trust me anything made by mtd pro (lesco) is not top of the line. exmark and scag make up something like 80% of the market in comm. equip sales. and the other 35 manufacturers take up the rest. so that says it all right there.
but the biggest thing is support. lesco is hard to stop by there stores and get parts, they ususally dont stock much at all. and if you get mad at them at the lesco store, were ya gonna go. at least with a name brand, there are usually multiple dealers to go to for parts and service (specially on long island, there are scag and exmark dealers just about every 10 miles)
good luck with what ever piece you decide on.