The motor is a turd, and can be either very problematic, or run great, it's a crap shoot.
If the clutch goes out, be ready to be down for at least three weeks while they try to figure out how to bleed it, and even then it may never work right. I have seen that SEVERAL times before. Even did a half ton of that year in the garage, never could get it right with ALL new parts?
The 3.42 gears will KILL any gain you made with the diesel! Great for a contractor just hauling lumber and hand tools. Put a skidsteer on the back and I am afraid it will be miserable experiance!!
But gears and rear ends are cheap enough, as Carl pointed out, so thats an easy fix.
I will say to stay away from it, I don't care for the motor, like I say, it's a good one, or a junk one, and you will never know until you own it. That being the first generation with the Hyd. clutch is another big issue with me. I would rather swap out six auto trannies before I do another one of those clutches!