Fish,
Get a hold of "ric" on the board here. He has a lot of experience with Kohler.
Just my .0234 cents worth here, talk to people that have one. NOT the cyber readers that have not even seen or test drove one let alone have laid out the cash for one. You are spending too much money, you owe it to yourself to do so.
A lot of these folks that tell you need a Kawasaki...well I like them too. I had a 17hp kawi that will outlast the mower it sits on, it's 13 years old. Trust me the kawi's are not the same as they were back then. A lot of those comments come from those memories and rightfully so. I have a friend that has exmark that has a kawi and he has had to replace the motor already at just a few years old.
If you can afford it, I would get the upgraded model...THE SEAT IS GREAT. Haven't tried the lights out yet but I'm sure I will before the summer is over.
The CUT (which is very important) IS CRAZY great. The POWER the mower has will really surprise you. The simplicity of the lift assembly is really neat to me. The deck is built as good as any commercial deck you will fine, I have always kidded that I will crawl under if I ever start taking fire.
It has a belly fuel tank with a sight glass fuel gauge ...which IS fine with me. People have made bad comments about it and I don't why. The belly tank will give a safer lower center of gravity and the sight gauge WILL never break and it's clear, large and plain.
Just the feel of the mower itself is solid and made well...
The not so good stuff... with that power and 1800+ rpms on deck, it is loud. But it really cuts well even in very thick grass...I mean field thick.
I wish you the best in the process...have fun.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Mike