Help on a 124

[ed in cny]

Has steering go bad on my 124 and rebuilt it this spring. Used it to mow and in short order I had another issue. The tractor seems not to go into gear. Checked the connections from the clutch back to the creeper gear and find that I have a seal on the creeper that leaks as well as the shaft spinning. Get on here and ask for ideas. They think the pin. So I have worked on getting the pin out but can't seem to move it. I can't get a punch on this dang thing to punch it out. I'm not even sure it's the issue but am starting here to find out what has happened. The pin if not lined up will be a bear. If I take the front pin out I could if this back pin is not in move it forward enough to get the center out and then realign the outer pin sections and hopefully drive them out. However as much as I can do I can't get any pin to come out.

Is there a trick to getting this out? If I need to split the tractor for more work if this is beyond just the pin I need to remove it for other work. But with the tools I have I just van't seem to budge it. Tried it from under the tractor no luck. Have tried from the side as there is just one opening that I could reach the pin. Again no luck. The punches are short as well and it gives me no room to hit this. Are there other punches longer that work? Had to years ago redo the clutch plate and the pin there was also a pain with these short punches I have. But I managed to fix that one as there was more room. However this pin has me stumped.

If I were to add heat I may have other issues as the seal on the creeper is leaking and there is now plenty around the creeper to catch fire. So that at this point is on the back burner.

Is there a trick to doing this? If so what is it? Any ideas what to do now? I'm stuck.