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I'll pipe in as well on it being the gears, and not the bearings. Bearings tend to rumble, not whine. Now truthfully (at least for me) the ole tractor just doesn't get driven that much. So I don't revolve the rear end gears that much. Heck, I probably spin the differential more in my car on one commute to work then I do the tractor all year. And even if I really worked the tractor a lot, it just doesn't move that fast, so it doesn't revolve the differential much. I think you've got a little time before doing bad wear to the teeth. The tractor is pretty simple and open. So I'd be willing to try doing this job myself. Personally, I've never done a rear end. But since I could afford to lay the tractor up for a little while while I figured it out, I'd be willing to try it. If for nothing else then the experience. If I fail, I'd have no losses as in both cases the tractor would have to be trailered to a repair facility. So nothing lost by trying and learning. There are excellent books and booklets covering rear ends and the gear tooth interfaces. It's actually a pretty straight forward concept to grasp if you take your time. Now one other thing to check with the gears before you go tearing it down, does it matter if you turn the tractor? If it does, look at your spider gears. I had a set that growled in my old RX-7. Very identifyable by the change in tone when turning. And, they lasted at least the 200K miles I had on the car when I sold it, including god knows how many weeks running dry at around 120K because the differential unbolted it's nose and drained its oil out. I noticed it finally when doing some other work.
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