Best Deere and possibly any push mower ever built

That’s right folks. I’m referring to the silver deck 14SE. I saw a guy using it so I stopped and asked him if he’d like to sell that old lawn mower to me. I told him it had sentimental value (which it does). I gave him $50 for the running mower and I bought new wheels and the discharge chute for it. It has served me great now for the past 3 years but last year started having some issues with turning. It’s acting like gears are binding up and not letting the 2 rear wheels turn independently. Easy fix? Or do I need a new transmission for the thing?

I also have a gravely walk behind, exmark vantage, and another residential mower that’s a craftsman. Don’t hurt me. It was free.

there is a gear, key, and spring on each side that ratchet, they require cleaning and lubrication every now and then (see #15,26, & 27 in below picture)
if you remove the rear wheel you'll see the gear. I'm not home or I'd scan you the shop pages for it. I'll try to put them here tomorrow night when I'm back home.
you are correct about how great they are!

Sounds like a pretty cheap fix. After that next project is to figure out why it won’t turn off when I throttle it all the way down.

What make it better than the rest ?