I have to get up off the tractor to force the shifter into reverse or a forward gear. The tractor has been sitting since 2022 until I got the deck repaired. I can shift the lever, but I'm unable to bend well enough to force it while sitting. I have a bad hip.Dana six Speed manual transaxle.
IF the drive is not stoping it can lock the shifter fingers in place. Are you having to shut down in order to shift or is it just so hard to shift that got to get a better position to shift it?
A moving drive belt can cause this but there is detent spring and steel ball that lock the shifter into different speed that tend to rust up. Transaxle would need to be remove to access this area. OIling or grease these is not going to fix the problem, only replacement of the two parts would solve this.
The drive belt was changed last summer, a buddy did that for me.When was the last time you changed the drive belt and checked the idler pulley and tensioner are. If the belt is 3+ years old, that could be your problem. If the tensioner arm doesn’t move freely, that could be your problem. If the idler pulley is worn, that could be your problem. Also could be a combination of these. This is where I would start looking.