ok, i am changeing the hydraulic fluid in my case 970, and have found some broken gears that came out of the drain plugs, is this a huge issue, what should i be looking for, also the power steering works, but feels somewhat slugish, i feel like i should be able to keep turning the wheel with minimal effort and have the front wheel move, instead if i stop turning the wheel for a second and start turning again it turns with ease, thanks in advance

It is a common Delco/GM starter. Any good starter shop should have it. While you are at it, you could have the shop build you a 40 series starter for it, if you are in a cold climate, it will be a big help.

As you probably have figured out, it might be just as smart to refresh the oil and filters and run some good systems checks. If everything operates as it should, RUN IT! No way to know where the trash came from but you might be on a wild goose chase otherwise.
I never like that unknown feeling but it could save you a LOT of time to ignore it unless other signs show up like more chucks or debris in the filter. Also, this might be one of those times where a scope could come in handy! Get in there and look around a bit to see how things look. Won't give you the full story but only other option IMO is a complete tear down and inspect/replace it ALL. Bearings, gears, shafts, bushings, mic it all and figure out what you bought.
I am playing that game as I type...... :D

Could be from a starter drive that failed

didnt even think of that it looks alot like a starter gear, ill look at my starter, but im guessing it may have been from an old one

i have confirmed that its from an old starter drive, same shape off an old starter as mine has all teeth, also the teeth on my new one are getting wore, can you buy just the drive gear

i believe it came from 3rd drain plug from front, the bottom most hole had some metal filings but no big chunks, the hyd filters the 25 micron had filngs in it, should i replace these in near future as well as know like know and 30 hrs from know it is a power shift trans

I’m not the best person for diagnosing a broken piece of gear but it looks like to me that it’s either a piece of spider gear or a gear for the hydraulic pump drive.

Do you know the history of the tractor?

It is possible the tractor had a gear failure at one time in its life and that’s just a piece of left over gear that’s made it to the drain hole.

no history, bought it at an auction it wont get hard use from me, but i dont want to fix it constantly, im very big on proper maintenance

Power shift? Gears, or springs and steel scraps? If power shift, and if spring parts + steel scraps that come out of the front plugs it would most likely be pieces from a previous torque limiter failure. If gear parts it could be very serious.

also is it possible that the gears are from the hydraulic pump, or are they trans gears

We need a description of the broken parts, or better yet a pic. there are lots o gears in the tranny o a 970. Is it a PS or 8spd. What compartment did the peices come out of. There is a good chanch that your whole hydraulic system is contaminated, and that is causing your steering problems.
Loren