170 transmission

Reverse gear went out on my 170 on Friday. It's been very noisy in both first and reverse since I bought it 6 months ago; quieter and easier to shift when the oil was heavy when cold then louder when it warmed up. On Friday the gear shift began to get an off and on vibration in that position, so I quit working and headed in, but it wouldn't hold in reverse as I was putting it into the shop unless I put a little light backpressure on the gearshift. Was hoping for a detent spring or fork, but took it apart Sat**day am and sections of tooth have sheared off. I see the fork has been brazed together by the previous owner. Looking for advice of who has the best manual for a guy who has some mechanical experience, but first time on a transmission, tackling this job.      

Thank you Doctor! That will challenge me. Also wanted to thank you again about the insulation advice. It had vented gas while disking or "bush hogging" even at the half full mark until I put some fiberglass batting between the block/manifold and the tank. Probably saved me both gasoline and from making a rapid abandon ship maneuver at some point in the future!

I'll take some pictures and post in a week or so when I get back to the farm. I did take two, but better ones could be made. Probably showing my ignorance, but as far down into the transmission as you can get, and the back gear. Sitting half submerged in the oil when it is filled to the correct level on the dipstick. I'm not seeing any easy way of getting to it without at least splitting the tractor. I didn't have time to drain the oil yet so there may be a lot more damaged than just one gear. Prior to my buying it, it had over 6000 hrs on it as the loader on a dairy farm. I put about 20 hrs on before this happened, and I'm weighing out the pros and cons of fix vs parting it out and swapping what I could--loader (417)-- engine, tires to a WD with low hours on it, or go looking for another rear half, etc. Bought it for occasional use, thought I'd put 40 or 50 hrs on it a year as a utility tractor. Grew up on WD's-- have four--but I really loved the way this was set up, and wanted one since I was a kid in the early '70's. Had built log forks, second bucket, fixed the steering, put air shock on seat, etc and this kind of took the wind out of the sails last weekend.
   

I'm thinking you are probably right Dr. The drawbar has very little wear--holes aren't worn on the edges at all--so I don't believe it had a lot of field time. It's not the sliding idler you fellows are describing. I've babied it when I shifted but there were times when it would go right in reverse smoothly and times when it was reluctant, with both the clutch in, and power director neutral, idled right down. I think they added about 6" to the front of the bucket as well at some point to increase capacity.