IH 666 shifting and clutch

I have read several posts about tractors not being able to shift into any gear or even neutral, which is what mine has done since yesterday. I took out the battery and plate underneath, as advised, and I see the three linkages. The one furthest right, for R/1st, is most out of line with the others. I was out there for three hours trying to get it more in line and couldn't get it to move. Is this what needs to be done? Why won't it move? There is a horizontal shiny shaft part of the linkage way down at the bottom that obviously needs to go inward (direction to rear of tractor) to match up with the other two. I also took of the shifting stick and didn't see the three pieces to line up, like I've seen videos of on a smaller older floor shifting tractor. It just looked like one solid piece that the one solid lever sits on. Nothing to adjust that I could see. Maybe I need a flashlight? ALso, when this all happened yesterday, the clutch pedal is all of a sudden harder to press and you can hear the springs stressing. Do you think the clutch might be the problem? If so, what do I do then? I'm just a girl learning to use my first tractor on my very first farm with all my money gone to equipment and seed. I hope I can fix this myself.
 
Also, I should mention: This old tractor has been hard shifting since I bought it last year. I had to resort to pulling back the TA lever half way each time I shift, or else it just wouldn't shift. It was doing fine that way until yesterday. I went back out after lunch and it just was stuck in no gear. It does let me start it even though it's not in neutral either, but dies down if I start releasing the clutch.
 
While I have not adjusted that style shifting linkage your comment on the T/A tells me it is out of adjustment. The T/A clutch should release just before the main clutch does. That style tractor uses a cam
linkage to move the T/A clutch when engaging the main clutch. A manual for that tractor will tell you how to adjust it first before adjusting the shifting linkage. Also the main clutch should be adjusted
before the T/A is.Time to get a manual.
 
Sounds like you my have it stuck in 2 gears.Not sure what the fix for that model tractor is,other than removeing the top transmission cover.Might help to jack up one rear wheel and shake it a bit to release pressure on the gears.BTW! NEVER pull the TA "halfway". that is the fastest way to damage/destroy the TA. Shift 'hard and fast',not pauseing in the middle.Shifting slow,pauseing/stopping in the middle causes the TA clutches to slip/work against each other,thus destroying themAnd never use the TA as a 'jake brake' to slow dwn,or to slow down going down a hill. That what brakes and the engine is for.The mechanical TA your tractor has can slip/freewheel going down hill. Always use direct(HI ta)drive going downhill. Throttle down,not pull the TA..Buy an owners manual,and a service manual,ASAP(this site sells them) and read them.
 
Thanks, Deltared. Absolutely, I always only use a low gear itself to control speed down a hill. That's how I drive any vehicle. And I only ever shift when the tractor is completely stopped: I select the gear I will need and shift into it and then proceed to move. Yes, I shouldn't have to use that TA at all to shift, much less move it half way! You're right on that! I know something needed fixing there and hope I didn't mess it up more. I have the owner's and shop manual. I can't find a darn thing about shifting in the shop manual. I thought that would be the best help. Guess I'll go take a look in the owner's manual.
 
IHTimmy, what else do I need besides a tape measure, set of wrenches and sockets, screwdriver, hammer? Anything else?
 
Yee haw! I thought I'd see what I could do myself with the shop manual. And I fixed it!!! Surprise surprise surprise. I adjusted the clutch and the TA so it only moves 1/16th of an inch and now the regular clutch moves very easily as it should and I had to wrestle the stuck gears and wobble the tractor tires forward and backward a bit and the stuck gears came unstuck and it feels good now. I didn't bring the key out with me because I expected to not get it fixed, so now the test... go back to the field with the key and see if it really goes good now. I think it will. Thanks guys for the idea of adjusting the clutch and TA.
 
I?m sorry I didn?t get back with your comment but I knew you
can do it if you?re anything like my two older daughters 👍
 
Thanks IHJimmy. Your daughters sound like good, self sufficient people. Good for them. The only thing I didn't bring out to the field that I needed was a pair of pliers for getting out those bobby pins locking the big pins on. I made due without. It's nice to have people to talk to that believe you can accomplish things rather than be put down by people who assume you are incapable and automatically doing everything incorrectly. I was putting off diving into the shop manual (instead, just reading posts on here and trying what others described to do) because this is all completely new and a little intimidating. But now, after using the shop manual, it's not scary and I'm ready to continue learning from it and get more things fixed. There is a lot wrong this old machine. I didn't jump in and start fixing during winter after I bought this tractor in late fall because it was twenty below zero everyday and I don't have a heated shop. The longer it sat needing fixing, the more daunting it became in my mind. I took advise from someone on here, on someone else's post, to use the TA to help get the machine to shift until it can be fixed. And it did work and allowed me to use the tractor now, until I fixed it, even though I did know that is not the right thing to do. I'm over the intimidation phase and ready to learn everything I need to fix everything I can on the tractor. It'll be fun.
 

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