Zetor 5340 missing 1st gear

I have a 1995 Zetor 5340 4wd, with mechanical forward/reverse shuttle.
Ever since I have owned the machine (about 3 years) it has refused to move the gearlever into first gear, either in high or low ratio.
Has anyone else had this problem, or can suggest what might be wrong?
It doesn't make the tractor unusable, just that there is a big step in speed between low fifth and high second gears.
Otherwise a very good tractor

i think the locking of, where normally the reverse gear is, is wrong on your tractor so it locks the position of the 1st as well. i'd pull the cover of the tranny and have a look.

I think I understand - what you are saying is that both first gear and reverse on the extreme left of the gearbox gate are barred, just because the shuttle does the job of reverse.


Many thanks - I shall take a look at the weekend

Peter

hmm...

Try this first:

They often double shifted, because of wear on the slots in which the gear levers slide. It could be fixed with a modification kit.
When the tractor double shifts, its in two gears at the same time and the engine stalls but you're going nowhere.

Because a shuttle shift doesnt have a reverse at all, i think the mechanism is in reverse position, which means you cant access the 1st either. But because there is no reverse gear in yours, the transmission doesnt lock up entirely, it just prevents you from selecting 1st gear.

You can move the lever back by taking out the 2nd bolt from the right, 17mm hex head, in a row of 5 positioned right in front of the small levers for PTO and hi/low gear range.

These bolts have a spring loaded balll inside, which help the gearlever "click" into gear. once its out, you can pry the shift slidebar back with a screwdriver.

Another option which might give you a clue, is to take off 4 bolts of the small box to which the gearlever connects: then you can also see the slide bars that connect to the yokes that move the gears. You can inspect a possible problem there as well.

Many thanks - I'll take a look at the weekend

if you take off the thing under the gear lever with the 4 M8 bolts, you'll know exactly what i mean... and see if i am right or wrong..