Hmmm, never owned a manual, so can't help there.
As for "...beating on the ends (of the crank)...", I think I meant to say TAP on the end with a dead blow hammer. Oh, wait, that's what I did say...
Seriously, it only takes a couple of smacks to relieve the crank. As long as the hammer material is softer than the crank material, you should not damage the end of the crank.
As for tranny bind, you need to be careful to get the sifter hub in the case bearing straight or you will crack your shifter hub when you tighten the cases together. This would also cause the tranny to bind when you tried to manually operate.
Hopefully, you have found the problem by the time you read this post...
Rick