# 910965 Shift Lever Difficulty



## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

I've got the above Ariens machine that the shift lever moves easily through the four forward gears, yet when squeezing the clutch handle, it's difficult to get it into neutral and/or reverse. I'm guessing I've got some wear in one of the bushings inside the case that causing some binding. 

Any suggestions of where to focus my attention? If I have to tear into the gear box, I might as well replace the drive disc, and we all know how much fun (and clean) that is! :sad2:

Thanks for your suggestions.


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

there is a shaft supporting the friction disc assembly that is easily accessible without pulling anything apart. with the blower tilted up in the air look for the rod with the cotter pin through it and pull out the rod. soak it in some solvent to remove old grease(old gas works great!) then steel wool it, lube it with white lithium grease and reinstall. i just had this issue with one of my ariens and that fixed it. you dont have to rip apart the whole transmission. ill try to get pics in the morning to give you a better idea


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## Jackmels (Feb 18, 2013)

Gsnod, I once used one that was Sticky Going into Reverse. I found a Light Squeeze/Double Clutch while shifting into Reverse Worked. +1 to 43128 on cleaning off the Old Grease. Also, make sure the shifter is Oiled up.


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## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

Thanks 43128 and Jackmels;

I'll give these two suggestions a try. However, I may have miscommunication....it definately feels like the linkage is binding up with trying to shift into Neutral or Reverse. Shifting into any of the forward gears when pressing the left hand clutch lever is fine....moving into N or R when depressing the clutch handle is where the problem lies. 

Based upon your experience, do ya think I should be looking for wear in any of the internal bushings?


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## Jackmels (Feb 18, 2013)

Gsnod, Try adjusting the Friction wheel out some more. There is a Tab Behind the Friction wheel which "Holds" it off the Drive Plate when in neutral. Sounds like The Assembly is not Clearing the tab. Also, check the rod on the rt side of the chassis. It is behind and below the axle. The hole sometimes wears, and affects the positioning of the Assembly, so the friction wheel cannot be adjusted correctly. I've welded shims in to correct oblong holes.


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## gsnod (Sep 2, 2013)

43128 and Jackmels;

Thanks for the tips. I was able to pull the support rod out that 43128 mentioned, and it was pretty dry in there, so I lubed it up and put it back. Then I worked on adjusting the drive disc and that took care of the problem. So, another machine ready to go and soon to be posted on Craigslist for sale!

Thanks guys!


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## John G (11 mo ago)

I have an older Ariens model 910965 the 10,000 series. Machine is like new. But have a small problem. Seems that when taking the machine out of reverse I have to squeeze the clutch hard before it will go into neutral. Any suggestions from anyone would be appreciated.


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## tlshawks (Feb 9, 2018)

Chances are, what is occurring is the sliding fork on the tractor (if you have a pdf of the parts manual, you'll know what this part is) is not being pulled back far enough for the claw-like end on it to clear or engage the neutral catch tab on the disc frame that is how neutral is engaged. 

There are several reasons why this might occur. A good sign this is occurring is when shifting from say forward gears 1 thru 4 down to neutral/reverse "hangs up" - as well as reverse back to neutral or forward. Meaning, you're pulling on the lever and sliding the gear shifter, and when you get next to neutral on the gear shift lever, it simply stops/hangs up (you'll hear something metal hitting something else metal). It simply won't pass neutral cleanly - then you release the lever, and the machine still wants to move either forward or reverse depending on what gear you were in before shifting.

When you pull on the clutch lever, it pulls the disc frame (and therefore the friction disc) away from the drive plate. The sliding fork has this claw on it, the disc frame a L shaped tab (the neutral catch on the parts listing) - when you shift gears, pulling the clutch lever allows the friction disc to slide along the hex shaft as you shift. But getting this assembly to "hold neutral" is the trick to how neutral works on these machines. The claw on the sliding fork must reach around the neutral catch on the disc frame so when you release the clutch lever, the claw impacting the neutral catch holds the sliding fork away from the drive plate.

You may be able to adjust this simply by adjusting the ball joint that attaches to the clutch rod to give the clutch lever/rod just a bit more reach. My old 910962, the issue was the thrust bearing in the assembly was so shot that the bearing slop was enough to where no matter how I adjusted things, that claw on the disc fork would never engage the neutral catch. Replaced the bearing (which is part of the sliding fork assembly I'll call it), voila...things tightened up to where neutral could be engaged.

I've attached a pic of the '962 I used to own of the disc frame and the sliding fork so you can see how this works, how this assembly "catches" neutral. I had the exact same issue as yours. Note that this is extremely difficult to see in the tractor itself when assembled. I also once owned a '965...the assemblies are exactly the same.

You'll notice the wear on the tip of the claw...this was from as I shifted the claw would impact the neutral catch, and over decades of jamming gears with the machine back and forth, metal simply began chipping away.










I know an image like this below, it's tough to picture how this all works given the disc frame assembly is removed here. Picture shifting gears. Here's the disc frame, hex shaft, friction disc, and sliding fork/claw (behind the friction disc in the image). As you shift, the fork/disc slide on the hex shaft and frame pin (which isn't pictured, see the shaft "tube" opening above the claw) left and right. But to go from reverse/neutral to forward/neutral, that claw has to have clearance for the sliding fork to slip around the neutral catch. If it doesn't the claw tip will impact the neutral catch.










Now here's a pick I found here that shows the assembly...note how difficult it would be to see this when fully assembled on a tractor. You have to tilt the tractor forward and prop it up (bottom cover removed of course), then get on the ground on your back to look up at it. But you can see the disc frame, the sliding fork, the hex shaft, the friction disc, the drive plate, etc.










Hope this helps...


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