I agree with camaro, the conventional 3 speed powershift seems to have a life of about 5000 hours or so, then you can count on rebuilding it if it hasn't failed already. If it piles up, you're looking at easily $3000-$6000 canadian to repair (and that's using mostly salvage parts). The 3294, however, does not have a conventional 3 speed powershift in it. It has a 4 range _ 6 powershift (24 speed rather than the common 12 speed in earlier models) and SEEMS (I haven't really formed an opinion on this one yet) to be a bit more trustworthy. I have seen upwards of 10000 hours on these transmissions without an overhaul, but that is with exceptional service practices. I have no serious qualms with the 504 engine, just keep faithful with regular service. The 3294 also had 2 choices of FWA axle, those being ZF or Carrero. More parts seem to sell for the Carrero axle than the ZF. It's difficult otherwise to tell which is the better axle. You can usually tell the difference by the front wheel bolt count. ZF is normally 10 bolt while Carrero is a 6 bolt pattern. As for the Magnum series tractors, I have a 7110 that I bought new in 1987. It had a transmission failure at 3000 hours, but I haven't heard of this being a huge problem in the Magnum series otherwise. It's been an excellent tractor barring that one episode. Hope this helps!