75 35 hp johnson I just put this motor on my pontoon and everything seemed fine. I had seen it run in a barrel shifted foward and reverse. i put the boat in the lake backed off the trailer and when i tried to shift in to forward nothing. I took the cable off and pulled the shift lever by hand and it seemed to shift into gear but nothing much happened at the prop. so lucky for me the wind blew me back in . took the boat back to the cabin. i did loosen both shift linkage bolts and tried to engage them in the keeper as far as i could. with the motor not running i shifted in to forward and i could turn the motor over the same with reverse. does the dog at the shift lever hold it in gear or just the detent balls in the prop shaft? I put it in a barrel started it up and i could blow water right out of the barrel. do you think the linkage was it or could there be something else. at least it started right thats why i changed motors in the first place.
