Yamaha 25 Horse 2 stroke ... Stuck in Neutral .... Can not Shift it at all ...

My Yamaha 25 serves as a "kicker motor" / back up .... a "just in case engine" .... it rides on an outboard bracket on my Glasply boat.
Consequently this engine is seldom used .....

Yesterday, I started it up and ran it..... on the garden hose...... it started .... ran a bit rough...... which is sort of normal for the first time for the new season...... anyway, I got it started ...... and I ran it for a few minutes...... it pumped water as is normal.....
however...... I could not get it to shift into forward...... I could not get it to shift into reverse....... seems jammed.....
I took the hood off the engine....... checked the linkage as best that I could ...... no matter what I did the linkage is locked up....
it just won't budge.

I would appreciate input on this problem. Is there some simple thing that I'm missing here..... I'm stumped .

Thank you.

Sincerely,

John Lofquist
Beaver, Washington

Have had this problem with my1986 25hp. I resolved the problem
by manually giving the prop a couple of turns. Sounds simple but it worked.
Good luck
Steve1986

i would suspect that somewhere the linkage is frozen, probably from just sitting on the stern exposed to all the salt water spray etc.. I would remove the lower leg and see if the problem was in the upper or lower linkage to start.

Thanks for your comments and input.

The engine gets splashed from sea-surge at times during the season...... so, I suspect that somehow the linkage has somehow gotten damp....
just a guess.....

I will investigate this further..... probably a lower linkage problem.

More later as I find out what the issue is.

Sincerely,

John Lofquist
Beaver, Washington.