Three on the tree......Am I gettin old??

I must be cursed or? I can't seem to get away from car and truck with three on the tree. Just sold a 1964 Chevy pick up with a three on the tree. Now driving a 1982 Ford F-100 short box, 300 six cylinder, and you guessed it.....a three on the tree. Oh well. I gets me where I want to go. Gary

 

I guess that's why we call it OLD SCHOOL!!!

 

I love it ...It ups the mental ante...with the kiddoes.....goin' what? HOW DO YOU DRIVE THAT?? Gotta love today's kids...So, you thought pops and grandpops didn't know a thing or three??

 

Three on the tree
Four on the floor
And a fifth under the seat.

 

only got one car with a 'three on the tree' now... '40 la salle... since I sold the '60 ford.

 

I had an 56 chevy with three on the tree and a 61 falcon. Not a fan. Sold the falcon at the chevy now has a floor shifter(and a much bigger engine). As far as hand crank windows, My newer daily Chevy truck has no power windows or locks. I think I found the only made that way. People get in and cant believe it.

 

...............Sure miss that old 55 chevy with 3 on the tree......Hell.... it part of driving,at least you had to pay attendion to the road....

 

when my kid was [21 hes 32 now]. he was at the local 'watering hole' where some old timers were talkin about 'flatheads n 32,s etc. And he joined right in. Finally one old timer asks, ' how old are you'?
He explained that his dad 'me' was an 'old' gearhead, and taught him how to shift a '3 on a tree' in a 39 buick, [which was buicks first column shift model], so some of them kids know 'whats up' but not very many.

 

3 on the tree street drags were exciting when I was a kid. Saw several shifters busted off by adrenaline-induced exaggerated arm movement. Had the pins fall out on several myself.

How do you clean the floor of your truck without wind wings? Scrape it out by hand? Opening both wings and windows in my F1 creates hurricane-force winds that really do the job.

 

on the flip side of this coin, many young whipper snappers will completely trump a lot of old curmudgeons with their knowledge of contemporary technology. ....and, when those kids are old and grumpy im sure they will be sitting on something fancier than a forum saying something like, "that kid had no idea what an IBM was".

 

That works in a 1956 F-100 until a bee gets pulled in and goes down inside your shirt at 60 mph in Kansas, then it really sucks. Damn near jack knifed my U-Haul trailer trying to get the damn truck stopped. Oops, off topic, sorry. That message just caused a flashback.

 

Slammed49, I'd like to try that, I drive a truck, these modern ones are a piece of cake!!

 

Crap, that was like Frank in high school, hit a bee at 75 on his motorcycle, hit him just below his left eye, ALL SWELLED UP, eye was completely shut, man, off subject, but Frank had a '56 Plymouth with a three on the tree, 270 inch V8, boy that lil car ran good, couldn't keep a trans in it, he had a pile of shelled out ones, got to where he could change one in about 62 minutes, LOL!!!! He shelled out one so bad it took almost all the teeth off the cluster gear, (don't worry son, they're gonna make-em outta rubber next year)!!! LOL!!!!

 

I'd love to try that, I drive a truck, these modern ones are EZZZZY, could tell some stuff 'bout gettin' stuck in one, BUT, that's off the subject, "sorry ma'am just the facts"!!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!

 

Man this is some funny shit.keep it coming.Modern tech is spoiling these kids LOL. I have worked as a body tech (or body man ) like we use to say for 35 years and never dreamed I would be reparing a car with a computer diagnosis and measuring system. That is funny about the guy saying some kids couldn't figure out the shifter on the colum and the guy with the kid saying is that is button on the floor for NOS, LOL.

 

I am 36 my first ride was a 77 chevy truck 3 on the tree. sometimes it would get stuck. the linkage.

 

3 on the tree, vent windows, high beam on the floor, choke rod, starter button.......BTTT

 

Does anyone know what year these were eliminated? In HS (1980)a buddy drove his dads nearly new (78?) Ford pickup with a three on the tree and 6 cyl.
I'm thinking Ford made these thru '82ish but do not know for sure.
I have not seen (or driven) one for years, would be cool to 'freak out' my kids taking them for a spin.
In my OT GTO they think the floor dimmer is the coolest thing ever!

 

I'm 25 and the first stick shift I ever drove was my dad's 61 Ford pickup with three on the tree, but I'd have to say if it weren't for my dad, I wouldn't have ever had the opportunity to drive another one. They just aren't that common for my generation. I can't think of a production car in my lifetime that came with three on the tree and many older cars that came with column shift have been converted to a floor shifter.

 

For me it was my Dad's 50 Chevy PU.
Came stock with 4:11 gears. It'd wind out 1st at about 15 MPH.
And the little 216 whined like a banchee at hiway speeds.
That was back when truck were made as trucks.
For working, hauling, pulling stumps, bouncing across the field where corn was last year.
Three on the tree.
Floor starter.
Floor dimmer.
Choke knob.
Throttle knob (but it wasn't hooked up)
Running boards, side boards (when he hauled cotton hulls for the garden)
Oh, and the "break down door handles."

 

Funny for sure--when people look at my 57 Fuel injected BelAir with 3 spd, they can't figure it out either. Had a 40 Ford sedan with a 283 hooked to stock trans with a stock column shift--one day my son came over and said "pop, can I go for a spin?"
Gave him the keys and he just sat there--I went and asked him "what's the holdup?"
He said "How does this work?"
Wife and I got a kick out of it--had no clue about a 3 speed on the tree--wife told him the "H" pattern and he finally took off.

 

first car I learned to drive was a 69 mustang with a top loader 4 speed, mom and dad both said we had to learn stick before anything else. My daily is a 59 F100 3 on the tree 292. I've driven a lot of vehicles in my 29 years on this earth, from pistol grip hurst shifter hemi chargers to giant earth mover equipment and 5 speed dump trucks with 2 speed axles. Not all the young ones are lost, I have nephews that are learning it right from my dad just like I did. And I will make sure my kids learn a bout this stuff and get to drive these old cars. It helps to grow up in a family of motorheads.

 

I'm glad that we in Holland have almost only manual cars.

for my daily cars i drive in a chevy van that;s automatic and that make sens to me for on the highway and whit a trailer.

for the rest for fun a manual.

i will fit in my buick 53 a tremec tko600 gearbox.

 

Geezers?
Geezers?
Sir I resemble that remark and yes had a 57 Chev pu with 3 on the tree LOL

 

hey hey hey, no need to get hastey. i barely figured out what that did maybe two months ago.

 

Yup Im and old twin sticker myself. Working off road Ive run out of gears with a road ranger, never with twins.

 

Just to put things in perspective, My neighbor asked if she could bring her 12 year old boy over to see the window cranks in my 66 Chevrolet. The kid couldn't comprehend rolling the windows up and down with a crank. He had never seen a car that the windows weren't power. Young guys and gals that don't have the opportunity to grow up around these old cars will be baffled by quite a few things they see on an old car.

 

Long live 3 on the tree !!!!!! I wouldnt change mine for nothing.

 

Took my grandson (9 years old) for a ride in the 40--he sat in the back. At some point he asked "where's the button for the window, Grandpa?"

 

Moments to cherish, left hand on the wheel, right hand wrapped tight on the shifter riding high in second gear, the lil' 283 winding up, yank it down in third as you look in the rear view mirror!( Allen Jackson needs to make another song.) Then you start pumping the drums turn around and do it again, an again. You look over at your babe chewing gum with her skirt hiked up and you head for the dirt road to that grassy spot down by the pines, you kill the lites, pull the parking brake, tune in the best am station, open the glove box, crack open a Yuengling, get busy. Then the sound of a solid lifter cam and headlites, its your buddy with the same idea! Moments to cherish!