Lawn Tractor Transmissions Failing

Can anyone tell me which manufacturers still install the K46 transmission in their lawn tractors I came across a forum and many people are complaining about these transmissions on the John Deere lawn tractors.
When researching the net, I see terms like hydrostatic, Hydrogear T2 and CVT automatic. What can you tell me?

 

Several manufacturers use the K-46, Simplicity, Deere, among others. It's a light duty hydrostatic transmission that will work ok in the typical lawn tractor for many years if used for cutting lawns. Add other tasks that the tractor really isn't designed to do like plowing snow, hauling 1000 pound loads of firewood up hill, pulling stumps out of the ground, trying to squeal the tires every time you go forward etc, and these fail rather early. Rough guesstimate is that these have a 300 hour design life. So if you use the machine 30 hours a year, you can expect roughly 10 years +/- before having a problem which is about the design life of the rest of the machine in this price range. If your needs require 50 to 100 hours a year usage, then I'd recommend upgrading to a bigger stronger machine which will cost more $$$.

 

Thanks Joe,
From reading more on the K46 transmissions, I came to the same conclusion. Most of the complainers are exceeding the design and capabilitys of it. I just want to cut grass on a level plain.