Ford Jubilee not going into gear caused by operator?

I recently asked about my 1953 Jubilee not going into gear when running. I probably should have explained it differently. It occurred to me that the only time it does it is after I start it up and run for a while. It has never not gone into gear at cold start up. It's always after running it for maybe 30 minutes or so. Also as a newbie, when we first inherited the tractor and finally fixed wiring to get it running, there were a few times that the tractor would all of a sudden just not go. That turned out to be the lever to the live PTO that I did not even know I had was being bumped by me when getting on and off the tractor. It is now bungeed in place. Could it be another newbie operator error causing my problem? Can the PTO engage lever cause gear shifting problems if it is not in the correct position? Thanks in advance.

Unless someone has added an additional safety switch
to you PTO lever the PTO position had nothing to do
with the starter not engaging or the ignition not firing
to not allow your tractor to start. In stock for there was
no PTO safety switch on your tractor. Unless you have
a rotary mower hooked to it and that was dragging too
much on the starter. Also I do not believe the PTO can
have any effect on shifting other then again having a
mower on the machine that is spinning and no over
running clutch on the PTO can cause shifting.
Most of what you describe as gear shifting problems
could be attributed to a clutch that is not releasing
properly. Here is a test to find out if your clutch can
take any blame. I think in your other post it was
pointed out that these old tractors do not have
synchronized transmissions so some gear grinding is
common if enough time has not been given to allow
the spinning clutch plate, shafts and gears to stop.
Here is a copy and paste to determine if your clutch
releases properly Does it grind severely and want to
move while in gear with the clutch pressed down? IF
NOT, here is how you find out if the clutch is releasing
properly. Start tractor and warm up a few minutes.
With tractor stopped but still IDLING push the clutch
down and put it in gear. Continue holding down the
clutch and place it in neutral, count 1000-1, 1000-2,
now try to shift it into gear. If it goes in gear with
minimal gear grinding such as a tooth or two passing
each other the clutch is releasing fine, again clutch is
held down during entire test. To explain how this
checked if the clutch is releasing, you stopped the
gears by placing it in a gear, then during the two
second wait in neutral if the clutch is dragging or not
releasing properly it would start the clutch plate,
shafts and gears spinning again. So if there is a release
problem it will grind when you try to put it back in gear
after the two second wait. If it passes this check you
can pull it apart a hundred times and not make it go in
gear with less grinding. You just need to wait longer
after pushing the clutch down. The issue is in those old
tractors is the shafts spin easily and it just takes a
while to stop the spinning momentum. They have no
synchronizers like modern manual transmissions.

Actually, a PTO lever will stop forward movement if you have the tall lever in addition to the short lever shown here. What do you have?

(quoted from post at 14:46:24 10/26/23) Actually, a PTO lever will stop forward movement if you have the tall lever in addition to the short lever shown here. What do you have?

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A picture from one of his earlier posts.
https://forums.yesterdaystractors.c...amp;postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

Thanks Jim.......been a few sunrise/sunsets since then, so I had forgotten.

thanks for al the info. I will give it a shot.

(quoted from post at 11:46:24 10/26/23) Actually, a PTO lever will stop forward movement if you have the tall lever in addition to the short lever shown here. What do you have?

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hank you for responding. I have the regular short lever for the PTO and the longer lever for the live PTO. I have both in the forward position which if I am not mistaken is disengaged for both. I knocked the live PTO lever out of position getting on and off the tractor and now have it bungeed in the forward position.

What you said about the tall lever is exactly what I have (and of course the short one too) and I was accidentally hitting it with my leg and that caused the tractor to not move when the clutch was let out. That is why I changed my post to possible operator error as I did not even know I had a live PTO with the recently inherited tractor. If I was dumb enough to accidentally stop my tractor from moving just by getting on the tractor, what else was I dumb enough to do that might affect changing gears?

(quoted from post at 09:56:15 10/27/23) What you said about the tall lever is exactly what I have (and of course the short one too) and I was accidentally hitting it with my leg and that caused the tractor to not move when the clutch was let out. That is why I changed my post to possible operator error as I did not even know I had a live PTO with the recently inherited tractor. If I was dumb enough to accidentally stop my tractor from moving just by getting on the tractor, what else was I dumb enough to do that might affect changing gears?

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robably not operator error

I just got my transmission cover gasket today and put everything back together. Then I went back and read your entire post and what you say makes sense but my problem appeared again today after running for a while. The problem was getting out of the gear it was in, not getting it in gear from neutral.At start up I can put put in gear and run for a while and when needing to put into neutral or anther gear, it is just hard or not possible to get it out of gear. I pause for several seconds with clutch in before trying to shift. While having the transmission cover off, I was trying to go through some shifts and every now and then, it would hang up on the corner of a slot. I'm referring to turning the cover upside down and watching the bottom of the stick move and go through slots. The ball on the end of the shifter has very little wear and the square surfaces of the slots do not appear to be worn much at all.Thanks for any suggestions.