The #40 I've got is super tight I was able to get into the the gear box and surprisingly they were very clean. A few patches of rust about half the size of a dime here and there. So I was a little confused why it's still tight and was curious what others thoughts were on here. I'm wondering if there's rust on the shaft in between the handle and the first gear or rust in between the shaft that the fan is on that's causing it to be so tight.

I wonder if a good soak of diesel fuel, transmission fluid, or some other type of penetrating oil would free it up.  Worth try before disassembling the blower.

njan, ive been spraying the bushings down with penetrating oil today and its made a difference, its easier to start but you still have to put some effort into it. and with letting it soak in any of those just toss the gear end into a 5 gallon bucket fill her up and let it sit for a few days?

An old tractor restoration trick is to puts the parts in an ammo can or other sealed container half full of kerosene in the back of a pickup and let it ride around for a week or so. The worse the road, the better the agitation!