Narrative:

On takeoff; landing gear failed to retract. After asking for a level off at 5;000 and receiving vectors to remain clear of the terrain; I took the radios and had the first officer (first officer) run the appropriate checklist. The gear still did not retract. I then transferred controls and radio to the first officer and ran the checklist again myself. Still no retraction. I notified ATC an emergency and then ACARS dispatch for a good VHF frequency to contact them. On contact; I asked maintenance control to be included. Maintenance had us repeat the checklist steps of opening and closing the manual gear extension door. We had both done this multiple times with no effect. I repeated it; and even worked the lever inside the door and banged with my fist on the closed door. No effect. We then decided with dispatch to burn down to max landing weight and return to departure airport. A few minutes into this; and after I had briefed the flight attendants; the first officer asked to get out of his seat and actually pound on the manual gear extension door with his heal. I took the radios and controls and he did this. The gear then retracted.I asked for 15;000 feet; to save fuel and contacted dispatch again. I explained that we had gotten the gear up; gave current fuel; and asked her to run the numbers to see if we could proceed to destination. She gave us a remaining fuel at touchdown of 6;300 pounds. I replied that I did not think that was accurate and we would be lower than that. We agreed to proceed based on that number and if it did not hold up; we would plan a fuel stop. Weather at destination was VFR. I cancelled the emergency; briefed the flight attendants on the new plan and we proceeded [to destination] with fuel at landing planned 5;400 pounds. At top of descent; we briefed that any delay at all we would declare minimum fuel and if forced to execute a missed approach we would identify as a fuel emergency. We landed with no further issues. My first officer did an excellent job.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported the landing gear failed to retract normally after takeoff. After several unsuccessful attempts using alternate retraction procedures; a subsequent effort was successful.

Narrative: On takeoff; landing gear failed to retract. After asking for a level off at 5;000 and receiving vectors to remain clear of the terrain; I took the radios and had the First Officer (F/O) run the appropriate checklist. The gear still did not retract. I then transferred controls and radio to the F/O and ran the checklist again myself. Still no retraction. I notified ATC an emergency and then ACARS Dispatch for a good VHF frequency to contact them. On contact; I asked Maintenance Control to be included. Maintenance had us repeat the checklist steps of opening and closing the manual gear extension door. We had both done this multiple times with no effect. I repeated it; and even worked the lever inside the door and banged with my fist on the closed door. No effect. We then decided with Dispatch to burn down to max landing weight and return to Departure Airport. A few minutes into this; and after I had briefed the flight attendants; the F/O asked to get out of his seat and actually pound on the manual gear extension door with his heal. I took the radios and controls and he did this. The gear then retracted.I asked for 15;000 feet; to save fuel and contacted Dispatch again. I explained that we had gotten the gear up; gave current fuel; and asked her to run the numbers to see if we could proceed to destination. She gave us a Remaining Fuel At Touchdown of 6;300 pounds. I replied that I did not think that was accurate and we would be lower than that. We agreed to proceed based on that number and if it did not hold up; we would plan a fuel stop. Weather at destination was VFR. I cancelled the emergency; briefed the flight attendants on the new plan and we proceeded [to destination] with fuel at landing planned 5;400 pounds. At top of descent; we briefed that any delay at all we would declare minimum fuel and if forced to execute a missed approach we would identify as a fuel emergency. We landed with no further issues. My first officer did an excellent job.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.