I was in the market for a new garden tractor a year ago, I had a 1978 John Deere 210 with a 4 speed manual gearbox, 39" 3 blade deck and 42"'front blade, but I was working on it as much as operating it so the old girl had to go. I looked extensively at what was on the market and found out "they don't make em like they used to", I quickly ruled out anything from a box store and looked at what real equipment dealers had to offer. I looked at green, orange, blue and yellow tractors, each had their own good qualities, attachment options & features and there was a wide price range. I needed a unit that would be stable enough to mow fairly steep hills, have a deck less than 48", pull a 1000lb + trailer and have a front blade to push heavy wet Nebraska snow, all while staying in my price range <$5000. The only unit I could find that met all of these criteria was the Cub Cadet GT2000 series, as mentioned by a previous reply, they have a heavy duty cast iron hydrostatic transmission that holds 6 quarts of fluid and has a large external spin on filter. If you are going to be using ground engaging equipment like a rear blade to grade your drive, you need a stout tranny, & Johnny bucket makes a nice rear sleeve hitch with electric actuator. I ended up buying a GT2100, the difference from the GT2000 is it has a larger 23HP V twin Kohler command engine, 23/10.5/12 rear tires and an electric actuator that lifts the mower deck and lifts the snow blade also (my favorite feature). I believe the Kohler Command series to be some of the best small engines made today, check them out, the engine is connected directly to the transmission with a drive shaft, no belt, in fact the only belt on it is from the PTO to the deck! To find another "garden tractor" with shaft drive I discovered it would cost twice as much. Cub sells its mower decks separately so you can choose what you need, they have 3 stamped deck options (I have the 42" with a mulch kit) and 2 commercial quality fabricated deck options, I have less than an acre, you may want the fab deck, especially if you have rough terrain or are cutting wild grass & weeds.
I attached some photos of my tractor, it has met and exceeded all my expectations. Happy hunting!