Can you tell us more about the types of ground conditions and terrain you have?
There's many out there. My personal preference is the 25" Maxxis Bighorns. They have an aggressive enough tread to handle mud, snow and such but they're not so aggressive as to damage the yard (unless it's very soft like in the early spring at which time, it doesn't matter what tire your running, the weight alone is enough to cause depressions). They run very smoothly on hard-packed/paved surfaces. Also, although 25" tires, they do stand 26.5" tall.
If your conditions are such that something really aggressive is your preference, the ITP-589's will handle anything you throw at them. They aren't friendly to lawns and will make a slightly choppy ride on hard-packed/paved surfaces when going somewhat slow.
Re. the lift-kit, I'm pretty sure Essex makes all of them. If not, I'd get the Essex anyway as it's a proven product. Do remember that it will raise your center-of-gravity. If you have hilly or otherwise off-camber conditions, I wouldn't install it unless your conditions otherwies require the lift kit. I have the aforementioned 25" Bighorns. Even at 26.5", I can handle 98% of my terrain without the lift kit. Only when coming down a hill, into a sharp corner with 1000# of wood in the box would I get a slight rub on the front tire (without the lift kit installed).
Another point on the lift kit. Unless it's been changed, the installation instructions provided don't work very well. There's alternate instructions posted in other threads in this forum. I can find/bump the threads if/when you need.
Brian