He/She is rushing the shift. It has to be a deliberate H pattern. No shortcuts. 1st up to neutral while holding the lever towards the driver. Then through the H to the neutral position between 2nd and 3rd. Then up into second. Second to third is just straight down. When coming back from 3rd to 1st you must lift to neutral holding slight pressure away from the driver until in neutral then pull through the H towards the driver before moving the lever down into neutral. Folks not used to these old worn out systems tend to try to rush it and get hung between gears.
I think this is most likely the case, as no one else causes it to happen. I'm confident the parts are in good condition and adjustment. Since it is usually in first, I'm thinking he may not be in the correct neutral position and pulling the lever completely towards him before going down into first gear. I guess I need to ride with him and watch what he is doing. I went to back it out of the trailer this weekend and it was jammed. I knew instantly who had driven it onto the trailer, which I later confirmed. Where it had been displayed to where the trailer was, he would have never gotten out of first gear. Perhaps he may have used R, but not 2nd or 3rd.
