I was told for years to go with cub cadet or John Deere. I settled on the JD. No big complaints; the gas gauge quit on me about a year in, and I had to repair the blade deck after a cotter pin broke loose. Mine’s 42 inch.
Got the $$ and a place to store it come Winter go here:
http://scag.com/zeroturns.html
What ever you get run Ethnol Free Gas in it and eliminate fuel problems all year long especially after storage.
http://scag.com/zeroturns.html
I had an MDT from Walmart that lasted almost 20yrs., a friend had his dads cub cadet from the early 70’s and its still running, so I then went with Cub Cadet, after 2 yrs the welds broke and the mower deck fell apart. $3000 down the drain. I’ll never own another one. I am now looking for the old twist blade manual push mower. My dad had one from the early 50’s and it got stolen a year ago. If I was to get another riding mower I’d go with a John Deer, that I could put a plow attachment or snowblower on it.
If you can find a Graverly with attachments you could even farm!
Look around for features like a shaft drive. My neighbor has a Deer that is around 5 and he has it in the shop 3 to 5 times a year.