OK well I will add my 20¢ worth in.
There is not a single new Cub Cadet mower that I would either buy or recommend any one else buy
MTD has trashed the brand and they are nothing more than the std MTD mower painted yellow & white at 30% higher price
And this comes from years of getting under them to try & keep them running
Now I have not been under either of the 2 models you mentioned but unless they are built to a substandidly higher level of than the rest of the yellow & white stuff they would not be a good investment.
Just run down the headings of all of the posts in the CC section then do the same for Toro or JD and note the difference .
It would be a close race between CC & Husqvarna for being the most problematic mowers here .
Well.....bought a ZTS2 54in. I like the fact it has ZT2800 diffs with filters. Dealer is very good, which is a plus. And brother has had good luck with his 2 yr old ZT2 50, so I guess we will see. I did look at a toro timecutter, but really wanted the steering wheel....guess time will tell!! Im a maint. freak(new dealer auto tech), so that will help.