9x3 Transmission (1,2,3,R on the stick, 3 ranges on a lever). The stick has a lot of slop between gears and when in gear, and when changing gears can both get stuck as well as go into no mans land and just float around. When it gets stuck or lost I have to take the stick out - see where the shift arm is, reset to neutral, and put the stick back in. The ball on the bottom of the stick has been welded on to to make it longer and eat up some of the slop. When it gets stuck its due to the shifter not being in the correct spot - once I take the shifter out it always pops back out of gear easily so again I definitely think its more that the stick gets stuck, not necessarily that the gear gets stuck. If I take it slow and be deliberate with my movements I can operate it without issue, and when navigated properly its fine - it doesn't pop out of gear or cause any issues - but its clearly a problem that needs to be addressed.
I attached an image and circled the components that my tractor uses/parts I suspect. Unfortunately there isn't a way to get a good view of the shift rods (36A/37A) and shift arms (41/42) - to do so I would have to separate the transmission. I haven't taken off the cover (23) off because the seat and body is on top of it - and I'm not really sure if I'd learn anything from that, though it does look like I might be able to access the shift forks?
The shift arms (41/42) have a lot of slop in them - particularly the left side (41), so I suspect its either the connection from the arm to the shift rod, the shift rod detent balls, or the connection from the shift rods to the shift forks.
Anyways - I've never dealt with any of this before, so I'm in the learn and figure it out stage. I have three main questions:
1: What is the worst case if I were to just keep running it as is? I really don't want to separate the tractor - but I don't want to have a catastrophic failure and destroy even more parts.
2: If I take off the cover (23) - will that get me access to the shift forks, and I obviously would have to drain the fluid from the transmission first, right?
3: Advice on next steps to take, and any advice in general?
I attached an image and circled the components that my tractor uses/parts I suspect. Unfortunately there isn't a way to get a good view of the shift rods (36A/37A) and shift arms (41/42) - to do so I would have to separate the transmission. I haven't taken off the cover (23) off because the seat and body is on top of it - and I'm not really sure if I'd learn anything from that, though it does look like I might be able to access the shift forks?
The shift arms (41/42) have a lot of slop in them - particularly the left side (41), so I suspect its either the connection from the arm to the shift rod, the shift rod detent balls, or the connection from the shift rods to the shift forks.
Anyways - I've never dealt with any of this before, so I'm in the learn and figure it out stage. I have three main questions:
1: What is the worst case if I were to just keep running it as is? I really don't want to separate the tractor - but I don't want to have a catastrophic failure and destroy even more parts.
2: If I take off the cover (23) - will that get me access to the shift forks, and I obviously would have to drain the fluid from the transmission first, right?
3: Advice on next steps to take, and any advice in general?
