Sorry, no real news in that department. We were loaned a rather beat up Snapper by my wife's son as he didn't need it at the time. We both thought it a good way to economize at that point.
Ended up rebuilding the differential as the main gear was stripped. He's a big dude, hence the stripped gear. Plus, it needed a good carb cleaning, something that had never been done in ten years of use. I found that out when the float stuck and gas filled the crankcase. Once I finished all that stuff, the mower ran pretty well.
However, he and his fiance are buying a house so we will be returning the mower. We're going to start looking for a new one again.