vehicle has specced no manual control, and yes they do come like this when manual delete ticked and usually tick eco programming too 
to make the bloody thing even less driveable 
, if you learn the ZF gearbox and its ratios by driving in manual and the utilise the ASR and weight transfer facilities correctly when needed, its surprising just how much better you can control these things when conditions are difficult rather than just selecting D and expecting miracles.
Certainly clutch engagement and control is better with Traxon than it was with Arsetronic.
Though i agree nothing beats a manual for ultimate control, but sadly apart from probably Daf and Hino (who appear to have vanished completely from the UK), i don’t think you can get a manual box any more in typical new heavy weight HGV’s.
Last manual i had was an 07 460 CF Daf with the 16 speed box, cracking little vehicle and superb box, flying machine, sad to see it go, i’d have a manual by choice preferably something really bloody awkward so no one wanted to use it when i was off shift 
Maybe it’s just me who has lost a lot of interest in the job generally 
, blwho knows. but I fail to see how any experienced driver would want to go back to a manual box truck.
Point taken about ‘‘being in proper control’’ btw, b ut so what ?
You are still in control in an auto, well enough to prevent you worrying about it anyhow.
Why make more work for yourself ?..it’s so much easier with an auto, a chimp could drive one…(in fact many do everyday on the roads today, which granted does bring it’s own problems for the rest of us.)
I’ve used and mastered most boxes that you can think of, so nothing to prove.
I just like a easier life nowadays.
Rob roy " I just like a easier life nowadays." Mine is easier than yours, as I have retired. lol
71 plate Daf CF 480 with a 16 speed ZF manual, replaced a 18plate 450 with the same. All 5 of ours are manual after a lot of grief with merc autos previously. In fact anything to do with the Mercs were grief, lol. We do timber haulage so manual give more control when it gets sticky
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I heard the Cf Daf has gone from a rod to cables and back to the rod again ?
GOG47:
71 plate Daf CF 480 with a 16 speed ZF manual, replaced a 18plate 450 with the same. All 5 of ours are manual after a lot of grief with merc autos previously. In fact anything to do with the Mercs were grief, lol. We do timber haulage so manual give more control when it gets stickySent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ah, good for DAF for Keeping the manual gearbox an option. That’ll be the same ‘box as my MAN then.
I need to get a job on the timber, always thought I might enjoy it. Sadly, it’s not really an industry round South Yorkshire [emoji19]
Punchy Dan:
I heard the Cf Daf has gone from a rod to cables and back to the rod again ?
Ours are all cables. They shift nicely and don’t give much bother apart from anchoring clip on the front of the cab that snaps now and again. It doesn’t affect the shift really
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I’d love a twin splitter back. Not because I’m particularly a fan of manual gearboxes, rather it’d stop the weekend chimps from driving it!
DAF 400 1.2milllion km original box and clutch.
DAF 430 1.1m km ditto.
DAF 480 just under 1 million km, same again. Sold with original box and clutch, no issues.
460 auto sold off at 600k km. Box sounded like a tin bucket full of old bolts. Clutch would stink when manoeuvring.
.
A bad driver can trash a manual box and clutch in a day. A decent driver will make a manual box last longer than an auto one.
I can see why dealers offering R&M spec auto trucks. Doesn’t mean they are good for the job, it is to protect trucks from numpties.
Punchy Dan:
Eaton / fuller 21 yrs old ,it’s not the box that people can’t do it’s the twin plate clutch and it’s organic not ceramic too .
Dont start me off on that gearbox!
Its funny,when we had them,a driver was telling me that they were one of the best gearboxes ever.
A couple of weeks later,I watched the same driver leaving the yard,as he drove off I could hear the gearbox crunching away,lol
nomiS36:
Anyway Punchy Dan, I have been meaning to tell you the 3 wagon and drags and the rigid at our place are up for sale now so here’s your chance to buy ‘mine’ which could well be the newest manual you’ll ever find?
Not for me 
,what’s happening with your job then ?
Sploom:
Punchy Dan:
Eaton / fuller 21 yrs old ,it’s not the box that people can’t do it’s the twin plate clutch and it’s organic not ceramic too .Dont start me off on that gearbox!
Its funny,when we had them,a driver was telling me that they were one of the best gearboxes ever.
A couple of weeks later,I watched the same driver leaving the yard,as he drove off I could hear the gearbox crunching away,lol
It’s not the box it’s because they drive it like a single plate like the speed at which the pedal is pressed .
the maoster:
I’d love a twin splitter back. Not because I’m particularly a fan of manual gearboxes, rather it’d stop the weekend chimps from driving it!
Can’t get parts for them anymore 