Three on the Tree (Three gears on the column)
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- čas přidán 17. 05. 2020
- We're talking three on the tree today, three gears up on the column. Enjoy!
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Filmed on location at the Speedwell Garage with Ross Miller
Production, filming and editing by Joseph's Studio
For filming and/or editing inquiries - email Joseph at inxlsplot@gmail.com - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Been driving 3-on-the-tree since 1992 when I was 16. I bought a '56 Chevy with a floor shifter that always hung-up, so I went back to the original column shift. What a difference! Car shifted like a dream. I always took the extra millisecond and followed the H pattern between 1st and 2nd, but it slammed so nicely into 3rd using only two fingers. I sold the '56 after 27 years, but now have a '58 Impala, that is also now 3-on-the-tree with a later model full synchro trans.
Your 1961 Ford Fairlane dashboard
Looks so much like 1961 Forx Galaxy
Your video brought back good memories of .my dad's car.
I grew up with three-on-the-tree with overdrive. First non-overdrive we had was a '70 Buick Estate Wagon (one of about two dozen built) with three-on-the-tree behind the 455. Holy guacamole! what torque! It was a full-synchro and the first gear shift was easy. Likewise my later acquisition '68 Falcon, and that little 200 six had a surprising amount of pull.
This brings back a lot of memories! My first car was a 1964 Studebaker Commander, with a 259 V8, and three & over. I used to have so much fun with the, "hill holder" my friends couldn't figure that out!
And you drive those cars with only DRUM BRAKES! Really maybe you should talk about drum brakes and how they're not bad, of course they're not as good as Disk Brakes but they were in use for many years and did the job quite well. So many times I hear the first thing people want to do is replace the drum brakes with disk brakes because they say they stop better but if you drive the like you should for it's weigh the drum bakes are fine. Just my two cents!
Drums are scary as H when they get water in them
They are alot worse and a pain in the ass to service
Definitely harder to service!
If you know what your doing there not all that hard , there cheaper and any locked up wheel is a locked up wheel . Stopping power is only a matter of how fast your going .
Took long enough to get to the point, but appreciated when you finally did.
I listen with headphones and heard what I thought was my landline ringing @ 1:39, so I paused the video to answer it. I'll bet I'm not the only one who got tricked into thinking their phone was ringing. :)
Very well done my friend, I love your illustrated explanation on the Three on a Tree Operation!
Would love to see the overdrive video. I go back and forth between going into overdrive in 2nd gear or 3rd gear. I can't decide which way I like the most. But going into overdrive and second gear does give me another acceleration band before I go into high. I kind of like that. Thank you for repairing my overdrive so well. It's function well for 2 years now.
I was transported to a special time in my life! Watching my Dad drive his ‘62 Falcon, which I learned to drive in!
Give me an old car any day!
I learned to drive with 3 on the tree, and have almost always had a vehicle with a 3 speed column shift. For the last 10 years I have had a 1973 Chevrolet Cheyenne Super 10 with a 350 four barrel and a heavy duty 3 on the tree with a synchronized first gear. Your explanation for why people wanted column shift was spot on. I bought this truck from the original owner, and he, his wife and daughter pulled a 23 foot camper with the truck and did a lot of camping. He didn't want a 4 speed because his daughter sat in the middle, and you didn't trust automatics in those days pulling campers. I also have a Studebaker, but it is a Hawk with 4 on the floor. Can't wait for your video with a demonstration of 3 on the tree with overdrive. Keep up the good work and keep the videos coming! Many thanks!
Thank you for this video! Great teacher!!! I will for sure give you credit when I start driving a 52 Chevy 3100!
excellent advice !!! Thanks for sharing!
This is an awesome video Thank you for sharing it! ♥
Thanks for the Video. Reminds me of my old 1974 GMH Torana. 173ci 6 cyl and 3 speed syncro box on the column. It's what you guys stateside would probably call a compact car, so the small 6 was fine for normal duties. A smaller version of the big 250 and 292 cube chev 6 basically.
Memories....'76 Chevy Truck 3 on the column. That's what I learned on in the early 80's. Good column shifter, *never* hung up on this young man back in the day. Good video; I agree with everything. I suppose I am this man's age now.
I love ❤️ this video
Very cool video! Always wondered what driving a Three on the Tree was like. I have had conventional 5-speeds for years now. Latest is a VW, but I had a Toyota Corolla before that, and a Subaru before the Toyota. Both the VW and the Subaru have/had hill holders. I think any manual transmission is a lot of fun to drive and gives the driver a better sense of road conditions. By the way, I learned on an automatic.
Greetings from southern Ontario Canada my family owns an original 1960 Studebaker lark V8 3 spd manual column shift I was taught by my aunt who was 65 and I was 18 when I was about to get my license
I remember when I was a little boy my Grandpa had a GMC pickup. He called it a 3 in a tree shift. I always wanted to drive it before he got rid of it.
OG: 3 on the tree, 4 on the floor...
New Bootie: Paddle Shifters on an Aston Martin 😑
Ford has a 4 on the tree on their Econoline as an option. A few Fords came with the same thing during the 1961 model year. To shift into reverse, the driver had to pull a control under the dash to allow the shifter to go into reverse.
loved the 3 on a tree
Also, 2 more things. I was first introduced to Studebakers in the 1970's when our neighbor, a wonderful friend of mine who owned many Studebakers, had a 1963 Lark with a 6 cylinder automatic. Silver with a red and white interior. Exceptional man and terrific car. Number 2, there are 3 sounds that are etched forever in my memory: Number 1. The second gear whine of a 3 on the tree. Number 2 (I know you are not a Chevy man, but), The whine of a Powerglide in Park, and lastly the sound of a mechanical cash register when we went to the store. Young people will never identify with that. Thank you again for your videos, please post more! God Bless You!
@amflashback oh yes, the "PowerSlide", I had one in my first car, a '72 Nova straight six. EVERY vehicle my wife and I have owned since then was a manual (one 3-on-the-tree, several 4-speeds, now 5-speeds). That PowerGlide was the only automatic that I liked to drive; every time since then I've had to drive someone else's car, or a rental, with an automatic, it was either frustration or a total ho-hum experience.
First vehicle I learned to drive was a 60's Ford truck with a column shift. Yes, there were times pulling up to a light when I shifted into first without pushing down on the clutch, and it would get stuck. I would have to pop the hood & get out in rush hour with everyone thinking, what in the heck is this little girl gonna do under that hood? I knew where the thing-a-ma-jiggy was to pull to get the shift unstuck, so I'd fix 'er real quick, close the hood and be back in the seat before the light turned green
I have a 1960 Ford Thunderbird with a three speed manual. It was the reason my dad bought it for my mom in 1974.
Awsome Studebaker Champion! I have a 50 Land cruiser
I drove that type of arrengement when I was young, the systems where the shifter rod was besides the steering column worled quite well, Chrysler of the early '50 had the leg selection mechanism inside the gearbox, it was the best as the parts most prone to abrasion were in the gearbox and were protected and lubed.
the systems where all the steering column bezel rotates as your recent studebaker was the worst system, I had one like that on a '64 valiant, even when rebuilt to eliminate all slopiness, it was very easy to lock the gearbox in first gear.
the best move i done on that car was to replace the crashbox by a A-833 4 speed, It ruled out the shifting issues and awake the 225 slant six.
very good tutorial for the ones that intend to drive a 3 on the three.
We had a second-hand 1965 F100 "Flareside" long-bed with the 240 or 300 Six (Dad didn't remember which) and 3 on the tree, in the early 70s. I was kind of a hyper 1st Grader, and not a brain-surgeon by any means. I played with the column shift while Mom was in the store, and wound up getting it jammed. Mom was not happy, needless to say, when she tried to put it in reverse, and it wouldn't go. She knew I was the culprit! A kind man from the store knew what to do, opened the hood, and untangled the linkage lickety-split. We were back on the road. I don't think I got a whippin, but I did get chewed out. I never did that again. I also remember my aunt and uncle had a blue 67 Valiant sedan with 3 on the tree. My uncle usually shifted directly from first to third gear, skipping second.
3 speed column shift forever~~~
You make it look so easy!
Thanks for the insight, I just purchased a 1955 Studebaker Champion in great condition!
I learned how to drive back in the mid fifties on my grandfathers 52 Plymouth with the 3 on the tree. Had everything since then from a three on the tree, to 4 on the floor to 13 Over Eatons. Piece of cake.
Good and thorough video.
Awesome video!
Never knew about three on the column before.
I grew up in the South Bend, Indiana area, the city where Studebakers were made. However, I came from a family that drove Fords. I was born in the early fifties when most cars were column shift manual transmissions, the "Three on the Tree". A few weren't, my neighbor friend's brother, Kevin, had a 56 Thunderbird with three on the floor. He drove us somewhere one day and I sat in the middle. Yes, I got my leg punched the entire trip. Sports cars were all floor mounted transmission shifters and where usually "four on the floor". As a Young kid I watched drivers of the cars I road in and noticed they all used the same technique when driving a three on the tree shift. The palms of their hands facing the dashboard alight easy finger push up on the handle to neutral point where it slides forward easily on its own to the other leg of the H and then continued easy finger push up to second then when the car is up to speed a finger slide down to third. Come to a stop sign, with the car at a full stop. The hand placed so the gear shift is in the palm of the hand, which is facing the driver a light lift up to neutral and pull the gearshift toward the driver and down into first. Similarly, shifting into reverse is like shifting into first, but the shifter is slid up instead of down. I learned to drive in 1968, most cars were automatics by then, but our high school had both automatics and three on the tree cars for drivers training. We spent most of the time driving the automatic transmission car, but we did spend a day driving the car with the manual transmission. When I bought my first car a 1963 Ford Falcon Convertible it was equipped with three on the tree. I became very good at shifting very quickly. I had friends that had Studebakers they were excellent cars, and very common around my part of the country. They should be since South Bend was home to the Studebaker Corporation. I only owned two cars with manual transmissions the second one was a Plymouth Sundance America with a 5 speed manual transmission, shifter mounted on the floor consul. Both those cars were fun to drive and rank among my favorites of all the cars I owned.
On my ‘65 truck, I had to the same problem with the un-synchronized straight cut gears every time I came to a stop. Most of the time, if I just slipped the clutch or threw it up in reverse, then I could shift into 1st real easy. But, this got old really quickly. Another issue with 3 on a tree is that if something breaks in the linkage, they are extremely difficult to repair. Nobody makes any replacement parts, so you’re left with making your own parts if you need them. Most of the cars that had these have been cleaned out of the junkyards by now. Cool video.
I recently purchased myself a 1957 Ford Thunderbird with a 3-speed manual and had to essentially teach myself how to drive stick. To get around having no synchros in 1st or reverse, I have to shift into 2nd and then to 1st in order to line up the gears when taking off from a stop.
I wish they would bring column shifters back
I've driven two Studebakers with three on the tree. I've driven a yellow 1947 Champion convertible and a teal blue 1948 Commander Startlight Coupe. Those cars were fun to drive.
A super-pleasure to drive a three on the tree
My Grandpa called the 3 speed manual a Three Leg Joe.
In 1987 I went to La Cieba, Honduras on tdy in the U.S. Air Force. The 2nd day there they let us go to La Cieba but needed a Designated Driver so I volunteered. The E9 drove to town. On the way back I drove that afternoon. It was a Mitsubishi Mini Van with a 5 on the tree. Now I learned manuals on motorcycles and a 1969 Chevy P/U with a 292 six. I've owned mostly 4 and 5 speed Mazda, Nissan, and Toyota. But that Van was the only time I ever saw a 5spd column shift. Now I got 8 happy drunks and we are on the way back to the Air Base. We're doing 60 and I went to put it in 5th. That is where I screwed up. To this day I don't know if I went to 1st or 2nd. But when I let the clutch out, everyone was trying to get in the front seat. The E9 was screaming WTF! along with me. I got it back in 4th and left it there. My only experience with a 5spd column manual.
Except for the Chevy blasphemy lol, great video. Thanks for sharing.
Neat video!
It's funny, I learned to drive this way.
My next car will be a manual transmission.
I had a lovely 77 Chev truck 3 on the tree.
I had it for 15 years.
The shifting linkage was pretty much shot within the first couple of years.... nobody else could drive it except for me.
I still miss it, it got excellent mileage.
If I could find another one, I would buy it today.
Since I am 70 years old I remember these cars that had a three speed column shift. These three speed column shifts were called the standard transmission on these 1950s and 1960s cars. In years past when I was young I drove a 1966 Rambler American that my father had purchased that had a 3 speed column shift with overdrive.
Great explanation. Wish I had seen that diagram a long time ago. Would have kept my fingers clean from rearranging the shift forks so much! How about a video on adjusting valves on flatheads?
I miss column gear shifts. I wish they would bring them back.
On my 47 Packard there is actually a maintenance procedure for the gear shift mechanism which is located in the engine compartment. If this maintenance procedure is followed it will work much much better.
I have a friend whose license had expired long enough ago that she had to take a road test.
I took her in my six-speed Subaru (she's been driving for many years and knows what she's doing).
Not so the driving examiner who had never seen a manual before.
My friend had to explain the operation of the clutch and shifter while she was taking the test.
The only negative on the test was that she didn't signal right when parallel parking.
We had watched the other examinees trying to park, almost all unsuccessfully.
When are you gonna make a video on the how the overdrive works? Thanks love your videos!
what beautiful cars
My first car was a 63 Chevy II three on the tree. I miss that car.
The three on the tree was great no problem when I had my 57 chevy I rebuilt my colmn twice simple job bushens mostly wore out
My first vehicle was a 1967 Chevrolet Fleetside with a 6 cylinder and 3 speed on the column, no problem.
just subscribed,,,enjoyed it
Thank you for the informative video potentially going to look at a 59 ford with a three speed and I’ve driven floor shift manual transmissions but never on the tree
If you get a chance look into 50s Mercedes and a few others (mostly foreign) that had a 4 on the tree also. Worked on a few as a mechanic in the early 60s into the 70s. ----- Some early cars also had the floor starter under the gas pedal. Seem to remember Buicks?----When the bushings and shift arms got worn down the arms could jam each other like the letter arms on a manual typewriter. You would get out and pull on them to unlock them and drive on.----In overdrive the engine did not hold back the car with compression, it was like freewheeling going down hill.----A guy lunched his engine in a 65 lark and coasted into our station. He kept the radio and the battery then sold me the car for $5.00. I put the reclining bucket seats and the nearly new tires on my 50 Chevy low rider and sold the rest to a shop behind us that worked on older cars for the same $5.00.
I broke the shift tubes on my '62 Valiant. Did a phone search in Miami and found an identical steering column in a '64. It was even the right color! The only difference was the wiring. Had the presence of mind to cut the steering column out of the car, keeping both sides of the plug. Made a '62 to '64 adaptor, wire to wire, and it all worked! BTW, pulling the emergency brake release makes the emergency brake work like a standard brake.
Some Willys-Overland Brazil gearboxes had 4 forward on the tree, plus reverse.
Those synchro sensitive finger tip!!!
3 on the tree is actually really easy to drive.
I Had an Uncle Who Had a 60s Oldsmobile 3 on the tree, and he by passed 2nd gear altogether, he shifted 1st to 3rd and drove that way ...
i'm a truck driver and haul milk locally. 18 speed manual, i will flat out refuse to drive an autoshift. the boss must like me because he bought me a 2022 KW T880 with a cummins and an 18 speed manual.
i recently bought a subaru crosstrek with a 6 speed manual (the only car in that class available with a manual. i really like the car. it's peppy enough, gets great mileage, has a manual and AWD.... and has the things i do want and nothing i dont want (like driving aids). it's perfect
i was curious about a column shift manual because they are almost extinct. conventional manuals still have a presence, however small in the market but no one has made a column shift manual in many decades. column shift cars are much like two stick commercial trucks, they are almost completely extinct.
Love these antique cars!!! Better than the tin can cardboard crap on the road nowdays!!!!!
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Did Studebaker use Borg Warner manual transmissions in addition to automatic ones?
DÉ ÉSTOS MARAVILLOSOS AUTOS EL STUDEBAKER ES EL MÁS HERMOZO SU HERMOZO DISEÑO ESTABA MUYY ADELANTADO PARÁ LA.EPOCA.
DÉ ORO
SÓLO EL MOTOR DEJABA MUCHO QUÉ MEJORAR A MENOS EL QUÉ VINO EN V8
PERO SUS DISEÑOS FABULOSOS. .LOS DEMÁS CUADRADOS PERO HERMOSOS LOS COLA ÉPATOS MARAVILLOSOS.
TIEMPOS IDOS TIEMPOS MARACILLOSOS. GRÁCIAS POR ÉSTOS ARTÍCULOS DE LOS MEJORES CARROS DÉ LA HISTORIA DE ÉPOCAS DÉ ORO
LOS ADIAN CON ÉTICA Y CON MUCHO AMOR PROPIO CRITERIO DEFINIDO TALENTO AUTÉNTICO Y MUCHAS GANAS DE SUPERACIÓN PERSONAL DIGNIDAD Y DESEOS DÉ PROGRESAR PÁRA TODA LA VIDA BELLA. CÁDA CUAL MERECE UN VERDADERO RECONOCIMIENTO DE TRABAJAR PÁRA ESTE MARAVILLOSO FUTURO PROMISORIO LLENÓ DE ESPERANZAS DÉ UNA MEJOR CALIDAD DÉ VIDA LLENA DE PAZ Y ALEGRÍA PURA ❤️ DÍOS PROVEERÁ Y NOS PERMITA SALIR ADELANTE VON VERDADERA PAZ MUNDIAL SIN EGOÍSMOS SIN ENDIOSAMIENTOS DÉ PODER TRABAJAR ES LO MÁS HERMOZO Y DIGNÓ PARÁ TODOS'AS LOS SERES HUMANOS 😃🎵👍 GRÁCIAS AMÉN ÉXITOS Y PA'LANTE QUÉ PÁRA ATRÁS ASUSTAN AMÉN RAFA DÉ COLOMBIA 🇨🇴🌈👍 FELICIDADES FELÍZ VIDA BELLA ES UN RATICO
1950 pre-dates the Interstate Highway system.
The first generation of Ford Bronco also had the iconic 3-speed on the column shifter, maybe you should add that to your car collection.
It’s a lot cheaper to get an old studebaker than an old bronco
@@wyattnyfeler7270 really?
If the car had starter or battery problems, it was very easy to have a buddy push the car and then pop the clutch in second and off you go.
I have a Chevy and the 3 on the tree is seized. ?? It won’t budge. It’s stuck in first. Looking for help. Thanks.
You can downshift into first while the car is moving by double-clutching. That is, when shifting into first, disengage the clutch then re-engage it while pushing the shift through neutral.
Compression braking just puts more stress on the rings. Brakes are much cheaper to replace.
My wife's first truck was a '76 Dodge with a 3-on-the-tree, she NEVER jammed. We had a neighbor with a 3-on-the-tree Blazer, and seems like every time he let his girlfriend drive it, she would jam it, and the linkage was so bad, it would end up in first and third at the same time.
Do either of your Studebakers have the “hill holder”?
Hi how hard is to rebuild a cudramatic transmition on a 1o50 packyard
Not only was a 3 speed transmission “adequate”, at one time it was considered to be the mark of a superior automobile. A 4 speed meant your car had a weaker engine and needed that extra gear spacing to keep the engine in its power range. My 1941 Chevrolet has a vacuum assisted 3 speed column shift. I’m not sure why, it’s not like it’s a strenuous task, but it does indeed shift as light as a feather.
But how many American cars had 4 speeds before the 1960s (Corvette notwithstanding)?
@@MisterMikeTexas Not many. That was something I’d heard Leno say. But you’re right, when I looked into it, there were very few and I think they were European.
I drive stick but never drove anything this old and saw another video saying that you wouldn’t/shouldn’t downshift in one of these older cars. Any truth to that?
Best to keep/fix original 3 on the tree. Converting to 3 on the floor sucks - after markets don't last! My '69 Chevy came with 3 on the tree. CAN'T FIND PARTS TO RESTORE!
Did you have to blow the horn?
what is with the horn beeping sound in all these videos? Is it supposed to signify something? I like the videos, hopefully you guys come out with another sometime soon.
My column shift keeps getting stuck what do I do???
I'll stick with doing the 4 on floor and 2 in the bed. 😆
Ohhh yeah, I forgot about the old Mack with 2 sticks. Now that was interesting until I got the hang of it, lol.
In shifting down from 3rd to 1st woo time touching 2nd avoid clash will still moving?
People's grammer, spelling and sentence structure has really declined badly. What are you trying to say.
I like the 3 speed on the column millennial, won't steal them , they don't know how to drive them.
That steering wheel would take a toll on your face in a crash.
It took automakers all the way until the 80s to realize safety was severely overlooked
H I will never forget
Never ever heard 3-on the tree. Must groovy mod talk. Grew up with these, if you have problems shifting these all you have to be is smarter then the shifter.
i dont mean to be off topic but does anybody know of a trick to get back into an Instagram account??
I was stupid lost the account password. I would love any assistance you can offer me!
@Enrique Kristian thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm in the hacking process now.
Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Enrique Kristian It worked and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy:D
Thank you so much you really help me out :D
@Johnny Zyaire Happy to help :)
Whoever was taking the video really needs to spend more time focusing on what the driver is doing with the clutch pedal and the column shifter at the same time. I was trying to learn, which I did, a thing or two. But I didn't get too much out of the video for these reasons.
Could have left out the rediculous sound effects as well.
@@Machi74005 I agree. Maybe they should have a seperate banjo playing channel.
There is no "tree"anywhere in any car. Call it the correct way 3 speed column shift.. Calling it three on the tree is stupid
"Sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays!"