Those switches used to have a ball in them. Condensation at top of the case can rust them, the detent and/or the shifter. Aside from slamming gears under load or heavy use of Velke or other riding contraption, those transmissions are pretty good.
Definitely don't see a ton of them needing replaced. I thought I remembered a ball in them at some point. I see Velke / Sulky damage most often also. This one had rust all in the top you could see through the opening
When I did the double check on this after fixing it the safety did in fact not work. The ball in the safety switch could very well have been what got in the gears and made the transmission fail in the first place. I replaced it and all is operating properly now
Good one, Martin! I’m sure with your type of operation you wouldn’t rebuild these transmissions, but is it possible to be done? I’d love to see the inside and exactly what failed.
Most times they are pretty well stuck. Best way I saw a guy do it was use a long Sawzall blade and cut the shaft under the transmission even with the top of the base
