Ideas for Deere L130 - off road / hill climber

1st post!

I am probably going to buy a zero-turn, and am definitely going keep my old Deere L130. What I want is to convert it to an off-road, mild hill-climber for use on my property. Will be very minor amount of mud and no water. Mostly Appalachian-type up/down hills, big timber deep woods, rocky cow-trails. Any thought? Is the hydrostatic trans a deal-breaker? I would like some extra speed, but I don't want to sacrifice granny-gear low because of some of the steep terrain. So, first-off, just drop the deck, put on some aggressive atv tires? What next? Any ideas/suggestions greatly appreciated. I'm loving this forum LOL you guys are wizards. Mechanicus out.

Edited to add: It's got the 23 hp Kohler v-twin. In good shape. Around 300 hrs on the meter if I remember correctly.

Welcome to ATLTF....  Yeah, not really anything to speed up a hydro.  If you pulley swap, it will just assist in burning out the pump quicker.  Good news, the application you are talking about, speed wouldn't be that big an issue.  I would look into locking the transaxle for the hills.  Just safer that way.