Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): Craftsman MTS 5500, metal pieces, transaxle

Question
Hello,
while cutting my grass the LR axle broke on my tractor.Couple of questions..1..is this a big problem with the craftsman brand tractors? 2..is this worth fixing? 3..does anything special have to be done to the new transaxle after installing or is this a matter of just swapping out the transaxle? 4..what options are available if any for disposing of the old part?...Thank you for any help

Answer
Did the axle itself break or did the axle retainer clip break inside the tranmsission?

The link below should help out:

http://scia.rrvsd.ca/pdf/Links/Techumseh%20motion%20drive%20systems.pdf

The only thing I could think of that might have been damaged is the transmission housing if the axle wore on it or if the axle retainer clip caused some internal damage.

I would look at the transmission, clean all the parts as the old grease will be nasty and any metal pieces will stick like crazy.  

Once the parts and housing is clean I'd put is back together with new grease.  One thing you might replace are the shift pins as they have been known to break.

Let me know if the link helps.

Eric