Kubota, is the best for the money IMO. You can spend lots more on Case and a few others but I LOVED every Bota I had the pleasure to play around with.

But we have a Craftsman lawn tractor and I say it's so so but adequete to do the job. I'm not too sure how much you have to gain by going John Deere because Deere quality isn't what it was years ago.

You might be able to find a used Gravely, Deere or Cub.