I was driving Strata Florida last month and lost drive to the rear (in low 4wd) pretty suddenly on a loose gravel climb. I managed limp it home in fwd but am having difficulty repairing it.

It’s a series 2 with a 200di and some RR diffs, which I’ve only had in for 4 months. They were bought second hand, I had the backlash set they were visually tested and fitted as seen. No untoward grumbles (that would be audible in a diesel series) in the preceding 1000miles.

At first I thought id broken a 1/2 shaft because we didn’t have drive. On strip down the N/S 1/2 shaft is stuck firm. Having removed the O/S 1/2 shaft (which is in good condition) I have gone to remove the diff which is not coming out because I suspect it’s being held by the N/S half shaft. To top it off now when i spin the N/S wheel the diff spins. Which suggests the suspected broken half shaft isn’t actually broken.

Efforts to winch out the shaft have extended to dragging the Landy across the yard. I can maybe get 1 inch of movement from it.

Does anyone know a fool proof way of removing the stuck half shaft or a diff with a half shaft stuck in? Any other thoughts would also stop me going crazy.

You aren't going to like this.

And are at risk of breaking the diff centre pin.

But smack the shaft out from the other side.

Having been involved with 4x4 trials have seen many a shaft/diff break including some of mine.
Many moons ago with my series 2a I lost drive and later found I could not remove NS shaft. I had chained other end of axle to a shed stanchion and pulled on stuck shaft with a tractor! It did not come out. Fitted another axle I had. Later curious to find the issue a 9" angle grinder was used to open up the axle.
I found that the shaft had twisted like a candy stick and so much heat had developed the shaft end had welded itself into the diff gear. The lot was toast.
As yours moves there may be a chance of removal as in @Wildefalcon post above. To remove the usual broken off shaft stub I had a hard steel rod of about 10mm diameter the last 3/4 inches of which had been ground to a half moon shape to go past the diff pin and whack it out.
If one does break a shaft out and about best to remove it before driving home, ends are often not a clean break and rub/chew as you drive.

I think it was the first major job I did on a Landrover.

Tried to pull away at a roundabout and lost all drive. Had the presence of mine to jam the yellow knob down to get moving and prevent an accident.

Drove for a few months before I located a new second hand shaft, then figured out how to remove.

Bear in mind I was 18, had no manuals, no internet, no local Landrover community, and only a small collection of second hand Soviet era metric hand tools that my father had inherited from work...