As tank type residential heaters go not many players left in the game been a consolidation over the years state and ao smith one in the same company same factory in Tennessee. Bradford white another company that makes a good heater both us made. Just in my neck of the woods just cost more then state/ao smith. See american water out there once and while. Only got one model from them just because its size is different enough i could jam it in where the ao smith/state will not for apartment/condo use. Ruud,rheem,richmond don't see quite as much but they are the same company. There flame arrest system was not a great design from the service stand point.

Whirlpool and Ge water heaters have been the joke of the industry. Ge for the backwards threads and both have just poor build quality don't know who is making them other then the lowest bidder.
Maytag,Kenmore,American standard just more made by somebody else there nothing more then a name.

Then there are the specialty heater companies quite a few of them generally not selling to home use market mostly because most average homes don't need 100 gallon plus water heater at 2 million btu's mid size hotels ,hospitals, casino etc big places who need massive quaintly of water is their general market.

As tankless go don't have one i like over the other there were few companies that made some early on that are no longer in business and so no parts leaving owner with $1,000+ pile of junk. Rinnai and Navien are from what i see and read in trade publications are the to most known players.

Warranties vary by make model and cost you can always go longer for more money.

I wrote up a huge post but deleted it.
To be honest if you’re still winterizing this cabin then a tankless is a bad idea. They’re awful to winterize. If you do it wrong you’ve just made a 2k brick.
As far as tankless go up in these parts Navien is more prevalent and I prefer them. Superior efficiency and flow rate.

The real question is why are your hot water heaters going bad so quickly? Are you letting it fill completely before firing up the burner, or are you turning on the water and firing up the burner all at once which will overheat the tank and blow it out within just a few cycles?

I dislike troubleshooting over text or phone, but rather than just suggesting “oh this is great or that is great” the root cause of your issue should be established and then you should weigh the cost of amending the events which cause these tanks to go bad, versus your other options and their own fill/empty sequences.

Addendum: you should only have to pop the relief and open the drain valve to empty your tank. That’s all there is to winterizing a hot water tank.

Also it’s important to remember all units require annual service. You don’t have to. But I have dealt with those folks many, many times.

You don’t “have” to change your furnace filter, you can just overheat and crack your head exchanger. You don’t “have” to change your oil, you can just let the engine take the abuse till the piston welds itself to the cylinder. Natural vent water heaters are no different. Yearly service and cleaning is good for the longevity of the unit. They are truly designed to die within 8-12 years. That’s the new normal. I have a tank still trucking that’s 20 years old and it’s been serviced EVERY SINGLE YEAR.
They can live long past their designed lifespan because when they engineer these things they don’t usually have in mind the folks who keep them in tip top shape.

You can be the guy who changes the balls once or twice a year and waxes his game monthly.
Or you can be the arcade up the road from me who had a NIB WOZ and GB that are both dead as a doornail after only 6 months with playfields black as the abyss.

I have a Marathon electric water heater installed on our power company's off peak system that cuts the cost of operation in half. The power company also cut the cost of the unit in half when we bought it from them. That was 25 years ago when we built the house.

Had one element go bad about a year in that was replaced under warranty. Other than that, no issues in 25 years and still going.

I wish I was quoted 2k for a tankless for my house last year. I would have made the switch then. Lowest quote I got was 12k (but with a great warranty). Just too much upfront money for me.