After reading the first part of this thread, I was feeling ripped off having sent my gearmotor to PBR. Now seeing the easy fix isn't so easy, I can put it behind me. Not sure why but I was fearful to grind open the rivets on the gearbox. Perhaps because there are no new units and PBR only exchanges for repairable units. Good thing JD is a decent machine, as I have quite a bit more in mine than many people would be willing to pay for that title.
Hopefully Steve will sell you that faulty gear/shaft though there's a lot less gravy for doing that. I would have tried to do that if I had seen this thread last year.