Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): Oil leak and sloppy steering, craftsman model, s10 pickup

Question
First the oil leak.  I was given this Craftsman Model number 917.256552 lawn tractor and while unloading it from my little S10 pickup the planks slipped from the tail gate causing the unload to be faster than I wanted.  The back wheels were about 6" from the ground and the front wheels about 16" from the grount when it dropped.  It landed on the wheels with a small bounce.  I started and run it around the yard a bit to see if there was any apparant damage.  I then set it in the garage.  The next day I came out and started the tractor and smoke was everywhere and I saw it was being burned off the muffler.  This has a Kohler 15hp OHV engine.  I shut it off and looked on the garage floor and there was a considerable pool of oil.  I wondered if this was a 'before' problem so I went and looked in the bed of the truck....no oil.  The tractor was driven on to the truck so the motor was hot then.  Where would the oil be leaking from to have gotten onto the muffler?  Could something have gotten damaged in the fall?  I checked the oil a couple of days later and it was near empty but I do not see any new oil on the muffler or the ground at the front.  It is sitting on grass now.  The steering is very sloppy.  The wheel turns a half turn before responding.  Is there an adjustment for that?  The tractor obviously was not well taken care of as there was the usual grease covered engine preventing me to seeing a 'new' leak.  Go ahead, tell the truth, I am a 70 year old hardshell I can handle it.  : )

Melvin

Answer
In the words of Jack Nicholson, "The truth! You can't handle the truth"
You bought a TERD! The steering can be repaired with a complete steering kit available from the good folks at Sears for about 65.00.
Where I work we drop tractors twice as far as you did a couple of times a week. We even have a guy at work we call"Flipper" because he dumps so many. Never does it cause an oil leak. The only things that will drop oil on the muffler are the valve cover or the head gasket.
Fill the engine up with oil and park it over a piece of cardboard. Check out the puddle and look up. There's your leak.