I'm one lucky catskinner. Last week, I was clearing land on a job not too far from the farm and managed to snag a yaupon branch on the gearshift, forcing it into the reverse position while moving forward in low. I stopped pronto but the shifter was already pushed waaay out of position and it took some doing to get the branch loose only to find that the tranny was now lodged in 1st gear and no other gear could be selected. I had no interest in doing a field repair so I walked it to the trailer, loaded and hauled home, tail between my legs. After a long look at the big yellow book and it's instructions that started with "to remove the transmission...", I decided that I had nothing to lose by pulling the floor plate and removing the top of the transmission to see if a shifter fork was bent or broken and to see if the repair could be done without dropping the tranny. Basically, that tranny doesn't look much different from an old top-loader Ford so I felt like I was on home ground...anyway, the shifter can out and I could see the forks and move them easily with my fingers so, I slipped it into neutral and reinstalled the shifter. Wow, I could engage all the gears! I guess the shifter was pushed so far out of position by the branch that the ball on the end disengaged from the shifter forks, leaving the tranny in the gear it was already in. Nothing was broken or bent and it all works fine now. Whew, close.
Nice result :thumbsup It sure is nice when what you think will be a nightmare, turns out quite simple. Bet you were sweating lots though. :drinkup
I've had that happen on farm tractors after they get alot of hours on them. If it becomes more frequent you might have to build up the ball on the end of the gear shift.
This one doesn't look worn...but that branch put a LOT of pressure on the shifter. It was all I could do to get it pried up off the shifter without taking to it with a chinsaw...and yes, I was sweating big time.