[Joe K]

You have a shifting sensibility developed in the era of fully synchronised shifters.

This ain't the Model A.

Try this. In third depress the clutch pedal.

Put the shifter lever at the middle of the "H" pattern (neutral but not marked as such on the model A)

Then let the clutch pedal out.

Then put the clutch pedal back in.

Then put the shifter lever into 2nd gear.

Then let the clutch pedal out.

Voila. Shifting to 2nd gear from 3rd without clashing gears.

Called "double clutching" and practiced the world over with straight gear non-synchronised transmissions. Works between any two gears. Even reverse (but don't try it unless you want to snap a driveshaft.)

I even do it on my John Deere 110 lawn tractor.

Joe K