I've heard lots of good about JD, MF, Mahindra, Kioti, Kubota, IH, Case, and many more...
It all comes down to this fact... they all have their better and crappier tractors, some are cheap to maintain, run forever, and are easy to find parts for... while some will charge you out the arse for a stupid small part and break down all the time.
In general, older is better. Less wires, less crap to go wrong. Can be fixed with duct tape, screwdriver, pliers, wrench, bailing wire, twine, shop towels, and a hammer. Try that with some new tractor with all of that fancy electronic #### shoved up its ass. If you were to get it too wet, it might just quit on ya, and never start up for you again, even after cussing to the point that sailors nearby start blushing...
John Deere, Kubota, and Case, you are paying for a name more than anything else... a pair, yes, one pair for one side... of brake shoes for the ass end of the both famous and infamous 317 garden tractor are 100 bucks... hell, I did the whole ass end of a Honda CR-X for a parts cost of 98 bucks, that includes drums, shoes, hardware, and wheel cylinders... not super cheap generic crap parts either, these are decent parts that I put on.
Stupid... just stupid. The dealers probably make 30%+ profit on parts, and even more on actual shop work and such on mowers and tractors. It's like going to Cabela's for ammo and guns and such when you can get them for a lot less at a good shop, or even online from a good source.
Speaking of 317's, one of mine broke a rod. Yep, the crank and rod are toast, everything else is okay and could be used in a correct rebuild for someone restoring a 317.
Somehow, this Series I did not get improved to Series II on the rebuild done years ago in the 80's, and so from mowing the ditches on our property, we destroyed it. Oh well. We didn't pay that much for it in the first place. Guy did say it had the Series II update done on it, it's possible the oil pump went out or something.
Planning on a Briggs Vanguard kit for it when spare green swings around for it. It needs a new drive shaft too... I'm having a lot of trouble getting that off. Yes, I took the roll pin out. It will not come off. Thought of a propane bernz-o-matic torch to heat it up so it expands and seeing if that helps... Also thought about the grinder with a cutoff wheel to make a place for something to spread the yoke piece on the input shaft to loosen its grip so I can slide it off.
Our other 317 is running great so far. We did pay quite a bit for this one... it was done right from what I can tell. It don't look real pretty, but sure runs good. Haven't had to do anything other than rear tires, the drive shaft, PTO clutch bearing, and the 30 buck mule drive pulley that exploded its bearing. Mower deck needed a spindle replacement, but so far, nothing else, well it does needs blades... Almost rust free too, even from years of mowing slightly damp grass. Clumps of wet grass fall out every now and then while mowing during the season. We've had it for 10 years now.