Looking for opinions on automatic vs stick

I had my tranny rebuilt at a bit over 200 thousand miles, as the PO had beat the thing pretty hard. Soooo....I had a "Mojave Green" 3 disc torque converter put in, along with massaging the new valve body, and a billet input and output shafts. With the programing and upgraded extra clutches, if I am in "Tow Haul Mode", it will bang your head into the head rest when it shifts, and locks up in every gear very quick. Of course it does let the ole Cummins work it's magic and grunt when I need to pull a hill. ( she really rolls some coal!)
NOW I need to put an exhaust brake in, so coming back DOWN those hills is not so spooky