Anyone else get confused operating different things?

[bdog]

Not permanently confused but temporarily. Over the past couple weeks I have been operating a HST backhoe, a wheel loader, a skid steer, my auto pickup, a Kenworth dump truck, a smaller dump truck with a syncronized transmission and probably something else I forgot and I find myself having brain lapses. Like the wheel loader just has an accelerator pedal and a brake and you shift forward to reverse with you hand on the loader control. I find myself trying to push down on the pedal with my heel like I do on the HST to go backwards. After driving the Kenworth and hopping in the small dump I try to float gears. Today on the way to lunch in my pickup I tried to push the clutch at a stop and momentarily freaked out when I couldn't find it.

 

[k0ua]

I find myself trying to push down on the pedal with my heel like I do on the HST to go backwards.

No, it is just you. Just kidding.. I have done the above a couple of times in my Chevy truck, after operating the HST tractor for long periods of time... pretty disappointed too, when it did not go into reverse. To think you have to actually move that stupid shift lever...

 

[Deere Dude]

After driving a stick shift car for 15 years and although I also drive an automatic truck, a few weeks ago driving our new Impala with an automatic I went to push the clutch in hard and almost put my wife through the windshield when I hit the brake with my clutch foot.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Back in the eighties, I ran a forklift as part of my job at a photo copier company. I would get in my car at the end of my day and pull the blinker back to back out of my parking spot.

Now, I have trouble between my JD tractor and Kubota Wheel Loader. I just changed the transmission in the JD including a left hand reverser, hoping to make things a little more "standard" but with the JD still having a clutch, not sure this will work out.

When test driving the JD with the left hand reverser, I had some tense moments with approaching traffic and did not quite know what to do, even though the clutch and brake were still there as usual.

 

[BHD]

I have two ford 350 one a auto and one a standard, and a for van, (don't drive it much), but the keys are in different places, the van is on the dash, left side of the steering wheel the auto is on the right sides of the steering wheel, and the standard is newer and on the column, drive one for a while and take a few seconds figuring where the key is in the truck, or between the two one tones try to shift the automatic, or forget to shift the standard, since the truck are the same color and make and the dashes all look the same, yes I have lapses,

 

[chim]

At work we have a Montana that I hop on sometimes. It is an HST, which matches the Ford and Kubota at home. It has two pedals side by side for forward and reverse. I often plant my heel and am surprised it doesn't back up.

A strange one was a couple years ago when I was headed home in my truck. I was daydreaming about a Z28 I had back in the 70's. Approaching the right turn off a 55 MPH road, I flipped the right turn signal on and while reaching for the floor-mounted shifter with my right hand and clutch with my left foot. The truck has an auto trans and column mounted shifter.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Sounds like you drove that Camero down Memory Lane, and were turning onto Sentimental Boulevard. Was it a nice trip? *grin*

 

[mark02tj]

Today on the way to lunch in my pickup I tried to push the clutch at a stop and momentarily freaked out when I couldn't find it.

I do that ALL the time. My normal vehicles are both Jeeps with 5 speeds - one is a Wrangler, the other is a Cherokee. When I get into SWMBO's Durango, my left foot immediately hunts for the clutch. She usually doesn't notice that! But she always seems to notice when I'm feeling around in mid-air for the gear shift when starting to back out of the garage or when I'm trying to downshift when slowing down.

Happy to hear it's not just me!

 

[JD15302155870]

Back in the day when we cut a lot of hay, I would get in the truck when finished for the day and try to turn it using the brakes. Actually, I bought a tractor severals ago for this issue especially. I was replacing a JD 1530 that was close to 40 years old with a lot of hours and a lot of rough usage. I was considering a new tractor either a JD or a Kubota. Luckily, I found a great J D 2155 that had been treated wonderfully. I chose it instead of a new one just because it was identical to my 1530 except in much better condition and 25 years newer.

 

[Baby Grand]

My dad always thought I drove too fast, and he was right, but at the time I wasn't having any of it.
One early Spring day, with me driving and Pop riding shotgun, I spied a suspension eating pothole, coming at me, fast.
Dad saw it, too.
His left foot made an audible thump against the rubber floor mat "airbrake" as I calmly steered around the pothole.
I smiled. He said "Slow down". I did.

 

[brown40]

Aren't brains funny things? They work hard to strengthen connections that are actively used, so we don't have to think so hard about doing a given action. Then we switch our setting without even thinking through it.
Winter-->spring is what gets me the worst, when the standard car with power windows becomes the daily driver, and I'm slapping at the door reaching for the window crank moments after I remembered I had to clutch to get it started. I'm glad clothes, rope and utensils all work the same when you switch sizes.
The sad reality is the more experience and variety of experience you have, the more likely your brain is to run on autopilot without your active input. The good news is--its not confusion or dementia--its just your brain making the 'best choice' (usually the most recent or strongest connection) when you're not actively guiding it through a process, and one 'fail' usually gets the right connections firing again/makes you think--hopefully without incident!

 

[gladehound]

I routinely turn on the left turn signal in any car or truck I drive when trying to go into reverse. My tractor has a hydraulic reverser!

 

[s219]

After spending a long day land clearing on my Kubota, I remember hopping into my truck and trying to go in reverse by pushing down my heel. Gave me a good laugh.

 

[meos1]

Its OK we all get this experience as we age. Or so I have heard.

 

[zzvyb6]

Seriously, I have a number of favorite handguns and rifles, each with its own purpose and fun-factor. Someday it may not be fun but something different. The location and direction of the safeties on each is always a major concern and potential trouble factor for me. Makes it more likely that I choose just one of them an then be totally bamboozled if I choose another sometime later.

 

[Birdhunter1]

Changing from a tractor to a skidsteer to a truck I don't get confused, but amongst tractors if I get on one of my dads D-Series Allis Chalmers I practically never remember I can use the power director.

 

[bigtiller]

I'm in the left-hand reverser camp. Mine was on a JD 480C forklift. It's a tough one to stop doing.

 

[orangeandgreen]

Kubota 3240 has left hand reverser, JD 2840 has hi/lo lever in the same place. After driving the JD for a while, I have tried to put the Kubota in "high" a couple times, good thing there wasn't anything close behind me...

 

[STx]

If I spend a lot of time on the tractor doing loader work and then hop on the forklift, it takes me a minute to remember the controls. I also have the issue of popping the left blinker on or looking for a different pedal to reverse the car or truck. It's amusing when I realize what I'm doing.

 

[boggen]

i have search for left / right brake pedals, to clutches, to gear shifts, to turn singles, to hunting for side mirrors, to center mirror in vehicle / cab. to other various levers / switches.

it down right stinks at times. all in the zone per say. and UTH OH! reality check!, then back to normal again.