Shift Linkage Help!

[FSU_Ranger]

My transmission, which was rebuilt less than two years ago, has been shifting hard for quite some time. Earlier this evening, it all but refused to shift above second gear. Thinking it may have been the shift linkage, I went around and tried to find a problem. The upper cable coming to the transmission is held to a bracket by a bolt and nut, and it seemed loose. When I tried to tighten it, the bolt sheared off. Does anybody have any advice on how to fix this problem? Would it be possible to weld the shift linkage to where the bolt was? Thanks and sorry for the long post.