Well d5knapp you're in luck. I just spent 3 months researching compact utility tractors and recently made my purchase.
First of all DEF engines start above 60 horsepower. I did not find any of the manufacturers using DEF at 60 hp and this includes Tier 4 which mine is. ALL tractors in this category are made across the pond somewhere. Some may say assembled in America (John Deere) but that basically entails putting the tires on here, JD this size are made in India as are Mahindra. I had a 2000 John Deere 4600 (about 45 hp) since 2001 and even back then it was a Yanmar made for John Deere but it was a great tractor for me. I wanted more hp and a cab so I purchased a new one and hope I don't regret it.
I researched, looked at and/or tested John Deere, Kabota, New Holland, Yanmar, Case IH, Kioti, Massey Ferguson, Mahindra and probably a few others I can't remember. I compared features, warranties, prices, tractor forums and personal references. In the end I narrowed it to 3 choices, John Deere, Kabota and Kioti. I have always leaned to JD but it was almost $10,000 more for the tractor I was looking for. Kabota and Kioti were almost identical in features but the Kabota was about $6000 more and not as good of a warranty.
I ended up buying a Kioti, they used to make them for Bobcat when they sold compact utility tractors. Mine is the NX6010 in a hydrostatic transmission with a cab. My JD was not a hydro so we'll see how I like this one. It has a quick tach loader (although not as quick as my JD was) and it does have the skid steer style mount for attachments on the front end loader. I like the separate hydro pedals on the Kioti (like JD) way better than the treadle style hydro pedal on the Kabota. It has more features than JD or the Kabota
Any individual tractor can have problems, I had a few with my JD, but from what I researched Kioti is not a trouble prone line. I hope I like my Kioti as well as I did my JD. Time will tell.