Propeller Shaft Holder Removal on Honda 50hp

[FeeshinFrst]

Hi. I have been doing some lower unit work on my 50hp Honda. I have the shop manual and everything, but I am having a devil of a time removing the propeller shaft holder from the lower unit. I have already dropped the lower unit, shift rod is out, I have removed the gear case nut and have been using a special tool to try to get that thing out but its not budging. Is there something im missing? Is it suppose to be in a certain gear or am i suppose to remove something else before removing it? The manual I have shows that the shaft and shaft holder will come out all together. Is there something special I have to do with the vertical shaft rod before removing the the propeller shaft holder? Please help. Thanks

Trav