More than a few jobs ago I worked for a tier 1 supplier for lawn and garden tractors. At that time we had about 50% of the riding mower business and today they have almost 100% of the business (hyrdostatic / automatic models). Some things to know:
- There are dozens of brands but 99% of the riding mowers in the USA are made by 3 companies: MTD, Husqvarna, and John Deere.
- Any riding mower you find in a big box store like Home Depot is a disposable unit meant to outlast the monthly payment. You are looking at a design life of 250 hours and while they sell snow blades none are designed to plow or tow.
- Large diameter drive wheels are really hard on the hydraulics
- Zero-turns are great on flat lawns but dangerous on slopes.
I would personally buy a used quality unit instead of a cheap mower from a big box store
The HUSQVARNA R220T is better than most residential mowers. Get the HUSQVARNA R322T AWD if you need AWD for slopes or snow plowing. The articulating riders are fantastic, way better than a zero turn in my opinion.
In a traditional tractor I would go with a Simplicity Regent
For electric: I had a corded electric Black and Decker mow a 6000 sq ft city lot with a 2000 sq ft house on it. It worked fine with the small yard but died after 6 years.