We (my kid and I) have to go back into the clutch for the third time in 2 years. Ugh. This time we decided to pull the transaxle, so far so good but the shift shaft is hanging up, can't move it far enough forward in the cabin to clear the transaxle as we back it down and back, what's the trick?

 

once the "shift shaft" is disconnected from the trans end, and removed from the shift lever in the cabin, iirc you flip it 180* to get it to be able to slide forward more.