hey guys.. I got a couple questions that i hope someone might be able to answer. But first let me give you my background.. I worked for a construction company that paid for me to get my cdl, and sent me to a driving school. But the only openings they had were for a 5 hour experienced drivers course. And they needed me to drive dump truck right away, so i took that class.. well the truck they had me drive was not a big truck at all. it was only a 6 speed pulling like a 20' trailer.. So i passed real easy. And the next day my boss told me to drive his International dump truck with a 15 speed in it.. And i had to figure it out all by myself.. Now... i said all of that to say this.. I think i may have learned a few things wrong.. I am no longer driving the dump truck anymore. I am driving all sorts of different boom trucks and bucket trucks.. yesterday the had me drive an eagle tractor with a 18 speed.. Now i usually never use the half gears except to go into 18th.. but i had trouble getting out of gear.. i would flip the switch to go to 17th and let of the gas and it just started grinding. So i am confused on how the half gears work... I know this is pretty long and probably does'nt make any sense.. but any help would be appreciated. thanks

How long can u get a prehire for to go to orientation

It's been along time for me but here goes. You driving a road ranger with a splitter. That's what weused to call them any way. Once you're in high range you can make the spiltter shift by taking off the torque. That's why you hear the noise before you go into gear. You can move the gear shift into neutral then make your selection. What I did on the up shift I'd be in like 6 under need to shift flip the switch and let off the power. The into 7 under, I'd flip the switch to low and go into 7 under a so on. IIRC you should make your selections while in neutral but I never did and I didn't have any problems as long as you keep the power on. But hey we're talking about the big 350hp motors now. I know there's newer models and they may shift a little different and of course there's someone on here that can tell you better than me. You see I'm a driver that wants less gears since I drive in the city unless I'm loaded up over 100k then I perfer the old twin stick.

Do not pre-select the splitter, shift the stick into neutral, split the splitter and bring the stick back into gear. the 18 speed and 13 speed both work the same way except the 18 can be split in the bottom five gears where the 13 speed can only be split in high range.
The 15 speed has a deep reduction, but the ratios overlap, shift 1,2,3,4,& 5 in deep reduction, then go to 4th gear in low, then 5th. select high range and shift 6,7,8, 9, & 10th. you only get 12 progressive gears in the 15 speed.

Hey thanks guys.. That cleared some things up for me.. It makes sense now..

Just don't use the hidden gear.

Man I can never get into than darn hidden gear all I hear is grinding.
Now days though I do not look for hidden gears. I know how to shift.

just put in D and go!!

It's on a 13 speed and you go into high range and then back into lo. It will give you have a gear when climbing but the gear is not made strong enough for that kind of use. And if you miss it BANG. See you thought I was joking.