Oh I've also given a little consideration to the newish Toro Turfmaster HDX, which is meant to be a heavy duty version of their Timemaster. When we first moved here I had a Toro Timemaster for a yr or so. Haha again it was a 2nd hand buy but was in good condition and never really had any issues with it.
https://www.toro.com.au/product/30-762-cm-turfmaster-hdx-22215I only sold as I was sure that it was just a matter of time until it had a major issue - as they were known for being prone to transmission failure (apparently some critital part was made of plastic which caused them to fail) and they also were known for having idler pulleys fail which caused the timed bar blades to impact each other which caused a bill of $500-1000 in parts and repairs.
But even though I had the generation 1 Timemaster, which was underengined with an 190cc B&S 850 - I found it very good and for a 30" mower it was remarkably easy to turn as I think it was very well balanced. Typcial Toro though it was pretty questionable build quality.
Downer with the HDX is that it oddly only has a kawa 179cc engine on it! For a 30", SP mower that weighs 80kg! As good as that engine is it's incredibly out of its depth given that Toro also uses it on it's 21" commercial thats 25kg+ lighter. Seems they've conceded this is a mistake in the US as they're now selling them with a 200cc Kohler engine thats very well regarded.
And even the 'consumer' level Timemaster here has a 223cc B&S on it - though I no longer have much confidence in the quality of these but thats a lot more power than it's 'upgraded' sibling that costs near double it's RRP here - $1500 vs $2700.
