I don't want to deal with DEF either. I'm sure it's great until it's not. Everyone who likes it, hasn't had an issue with it. My guess is that will change as soon as something goes wrong. There are too many posts on here, and other sites, about issues with their tractors because of REGEN. I don't want a tractor that has to REGEN, which means not buying one that uses DEF.
I've noticed that people like to mention that when a Tier4 tractor with DEF and REGEN fails, it's the operators fault. I can't disagree with this, but I also don't want to own a tractor that requires specific operating procedures to keep it working. I want a simple to operate tractor, that I can use when I want to, how I want to.
I don't understand why some companies use DEF on tractors under 75HP and others don't. When I was looking, I started out looking at used tractors from 2012 and older. That is the most common year when everything changed.
Everything I saw was well used, and overpriced. Eventually, I started looking at new tractors without DEF in the 70HP range. I decided that the Massey Ferguson 4707 was the best one out there for what I wanted. I've been waiting on it since November, so I can't comment on the wisdom of my choice.
Here is a chart that I came across that I found helpful in looking at new tractors.