Looking at MF 1155 - Transmission Question

[kimtexn]

Hi All,
I'm new to this forum and board, so please forgive me if my questions sound dumb...
I am looking at a Massey Ferguson 1155 locally for what seems to be a good price, compared to ones I see on TractorHouse.com. The fellow who has it says that he bought it at an auction and drove it back to his shop about 60 miles. To me, that's a good sign that at least the engine must be OK. Its batteries are dead, but he's charging them so I can hear it run this evening. I've never driven a tractor this big, so I'm not sure about everything to look for. My biggest question is about the transmission...this one doesn't have a regular transmission. From the ones on TractorHouse, it looks like it has the one called Synchro Shift, or Partial Powershift. What can I check to see that it's working correctly? I think that I can figure out which levers control the PTO and 3-point, so I think that I can check them out. I've read and heard that these types of transmissions can be very expensive to fix, so I just want to make sure that I can tell if something is wrong. He already told me that the brakes are weak, but that's something that I'd expect for a 40 year-old tractor...
Thanks!

[cowski]

one of the problems you have with those tractors is the break lining coming loose and plugging the hydraulics up.put the transmission in a higher gear and flip the multiplier while holding on the brakes ,to see if it slips.