I have the answer!
VENTRAC makes the best garden tractors.
I've played with many of the brands talked about, tested several, and the test of the Ventrac just blew me away. In the middle of the test I asked for the best price. They undercut the prices we were talking about on the phone and I wrote the check. $9850.00 for the LT3000 tractor, with a 52" finish mower and a 48" front bucket, delivered to my door. I had a bid on a Steiner at $10,000 for a model 415 with a similar size deck and no bucket, and that did not include delivery. The very odd looking Ventrac is a better tractor than the Steiner 415 if you don't need all the implements that the 415 has available because the Ventrac 3000 has a fairly limited number of implements available for it. Going up in size, I think the Ventrac 4100 is far better than the Steiner 415 and probably better than the Steiner 430. I did not test the Ventrac 4200 series.
On the modest slopes I was able to do "figure 8s" without any stability issues, I also did some "U" turns on some of the other slopes with no problems. I did a couple "U" turns on a slope where I got a 10 wheel dump truck stuck! Even with turf tires, the tractor wheels never spun or slipped on the slopes. I did not try to cross the steep slopes, but I did go up and down every one with complete control.
The tractor drove right under the small trees and mowed up to the trunks, the 16" turning radius had the tractor spinning around the trees easily. Mowing around irregular landscaping beds will be a breeze and I suspect that mowing time will drop considerably becuase this tractor will turn a circle inside of the turning radius of my Cub Cadet. It is not a ZTR but then again, a ZTR could not manage my terrain.
The 21hp engine had more than enough power to pull the tractor up the steepest grades with the mower deck spinning . . . without anything bogging down or straining. My Cub Cadet was the only traditional garden tractor I found that could climb the hill with the mower still cutting, but you could hear the strain in the engine and the wheels (with 75# weights & chains) spun on every trip up the steep parts of the grade.
The hydaulics are amazingly powerful. The downforce power easily lifted the front wheels of the tractor right off the ground. Using the front bucket I was able to dig up and grade clay soil, I also dug some 1/2 buried rip rap out of the draining ditch. (Remember guys, this is a little garden tractor not a CUT).
The implements are front mounted, switching implements is a 3 minute job requiring no tools. Not as simple as the guys with Power Tracs claim their implement switches are, but still a piece of cake to swap.
I really like the hand and foot controls, giving you the option to use either or interchange them as the situation arose or changed.
I also liked the ability to select auto-neutral or to not use it, so the tractor will go back to neutral automatically if you take your hand or foot off the controls, or stay running at the set speed, depending on which setting you've chosen.
On the flat areas of the property the Ventrac preformed flawlessly, making nice cuts in the grass and leaving a lawn "stripe" due to the roller system on the trailing edge of the mower deck.
All the switches are water proof. Oil filters are easy to reach. Engine compartment is wide open for easy checks of levels.
I was literally overwhelmed by the quality & performance of the unit.
