I second skipping the mid mount mower. I can’t see why anyone would buy a tractor without the FEL, if you ever go to sell it that is what people want. Go ahead and sell your wheelbarrow if you have one, you will never use it again. A scut will do what you want it to, but if your going to be using a box blade you need a heavier tractor. Most of the paint colors don’t matter that much. I know several people with mahindras that like them. If you add a cab to a tractor, add 5 more HP to your desired tractor to deal with the added weight. Make sure to spec the tractors overall HP and then make sure to check what you get at the PTO, some units have a very significant dropoff. I would steer clear of those. Most tractor manufacturers give misleading info about their FEL lift capacity, scrutinize that closely. I’d never own a tractor without 4x4, you can turn it on and off. Industrial tires are ok, ag tire will probably not serve you well, if your mainly cutting grass maybe…maybe look at turfs, but I would still go with industrials.
All implements need to be bigger than the rear tires, like tillers, RFM, box blades, etc, unless you are doing some kind of fancy offset.
Makes sure you fill your rear tires especially if you plan on doing any FEL work or box blading. but don’t use anything even slightly corrosive or goodbye tires over time. Have the dealer do it if they are reasonable, it is a PITA.
Go to tractor by net and read some stuff there, lots of great info after you weed out all the fanboys. I would read the ownership sections to see what issues people are having with a particular model. All tractors have issues, some just have less issues. I had an issue with harmonics on my previous tractor, took out 5 psi in the rears and the shimmy went away.
Buy old iron (implements). All my stuff has only gone up in value since I bought it. I sold a 6’ RFM for more than I paid for it after using it for years. The king cutter name gets knocked around, but their 6’ tiller had held up for 10 years and I beat it and mistreat it. a 4" grinder and some flap wheels and a couple of rattle cans and it is good as new. Stay away from the chinese stuff, most of it is a gamble at best.
I mow 9 acres like most people mow their sub division front yards. I use my zero turn for the stuff around the house, then the 7’ for the rest. I really wanted a batwing, but not dropping 10k to save a little time.
I own a 50hp tractor and a 26 hp zero turn, both run on diesel. I use home heating oil to fuel both. I also add some power service to it to add some lubricity to the fuel.
