I've also mowed with a 38" on a 102 and didn't notice it scalping any worse than the 44As on my 1650 and 149. I'm not sure what deck my Dad's 123 has under it, but it also scalped just as badly as any Cub deck I've ever used (meaning, they all scalp like crazy, in my experience). I've yet to use my 50A decks, but I don't expect anything dramatically different from the 44A in that regard.
With a 149 the most straight forward choice is a 44A or 50A... Just make sure you get the 4" top drive pulley (or buy one and put it on) and you'll be as golden as you can be. I just recently swapped one of my 44As to the 4" pulley and I feel that it makes a massive difference. Quality of cut and mowing speed are both notably better.
I still think the NF mowers produce a better cut, but that might just my mind playing tricks on me. I've never had the chance to do an actual heads-up shoot out on them side-by-side.
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