looking to buy a new lawn mower.

[2ndhalf]

If your question is around durability under rough use, the fab deck is way better. I Believe that is why they put them on commercial Zs. If you have teens who seem to hit things with the deck, the fab deck is probably a better option. If it is just you and you are careful, the stamped deck is probably fine.

One of my boys bent the scalper wheel on a hustler mini z (commercial mower) deck. Kids hit things with the deck.