So, expecting the worse:    the front bearing being  shot...    (there's  2  tapered roller bearings on the back half of the  output shaft,  and a single   cylindrical roller brg.  on the front)

I went ahead and  removed the  fuel tank.   getting ready to  remove the lift cover.        I"m thinking  since this is a high hour  PTO  machine,  and still will be used as one,   I better make sure the  bushings inside the  drive gears,  thrust washers between them, are all up to snuff.         

Knocking  the front bearing out is  done  from the  differential side of the  case to the rear,   so   taking off the top kills 2 birds with one stone.     I just hope the parent bore for that bearing is ok!!!    


I'm thinking  not keeping the tractor's  pto  shaft  close to  'new'   is  what  started this-    a little slop,  but still quite  usable,   only  chewed up the  quick attach  yoke,  which  only  made the runout worse and worse...      Running the baler @540  is a lot  different than  all winter  @1000!!