Well, the tractor is back together. Everything works great! The transmission I bought was a little different than mine, so I had to swap a few additional gears to get everything to work right. Drove her around for a while today.
Did some wiring too. Put in a new fuse block and wired the back lights to blink simultaneously (like hazard lights)
I ordered a new seat and am in the market for a steering wheel.
Also, the 8mm bearing balls worked fine too. The 4x4 shaft slipped right on.
Thanks for all your help guys.
Greg