I love this stuff. I typed in columbus ohio craigslist and these caught my eye:
Some Deeres
https://columbus.craigslist.org/grd/6058721022.html
https://columbus.craigslist.org/grd/6058721022.html (whoops= same one)
https://columbus.craigslist.org/grd/6060728082.html a little out of the price range, but not by much. (diesel yanmar)
A new holland: which I don't know much about, but the mower deck looks substantial, and before Ford went to new holland, they made some good stuff.
https://columbus.craigslist.org/grd/6059816823.html
The HOSS- A little high on the price range, but this is a formidable tractor: I would take a 400 in an instant!
https://columbus.craigslist.org/grd/6052733632.html
Kohler power for cheap: (belt drive- good if you have a flat lawn- and only mowing.)
https://columbus.craigslist.org/grd/6061891326.html
I'm not saying these are good prices for the tractors, but if I needed something to get up and running I would be looking at stuff like this What I like about a lot of these tractors is that they have decent leveling wheels for the mower deck. They also have the good rear rim/tire size with a lot of options. The 400 can take class one rear three point lifts and implements. You might not need the AG tires on pictured on some, they can be rough on grass, but these are good talking points/ examples to think about as a starting point. They aren't big box store department junk.