Lift Problem

[crawdad185]

I recently picked up a Ford 641. The tractor had been sitting outside in the weather for well over a year. I've been working to get everything cleaned up and working, but I am having trouble with the touch control lever on the lift. When I first got the tractor home, the touch control lever couldn't even be moved. I've since been working with it and have got it moving and the lift will go up and down. The lever, however, is still very hard to move.
I took the fill cap off and looked inside and there is some rust on the components, so I'm thinking that it may still be froze up because of that. Can anyone suggest what I should do to get the lever freed up and working smoothly. I've got the shop manual for the tractor and I plan to pull the cover so that I can get to everything, but not sure how to proceed once I get inside. Would appreciate your suggestions. Thanks

 

[old]

Good chance it is in fact from rust and sitting a long time. Working it and getting oil in the area will help a lot. If I had it and pulled the top cover and found a lot of rust I would pour ATF on things and let ti sit a day or so then work the levers and see if things freed up