I looked at the same mower and ultimately went with the John Deere 960m. Pretty comparable mower, but much more dealer support with Deere. So that was my reason behind it. Mine has the 31hp engine. Made by Kawasaki. It'll cut thick stuff at a pretty good pace. The cost is really comparable. No regrets as of yet. I cut several rental properties every 2 weeks. 3 apartment complexes, probably another 15-20 quadplexes, duplexes and houses. I feel like ride quality is very important. I run twills and z glides on mine. I think ferris has and the Spartan higher end mowers have pretty good suspension systems. I wouldn't count them out either.