Hi Dutch and mfreund,
Just a quick update. My father did not buy the blower that I posted the question about. I ended up finding just a quick hitch on craigslist that came off a x595. It was a divorce and the seller never got the tractor back from the ex but had the quick hitch. He was able to get it for $280. New ones are now over $700 even though the build it online still shows $615. Then I found a really nice 47 blower with the implement drive and upstop, along with the main PTO shaft, missing the quick hitch the previous owner kept, for $1,500 at a local JD dealer on MachineFinder. The only problem was he still needed the shaft that I was questioning that runs through the front axle. The dealer with the blower sold him the complete 2000 Front PTO Kit for $293 and then discounted it $50 if he gave them the old PTO shaft back since the kit came with a new one. So all said and done he has $2,216 w/ tax into the setup. The blower looks like brand new and had maybe been used once or twice according to the dealer. Though not a steal, he ended up with a really nice blower for at least $1,257 less than a new, with the tax figured in, setup. The savings is probably a little more considering the dealer said prices have gone up on the new since he got the original quote last year. Thanks again for the help and info to know what he needed to get a 47 blower working on his x595.
Take care,
Russ