On July 17, 1994, at 1020 central daylight time, a Beech 17, N1184V, sustained substantial damage when it struck a sign during an aborted landing at a private airstrip in Elgin, Nebraska. The commercial pilot landed the airplane on an adjacent field. The pilot reported he elected to abort the landing because he was unable to fully extend the airplane's landing gear. Neither the pilot, nor his sole passenger were injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight originated in Columbus, Nebraska, without flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. According to the pilot, he lowered the landing gear in preparation to land while on the downwind leg at Elgin. All indications were normal. When he flared the airplane for touchdown, the pilot realized that the airplane was settling closer to the ground then normal. He elected to go around and added full power. While climbing, the airplane's right wing struck a road sign which was located at the west end of the runway. The airplane landed on a field approximately 100 feet from the runway with the gear partially extended. A postaccident examination of the airplane was performed by the FAA. A complete retraction check on the landing gear could not be done due to the severity of the damage to the gear retraction system. The landing gear motor was operated in both directions by selecting the landing gear selector in both the up and down positions. During the test, the landing gear motor did stop twice without any external influence.