Well time has past and so has the faithful friend. The repair loosened up after 3 hrs to a point where the clank sound and the rap in the seat were back. Not wanting to destroy the block or bearings, I just stopped using the machine. A neighbor of mine is looking for a crankshaft for his 1200 rebuild project. In retrospect, I would leave the old slipping clutch in these gear machines; it's protecting a very unreplaceable crankshaft (I had replaced the clutch a couple of months before the break). Investment wise, the machine, blade and the Woods finish rm59 cost $2600. ten years ago. Another possible lesson here is to remember that this was a early generation compact tractor; there weren't all that many imported, and it is not going to be a significant Smithsonian piece. The machine owes me nothing./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif SteveV