Most of the US machines sold as various types of "tractor" had light-duty hydrostatic transmissions that failed miserably in that application. Also, they distinguished between "lawn tractors" that were not rated for ground-engaging implements, and "garden tractors", most of which did have that rating. There were some serious micro-tractors sold as garden tractors, and some that were pretty much lawn tractors with heavy-duty transmissions that were either hydrostatic or low-geared manual shift. They'd both work if they were treated sensibly, but there is a way to break anything if you try hard enough. I've read a post on a US site by a guy who got on his brother's hydrostatic lawn tractor and continuously stomped the forward-reverse pedal full stroke back and forth to emulate the antics of a rodeo horse. He quickly broke a tooth off the final drive gear - it didn't last long enough to cook the hydro trans. I seem to have read posts on local sites where people had done the same thing, with a similar result.
