Evening fellow truckers. I have a simple question to ask, to which I would like Genuine thats GENUINE answers to. I would just like to know whether you would choose MANUAL or OPTICRUISE gearbox for a truck, to be run on Bulk tipping work therefore at 44tonne most of the time. Sorry but not interested in other makes for the moment. Thanks in Advance.
Oh and sorry, but why too would be useful.
Having lived with Opticruise (3 pedal) for a while I’d probably go with that. It’s not 100% but I do a fair bit of site work and it’s never got me in a muddle yet.
On the odd occasion I have to drive our other wagon with a 3 over 3 + splitter I find it gets really quite busy! Amazing how quickly you get out of the habit.
on bulk tipping manual every time
Opticruise (or any auto-box)- if your fully loaded, doing bulk work (Robinsons…■■ if so you do a fair bit of cross country - lots of gear changes!!!)
Manual would be my 1st choice.
After nearly 25 years using all sorts of manual and auto boxes, I would never go back to a manual, got my first auto/opticruise on an 144 R reg scania and could not fault it.
That was on LD bulk work, but it included central London, 200 mile runs on the M25 M1, and some of the Derbyshire Peak District quarries.
I hope never to have to drive a manual again. Manuals are for drivers that like to pretend this is a hard job 
Auto all the way, these days, but I’m a lazy bugger 
A good driver will do as good a job with an auto as a manual and be a lot less tired and therefore more focused.
On bulker work would choose a stick , i never feel wuite in control with a auto .
will be very 50?50 review a good auto box is a god send somedays but you wll always wish you had a stick half the time and will work other way also .
As for the opticruise i found it giving me wrong gears and quite a delay also , just have to remember after a long trip when coming to stop use the clutch 
if it was my money i realy wouldnt like to choose as they both have pro’s and con’s i think the stick is much more suited to one driver in same motor all time but auto gives the boss a bit more control over how it is driven and stops abuse from the get diffrent motor everyday gang .
Wouldn’t have the 2 pedal auto by choice, the 3 pedal auto does keep the best bit of manual where the driver has manoeuvering control, seems a faff at first using the clutch for stopping and starting but it quickly becomes second nature, i had one for 3 years and used in MH constantly after about 3 weeks of trying to cope with letting it do its own thing, better fuel consumption in manual too.
2 pedal not happy when trying to jack knife reverse a fully freighted trl round some obstacles, but that goes for all these fully auto clutch things.
Scania still has the best manual override function of all the autos i’ve driven the switch responds accurately without fail every time and that still applies to the 2 pedal should you go for one, which is just as well because pulling away in full auto is a painfully slow affair, and leaving the box to its own devices negotiating rolling start junctions is too frustrating for words as the box will never be in the correct gear, will usually select too low and then change up immediately causing constant loss of momentum (Volvos best programmed of all for this imo)…note using MH will produce noticeably quicker manual changes than M.
Manual box, hmm not too sure about the 3/3 box, i’d rather plump for a straight range or splitter if still an option, downchanging especially cold can be frustrating with some of the 3/3 boxes i’ve used, synchro baulks too much, would have been better with no synchro IMO.
The only truck I would have a manual on is a daf, when I get in a daf and see a gearstick I start to smile. Other than that auto all the way.
3 pedal auto would be my choice, ironically though I’d tend to drive it in manual mode I.e. picking when to change gear myself rather than letting the box decide.
Best if both worlds imo, you still have clutch control which I prefer especially when shunting etc, auto when your feeling lazy and manual when not, you can still override the box in auto mode should you want to drop a cog…
Anyway, it’s a manual box with an automatic linkage isn’t it■■?
I find constantly dipping the clutch in my little 318 BMW a bind after a day in my R440…
To sum up - simply - Auto, better imo. 
Opti three pedal 
easy!
Manual ! 
switchlogic:
I hope never to have to drive a manual again. Manuals are for drivers that like to pretend this is a hard job
Or drivers who own their truck & have to ‘foot the bill’ when it all goes wrong!! That said, I’m driving a Volvo with iShift @ the mo’ & after 640km’s yesterday there’s no doubt I finished the day more relaxed than I would if I’d been ‘stiring the soup’ all day with a gear stick!!
Ross.
Opticruise, that’s what Scania recommend for performance and economy.
Personally, I like A when empty, AP when loaded.
Volvo iShift
My boss has just bought some r500s with manuals as they do alot of tipper and farm work… In my opinion the 3 pedal auto scania one is perfect, you can rock the truck when your stuck and have good control for reversing, getting into tight farms etc then when your on the go down tight lanes you can just forget about the gears and concentrate on keeping those mirrors in one piece.
espresso:
Opticruise, that’s what Scania recommend for performance and economy.Personally, I like A when empty, AP when loaded.
I think the Opticruise uses far too many of the low gears when empty, the iShift is a far better box.
Ross.