Matt, the regular Snappers front axles are straight through. That's why they stay better aligned then the rest with stub axles on the adjusters. Perry, haven't seen them yet but from others comments on other forums the Sears Snapper has little similarity other then name and color. Much the same as when Toro changed the name of the original Recycler to Super Recycler and introduced the the Home Depot designed as Recycler. The HD Recycler had little to do with what one considers a real Toro. Same applies with the Sears Snapper. But folks will buy them cause they got a piece of plastic in their wallets with Sears on it. The positive side to this is that unlike much of the MTD line up using Chinese engines and decks this cheap extension of the Snapper line keeps jobs here at home.

Rod, sounds like your dealer was working a little scam on you. His price reduction to $599 is what I paid for mine at Home Depot, its their every day price. Thats one of the problems with locally owned small dealers. They drop their price to what the big guys charge every day and make you think they are doing you a favor, or its a limited time special deal...so buy now. David, your yard is about the size of mine. The HRX may be overkill, but its just made a little better and hopefully will last a little longer. As I said, with Honda your not going to go wrong regardless if you buy the bottom or top of the line, IMO. Thats a choice you need to make based on what you want vs. what you have to spend. I'm thinking my HRX mower will last longer than I will remain in my current house and who knows what kind of yard the next house will have. Could be small, could be much bigger. To answer your question on switching between mulching and bagging on the HRX line, it can't be more simple. Your right, to switch between mulching and bagging on the HRR line you have to remove the bag and insert the "mulching plug". The HRX line has the versamow system. There is a lever that has 10 setting from 100% bag, to 100% mulch with 8 levels in between where you can partially bag. I found this most useful in my lawn by getting rid of some leaf accumulation I had. Chop them up into smaller pieces for a little mulch and bag the excess in one pass. I don't do this but if you had a compost pile and wanted to mulch as well it would be great. I'm not sure if I have the patience for composting.

If it were me on this particular tractor, after checking the the brakes to ensure the mechanisim is free- I would drop the deck and have a look at the belt tension, idler pulleys and then turn my attention to the engine drive pulley. The upper pulley on these split sometimes so then the belt is driving from the bottom. It is a possibility that the driven pulley on the transaxle is worn too. Some Murrays, the steering shaft needs to be lifted out to get the belt on. I've seen where belts have been put on rubbing on the shaft a couple times. You want to know that you have solid input to the transaxle. The description does sound like an internal transaxle issue, but cover your bases first. If all else is good, pull the transxle and clean it up real good and get back to us with the specs. The numbers of which you seek will be on the tag. Certainly the tag is still there! If not, search for the 205 write ups w/ pics of the bellow kit install and you will likley have a match.

There is a way in which a driveshaft can be severly damaged: The front U-joint breaks dropping the front end of the drive shaft onto the street while the rear end remains attached. The front end of the shaft slides to the side and is run over by the rear wheels. Lots of damage in this scenario, not to mention potential contact with the vehicle in the adjacent lane. To guard from this hazard, install a catch loop under the drive shaft. Its purpose is prevent the front end of the drive shaft from falling onto the roadway.