Increasing the horsepower will accomplish your stated concerns rather quickly - belts, gearboxes - and also a lot of fuel. An AFX rotor costs in the neighborhood of $4500-4700. My machine had a worn out transition cone (3rd one),grain tank, clean grain, return augers and other things so it was pretty involved. Of course all the flow vanes were replaced while the rotor was out. I put in all heavy duty parts this time so it was pricey. If I remember right the heavy duty parts can cost about 3 times the regular. Total parts, final drives and transmission oil changes, inspection, labor = $9700. Here's a tip: I had the grain tank augers balanced and boy did that make a difference. Really smooth. Maybe you already do that but it was a new one for me. I want this machine to last me another 3 years minimum. I harvest my own crops only of 1400+ acres soybeans, 200 milo, 250 yellow corn (I raise about 900 acres of seedcorn). It's a pretty good fit for this operation.