AC 175

The rear end oil looks to be 2% milk , drained it out already.  Did find 2 needle bearing pins....  Given they were on the magnet & had clearly been there a while (in addition to the fluid being old as hell) I'm hopeful it's not an end of the world deal.  Should I just drop them back in with the new oil and hope they find their way back home? 

Are there any drains on the side planetary drives next to the rear wheels?  And are those connected to the center rear oil reservoir? Or do they get their own oil?

Hydraulic oil was better, but not great.  Trying to find a hose from the reservoir to the pump is a challenge as it's 1" & 1.5" on the pump.  I'll talk to the dealership tomorrow, but I'm guessing that's not a part that's gonna be easy or cheap to find?  

I'm also going to rewire it and put in new gauges.  

She's gonna be a shredder tractor, might pull a drag or box blade from time to time...possibly a small disk to level out some of the 14 acres of lawn we have here. 

I've got industrial equipment, didn't want to spend a ton on a tractor.  Not impressed with the new crap, and with a skid and 18k pound midi ex & 8K telehandler a tractor isn't critical.  

I was worried you'd have to drop the pans...which means I'll probably need new gaskets I'm guessing.  Put that on the list...I'm sure it's NEVER been done. 

I was kidding about the needle bearings.  I've never had that before...I know it's not good. But wasn't sure how big of deal it really is...

I have a side mount pump. 

Wiring is pretty much patched up junk.  Paint isn't good.  Mine's a 'Crop Hustler' so I'm sure that makes it worth way more.  :)  

It needs a good bath, a little straightening, new wiring, and new fluids. 

She's gonna get new paint, decals, seat, steering wheel (it's shot), as well.  I'm also planning to make a sun shade for it and it's getting LED lighting (no lights on it right now that are in one piece) as well as flashers for the road (got a property 10 miles from here that needs shredded as well).

I don't think there's a whole lot that couldn't be made to work on this baby, even if parts got harder to find.  With the internet, I think about anything can be done on a tractor this simple.