In a pickle, stuck and won't shift into neutral

Hoping some one can shed some light on my problem as I just got the tractor stuck in mud which wouldn't be so bad but now she wont shift out of gear which means I don't have reverse nor can I restart it at the moment without neutral. I got stuck an almost immediately noticed the shifter would not select any gear and seems to be flopping around. THe tractor is a case 1490 12 speed syncromesh transmission and is stuck in first gear on the 2nd range of selectors. If anyone can point me in the right direction on how to get my gear selector to engage again so I can get her out of the mud soon! If I could just get neutral back it would be an improvement.

Just to update, got a neighbor to pull me out and was actually able to drive myself back to the barn but the shifter is useless, tractor is stuck in first gear, we started by jumping the starter As Adirondack guy advised me, but now comes the task fixing the shifter, where do I start?

Do not recall all the details but a friend had one those years ago with shifter problems.
If I remember right he took the top off and changed out some worn roll pins, had it good as new in a couple of hours.

I'm not sure what to start removing, I got the shifter assembly out and it has two roll pins with a a shaft about 8 inches long and has a ball shape at the end like a human ball and socket joint. I can't find anything wrong with this part. These roll pins are intact. I can see where it fits into a slot below like two "U" shaped slots side by side but the second "U" would have it's open part opposite the first "U" I can remove the range selectors right next to this housing but the access hole will be about the same. The hole is to small to stick my hand in there and a screwdriver will not get anything to move. When you say he removed the top did remove that thick steel plate where your feet would sit, I can start on that but it's a job. looks like the fenders will have to come off as well, is that the way to go? I'm out there now and will check here periodically if anyone has an idea?

Sorry I can't be of more help as I did not work on or even see the tractor he had.
I recall he said he had to take the top with the shifter off and use a screwdriver to get it back in neutral a few times before he did the roll pins.
Is it possible the pins on yours are bent, cracked or worn?

Ok another update, I can use a long 3/8 extension which is close in size to the ball and rod that moves the internal shifter and simulate going thru all the gears, I can shift it with the extension by moving those two "u" shaped pieces to their appropriate positions. I can get it into neutral and start it now. When I put the shifter rod back in place it still flops around and it will not do what I can do with the 3/8 extension. Is this pointing to a problem in the shifter rod? It has two roll pins but they both look fine and it appears to function correctly, I'm missing something here??

Try going to the case parts site.
Type in the model number and select gearshift, it will give you an exploded diagram of what you are working on.

They shouldn't be regular roll pins but are what are called "Mill Pins".

http://www.keysandpins.com/products/groove-pins

Likely one is broken. A roll pin will work in a bind, but will break if it is forced.

(quoted from post at 18:07:38 05/07/17) They shouldn't be regular roll pins but are what are called "Mill Pins".

http://www.keysandpins.com/products/groove-pins

Likely one is broken. A roll pin will work in a bind, but will break if it is forced.

Click to expand...

Thanks RGMartin
Glad someone who knows this machine better than I do chimed in.
I had a rough idea of the problem but always much better when someone who has dealt with the issue step's up to help.

I have a buddy with the a 1290 that had something similar happen to him. He got the tractor stuck and was shifting between forward and reverse to get it out and it got stuck in gear. We pulled him out and brought it to the shop. I took off the shifter with the top plate to look inside. When I did I noticed that it wasn't in the gear that we thought it was in. The shifter ball slipped into a different fork, thus locking it. Put the shifter back in the correct fork and problem was fixed. He hasn't had a problem with it since than. He was just being rough with it shifting back and forth trying to get the truck unstuck.

Problem solved. To recap tractor is a 1490 low profile 12 speed syncromesh. (not a power shift). Issue was I got stuck in the mud and immediately lost the ability to shift gears. Had to just turn tractor off and walk away. To assist in pulling tractor out I restarted by jumping across starter POSITIVE terminal and small 14 gauge wire terminating at a dual connector to starter. Dangerous!!!! do not stand in area of rear wheel as tractor will start rolling toward you. Pull the four 1/2 bolts holding the shift selector in place. Be careful not to drop a washer from one of the bolts into the transmission housing. Lift off shifter assembly. This will leave you an appx 3x5 inch space to look at the rails controlling the shift selector. See picture two. This is the position I was stuck in, 1st gear. In my situation I had no visible damage to any roll pins nor damage to any gears. Apparently the force of getting stuck had moved my shift selector slightly off where the gears would not engage. Use a long 3/8 socket extension to simulate the shifter ball picture #1. My first order of business was to get back to neutral, picture #3. I was stuck in first gear, see picture #2. Position the long 3/8 extension against the outer part of opening to gain leverage and push against the rail. The ball and lever on the end of the shift selector move opposite the direction of travel for the gear rail. Sitting on the tractor to engage reverse you would push the rail closest to the right fender backwards. First gear is forward closest to the right fender. Second gear is backwards closest to the left fender and 3rd is forward closest to the left fender. This verified for me that the problem was not internal but rather in the shifting mechanism. My problem was in the shift selector between the two collars holding the long shaft of the selector. The shift selector is a long rod that passes through both collars held together by four 7/16 bolts. The collars give 360 degrees of rotation for the shift selector and affect the travel of the horizontal movement on the selector Shaft. They also determine which direction the shifter faces. If you are 180 degrees off the selector will literally touch the 3 point height lever. The trick is to position the shift selector forward Toward the tractor front with the "H" pattern aligned front to back and put the gear selector back into the transmission with transmission in the neutral position. MY issue once again was that the gear selector would just flop around and not engage any gear. It was a six hour process to identify the problem. If you can shift the transmission with the 3/8 drive extension bar then your problem is in the shift selector as mine was and the adjustment lies within the two collars holding the shifter. Rotate the collars from screw to screw until the "H" pattern faces forward and you get all the gears to engage. I kept going back to neutral and tuning the key, If I heard the starter engage then I was on the right track.