Floatin Dem Gearz!

Take it out as soon as you let off the fuel, put it in around 1400. If you let it drop before trying to take it out of gear the rpms won't be right.

 

Oh they live on "those" side of the tracks. lol
I'm in the north area in Placer County but know where Florin is...

Be safe.

 

Yeah that's a good point. Make sure your jake is off...

 

well, I am new here, but i'll add my $.02 worth, from a mechanical point of view

gears are a mechanical coupling. if you are into the throttle, there is force on the face, if off the throttle, there is force on the heel (backside).

try this- interlock your fingers. now, push down on the right, up on the left. try the other way. feel the pressure on the sides of your fingers? now, just hold them together, then pull apart. feel how they just slide apart? that's what you want the gears in the tranny to do.

so, the PRIMARY thing about floating is throttle control. you need to learn to control the rpm's so that the gears just slide apart, no side force. you are not LIFTING OFF the pedal, just letting up on it enough to let the ;oad off the gears, then lift a fraction more, so that the rpm's drop , then slide the gears back together.

find a deserted road. acellerate to 1800, and hold there. check your speed. then shift, get back to the SAME EXACT speed in the next higher gear. the difference is how many rpm's you need to drop on each shift. down shifts are the same. into "N", raise rpm, into gear. you are trying to match and hold, not jam it into gear as the engine passes the right spot.
it takes practice, and don't stare at the tach instead of the road. you'll soon develop a feel for how the engine sounds at the proper rpm for up and downshifts.

 

Well I hate to say this but I don't think there is going to be a reply to your post that will be the magic formula for shifting without the clutch. It's going to take time and practice. Personally I dont worry about watching the tach. It does'nt matter how far the rpm's drop if you remember that you need to match the engine speed with the speed of the driveshaft coming off of the turning drivers. Just bring your rpms up and feel the gears. If you feel it buzzing really fast the gears aren't close and you need to adjust your rpms either up or down. Its when that vibration starts to slow down and the gears are meshing that you're getting close to bringing them together. Thats when you truly "Feather" it in. Normally gears are missed in the upper range by trying to shift too fast. Take your time, there's no rush to shift unless you're on an uphill grade and you are probably not upshifting then anyway. And remember this works for downshifting as well. The 400 rpm drop mentioned earlier is probably a good rule of thumb but if someone says they shift at a certain rpm it may not work in you tractor. It depends on Trans, gear ratio and wheel size.

I know some may laugh at my advice but its just what I consider common sense put into words. I have driven 9's 10's 13's, 18's, 4X3's and 4X4's and it works with any truck combination. I hope it helps.

 

Yeah what ColoTow said just not as fancy. Good info Colotow.

 

Well you can see by my list I've never driven a 15 speed trans. That doesn't mean I would be afraid to try. They're pretty much all the same in my opinion. Just look at the shift pattern on the visor and feel out the trans. The formula I gave to you previously will still work.

Some things that I didnt mention will also make a difference. The newer engines, Cummins and Cat run practically the same with some exceptions. Both are Low RPM, High torque. However the Cummins' RPM will drop much faster. This makes it very hard to shift using the Jakes. (Something to learn later) I have also driven some 18 speeds that needed to be brought out of gear using the clutch (to slow the trans gears down) and put into the next gear without the clutch. This occured in various gears at various times.

But don't let all of this confuse you. Just wanted to let you know there are variables. There will be times that you have the gears meshing and it still won't go in. Just push the clutch in and magically it may just slide right in.

As I've gotten older I have learned one thing for sure; I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING! I consider myself a fairly good driver and I can slick shift with the best of them but I sure didn't start out that way. Try out all of the advise given to you and take what works for you. You will be "Floatin them gears" in no time. Good luck