DeWalt DW733 Problem

My planer, DW733 is almost 4 years old and has lite to moderate use.
I've been careful to release the locking bar before adjusting the depth and locking it afterward.
Now the crank that allows you to adjust the depth of cut is almost impossible to move up or down. After about the 3" mark it finally loosens up.
I'm wondering if all the rough sawn 5/4 pine I recently planed screwed it up somehow. But thats what the machine is for.
I've cleaned the posts and took a toothbrush to the jacking screws but no luck.
I was running it without the dust chute because I didn't the the DC yet and my shop vac did't work well.
Any ideas ????

That sounds like something is blocking the movement still. I would dig deeper to see that all involved moving parts are free to move as designed. . . . I know that wasn't really helpful.

Check for a chunk of pine lodged in the side. I have this happen all the time.

Unplug it. Take that handy little allen wrench that is sitting in its home on the lid and take out the four screws holding the top on and sheck out the linkage. If you haven't done this before thats how you change the blades. You might have something on the chain or the drive sprockets. While you got the cover off you might want to take the blades out and c lean them. The pine has a lot of pitch in it so you blades might need to be cleaned also.

Thanks guys, I'll give it a try this weekend.

Note to self...Never use the planer without DC.

What a mess. Chips were stuck solid in every possible nook or cranny. I must of had 5 bf of lumber in there. Well almost.
It took me 45 min to clean them all out. I cleaned the blades, which were pretty gummed up, polished and lubed the 4 posts, cleaned the rollers, cleaned the threads on the post screw and reinstalled the dust chute. I took duct tape and covered up all the small openings around the dust chute. I challenge any dust molecule to get past my new defenses and jam it up again
Fired it up and it works like new

Thanks for all the pointers folks. U You guys really helped out

Great news. You gotta love this forum.