</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I would be using it for mowing 5 to 6 acres and snow blowing in winter. I was thinking of 4x4 because lower part of property is sloped and stays fairly wet. The 4x4 ones are bigger than I want/need. )</font>
Mowing 5 to 6 acres will take a while, even with a 60" deck. We mow about that much now, and have some low areas, some steep hills, and lots of trees & landscaping that we mow around. If you are mowing open areas then a lawn/garden tractor is a pretty good choice. I have recently semi-retired my Cub Cadet and can tell you that they are very well built units and seem to be slightly lower in price than the other common premium brands. If your wet spot is really wet, then you probably won't actually be mowing it. My Cub is a rear wheel drive and it got all over my property.
But I would also tell you that if your property has a lot of landscaping or trees or structures to mow up to and around, then mowing with a lawn tractor is a pretty slow process. They just don't turn tight enough to mow quickly. If you are mowing around lots of things, then you need something that will manuver easily. You said you need to blow the snow in the winter, so I would rule out the ZTR mowers because I don't know of any that would allow for a snowblower attachement. There is another class of tractor that you should consider and that is the articulated units from Steiner, Ventrac and Power Trac. I own the smallest Ventrac and it has a deck smaller than my Cub Cadet, but it will mow my property MUCH faster than my Cub, in fact we save about 90 minutes a week with the Ventrac. They use front mounted implements with quick attach mounting that makes mowing much faster than any mid-mount unit could ever be, especially when combined with their supreme manuverability (as compared to a tractor). The downside of the Steiners and Ventracs is that they are expensive. Both brands will mow beautifully, both are 4wd, both spin in pretty tight circles, both have snowblowers and numerous other attachments. Then there is the Power Trac equipment, it costs less than the Steiners or Ventracs, but it is in so many ways so much more useful. In fact the PTs are pretty amazing units. Their PT-180 will only take a 48" mower but becuase of its abilities, probably will mow your property faster than any garden tractor would. I'd personally go up to the PT-422 if your budget would allow it, I believe that unit will take a 60" mower deck. Both the PT180 and the PT422 are 4wd, articulated, front deck units, they have excellent hydraulics and the easiest to mount/swap implement set up available.
You owe it to yourself to visit the Power Trac forum on this website. You might also want to do a search on VENTRAC, I've written several things about my unit, including a recent review.
I guess what it boils down to is that you might get the best price in the world on a GT 3235 and end up buying the wrong piece of equipment. I hate to put down Cubs because I've owned one for more than a decade and it has NEVER needed a repair (except the stuff the wife & I damaged by misuse).
But like I said, it depends on your situation and use. I would buy another Cub for myself, but not on the property I live at now.
