190XT 5th gear

I bought my first AC this spring.  It's a nice 190XT Series III diesel with 4300 hours, cab & loader.  I was aware of the gear popping issues & when I tried out the 190 I could not get it to pop out.  Of course the owner said it was a good tractor with no gear issues.  I was cutting hay with it yesterday, came down my first of many steep hills and it popped out of 5th gear.  I have some more gradual hills and it did not pop out going down those hills.  From doing some other searches, it sounds like some major work to fix it.  I had split some smaller tractors, but I think this may be over my head.  I do have a AGCO dealer a few miles away and plan on getting an estimate on prices.  I'm guessing $3-$4K.  Can anyone give any better insite on this issue, or does anyone know any good small repair shops in the eastern WIS area?

That is one sharp original looking 190.  To do the job, most of it is labor.  The parts to look at include excessive wear on the shift fork, and up and down movement of the input shaft (sloppy bearings in the tranny) - these are the main items that cause gear jumping.  Prices from AGCO can be high, but A&I also carries replacements that are more reasonably priced.

I put a tarp strap on mine for several years. Worked for me.

A few years ago a buddy of mine bought a 170 with that problem and he took it to an independent shop that fixed it for less than $2000 but I don't know what he had done to it.