L295DT stick shift is stuck

[MDsteve]

Was operating my L295DT yesterday, when stick shift started acting up. Prior to this problem, all gears and shift selector were operating normally. Now, the stick will only engage in 1st gear and the engine wants to stall if you release the clutch in that gear. It will go to neutral, and tractor can be rolled in neutral, but no other gears can be engaged.

Anybody ever encountered this, and know how to isolate the problem? I acquired this tractor with a bad clutch, and replaced that. Everything was working fine after the clutch replacement though. I'm thinking something has broken in the tranmission. The tractor does not have creep gear if that matters.

 

[MDsteve]

Found what may be the whole problem here. I removed the gear shift cover (forks and all), and found that a piece of the casting had broken off, and the interlock ball between two adjacent shift rails was gone. So, I imagine this allowed two gears to engage simultaneously, and hence the reason it wanted to stall when clutch was released. Looks like I can get a used replacement cover casting for about $55, so not logical to try any repair on mine.

Anybody know if this is a common problem? I know the previous owner had tried some repairs before I got her, because there was a little oil leaking where the cover gasket should be, and gasket was missing, and sealant used instead.

Another question - will this small bit of casting that broke off, and the missing ball find their way harmlessly to the bottom of the reservoir somewhere, or do I need to worry about them getting caught up in the works? Incidentally, when I cleaned the hydraulic screen on this tractor, I found one of those metal foil covers they use on the jugs of transmission fluid. If that can make it through, maybe I'll find the missing ball and casting bit in the screen one day too.