grinding

Any ideas to make my 6x4 go into gear(forward and/or reverse) without growling/grinding. I can't tell if it's idling too high or if the springs in the varible speed clutch are weak and wanting to engage at too low of an RPM. What I've started doing is turning switch off and letting engine almost die, clunk it in gear and turn switch back on, all before it dies. I can do that, fine, but my wife has trouble with it. The idle doesn't seem excessively high.

Thanks,
Randy