I am doing the same thing with the same type of craftsman mower. Please Email me and lets talk . I am having a hard time getting the gears out of the mower, need help my Email is jdnndn59@yahoo.com give me a helping hand.

Well folks did we come to a conclusion here? the 3200 vs the X540. The X540 is water cooled so there is an advantage of sorts there. But the Cub is much stronger and heavier were it counts most. Shaft drive along with attachments goes a long way reducing maintainence. Both have diff. lock. The Cub offers the toughest decks in the industry (depending on model) Yes the x540 is more refined and with better ergo's. But it costs a significantly more than the Cub - Let us know where it goes - Duc

Done! And not nearly as bad as I was expecting. Just a brief follow-up DIY for anyone that reads this and is thinking about doing it. I'm doing this from memory so ... I may miss a thing here or there. I'll try to break this down into a few parts. Removing the steering wheel. Removing the dash. Removing what I'll refer to as the battery tray. Removing the steering assembly. Installing the new assembly. What you'll need: New steering assembly Socket set 10" extension for your socket set (not required but it will make things much easier) Small hands Around 4-5 hours of time, maybe more, maybe less. But I think this is a good guess. Ok step 1 removing the wheel. Pretty easy. Remove the center cover of the wheel. This should just snap off. There is one nut holding the wheel on. Remove this. Remove the wheel. We're off to a good start haha. Under the wheel will be a metal bushing. This will need to come off. It may come off easy, it may require banging it with a hammer. But it should come up and off. Step 2 remove the battery. Disconnect the negative terminal first. Then the positive. Take the battery out. There is a little tray that captures battery run-off that the battery sets on, remove this as well. There is a little tube attached to the bottom, just disconnect and set aside. Step 3 removing the dash. Not too bad either. You may want to take some pictures of where all the wires go or label them with duct tape prior to removal. This will make things easier when putting everything back together. Remove the two wires running to the amp meter. Remove the two wires running to the light switch. There are two bolts holding the throttle on, remove these. Remove the little ball on top of the blade switch .. this just screws off. And remove the plug running to the key switch. Now, there are 4 bolts (2 on each side) holding the dash to the mower. Identify these and remove. Pull the dash off and set aside. Step 4. Removing the battery tray. No, not the runoff tray that was too easy. The battery tray is held on by I belive 6 bolts (3 on each side) possibly 8 I don't recall. Identify and remove. Now, the blade height knob needs to be disconnected. Before doing this, ensure the blade is pulled up using the blade lever? The lever on the left hand side which you can pull the blade up with. Now, follow the blade knob. There is a spring, and then it screws into something. You'll see what I mean. On the very end of the knob, past the part it screws into there is a pin to prevent you from unscrewing it completely. This needs to be removed. I straightened and then removed mine with a needle nose. This will take a little patience but it will come out. Just make sure not to drop it once you get it out. Now, you can unscrew the blade knob until it comes out. It won't come out of the battery tray and it doesn't need to, it just needs to be unscrewed. Hope this makes sense. Next, there is an electrical cable which will prevent you from removing the tray. This gave me the most trouble. You need to get enough slack in the cable so you can manuever it around the tray, yes this can be done. To do this I first disconnected the cable from the headlight in the front of the hood. Next I disconnected a few wires right where the positive battery wire comes out. There was a very small red wire which I disconnected. And two small wires with clips that I removed. You'll just have to find these, I can't explain where they go. All I can tell you is it's right by where the positive battery wire connects to the tractor. Now, you should be able to get enough slack to get the tray out. Step 5. Hopefully you've gotten the tray out and now should be staring face to face with the steering assembly. The assembly is held onto the base of the tractor by 4 bolts. This is where the 10" extension will make life easier. But first, disconnect the assembly from the rod that runs to the wheels. Again, unsure of the name but you can't miss it. There is a metal lever that runs out the bottom of the assembly and to the rod. This is held onto the rod by a nut and washer. Remove. This is where the small hands will come into play. Next, remove the 4 bolts holding the assembly to the tractor. Now, with some play, you should be able to slide the assembly off of the rod that runs to the wheels and off of the tractor. Step 6. Install the new steering assembly. Before attaching the assembly to the tractor, attach the lever to the rod that goes to the wheels with washer and nut. Next, fasten the assembly to the tractor with the 4 bolts. Make these as tight as you can. In the event they come lose, I don't think there is anyway to tighten them without completely removing the dash and tray again. Position the steering column so that you'll be able to slide the tray on. Step 7. Re-intall the tray. Slide it down the steering column, put the electrical cables back where they belong. Re-attach the little red wire, and the two other wires which were disconnected. Re-attach the blade height adjustment knob. Reinstall the pin on the end of the knob. Re-attach the bolts. Step 8. Re-install the dash. Re-attach the plug for the key/ignition. Re-attach the amp meter. Re-attach the light switch. Re-attach the throttle. Screw the knob back onto the blade engage switch. Re-attach the bolts that hold the dash on. Step 9. Attach the battery. Step 10. Attach the wheel. Step 11. Enjoy your tractor! Later!

As long as your friend didn't bugger things up too much, these aren't too hard to work on, but are expensive for parts. Tractor was made for Sears by Murray. Transaxle is a conventional Peerless 930 (930-042) with special axle shafts. Sears and others say NLA, but others offer for around $400. The U-joint (320531MA) and the Hub (12280E701MA) are each around $100. Some of the other parts are available show NLA from Sears, but others may have them. Cheapest fix might be to find a donor tractor for parts, or convert to a conventional 930 transaxle with long axles and go to two wheel steering. Transaxle mounts to frame the same, and with new wheels on end of shaft you should be good to go.