Sherman Step Up Why?

My question for pure curiosity is what was the purpose of the step up sherman? The consensus is the tractor is already a bit too fast, why make it faster? Step down I can see.

I for one only use the high range occasionaly to make sure it still works. I tried step-up 4th once on a paved road. Scared the heck out of me!!

So what was the step up sherman for?

Bonus question. Any way to make a step up into a step down?

Thanks for the info. Both the getting down the road faster and fuel economy make sense but sure seems both are at the margin.

OD 4th @ 24mph? No wonder I thought is was a wild ride!!

Dell are you sure it is only the forks that change from step up to step down? Seems like some enterprising machinest would be making forks like crazy no?

Surprizingly enuff, first and OD is almost the same speed (6.26mph) as 3rd straight (7.40mph) without OD.

You can use OD in 1st,2nd,3rd,4th gears. Forward for straight drive; aft for OverDrive. OD ratio is 0.669 to 1. While the OD and UD gearbox and gears are the "same", its the internal shifter forks that change'em from OD to UD. Shifter forks NOT AVAILABLE..... ...HTH, Dell the shift-less

• John Smiths most excellent Sherman Info page