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First and fore most don't go it alone. Take someone who knows with ya to check out anything you are thinkin of buyin. I have seen rusted out, part missin, siezed up, grass growin in the half rotted decayin bale that was left in it 5 years ago, NH68 baler go for $800 because someone said it was a good one and someone else didn't know better. All brands have good models, all brands have bad models, some more than others. I myself, first tractor, bought one that turned out to be a dud. Paid a premium for a non runner on the understanding it needed a tune up. Actually it needed a rebuild, no compression. By the time I had it going reliably I could have bought two tractors. Next, match your equipment. Do not expect to pull a NH 575 with a Farmall M. Prolly not a good idea to be dragin a JD14 behind an AC 7030. While it would work, if the baler got in trouble that tractor could tear it up good before you could shut it down. If you have a 1960�s tractor look at a baler in the same age range and was advertised to run on your sized tractor. Tractor selection, if you do not have one and will be shoppin, look for the following features. More for convenience than need. Adjustable tire width. Most if not all have this feature but some are easier than others to set. Smaller fixed rim tractors may not have this. You will also what something that easy and cheap to add weight to. A smaller tractor may only be in the 2000 lb range. If you what to pull a baler and wagon (up to 6000lbs) you should have a little more weight on it. Findin out you have to upgrade to cast rims to get it would suck. You will also want live PTO. I baled for years with a Ford NAA. It really sucked to have to get on the clutch to stop forward motion just to have the baler plug up because the pto stopped as well. Creeper gear. That old Ford ran entirely to fast in 1st gear. Get one that will do � mile an hour with the PTO at 540. Mower, Rake, and Tedder. Lot of options. Generally I would say just watch the width of the tools. Nine foot mower, and seven foot rake are not the best options. But if you tedd it out, it really doesn�t matter. I use a 9� mower, tedd out two rows with a 17 foot tedder, and rake three passes in a windrow with a seven foot rake. Sure be nice to do the rakin in one pass though. If it were me and; Just playin � under $3000, less than 10 acres
Whatever tractor that can be had cheap and has ~30 HP (Farmall H, M?) $1000-2000
Off brand baler in good condition $200-500 (ford, oliver, etc)
Pull type bar rake (on steal), $50-100
Pull type sickle $100-200 Budget equipment $4000-8000, less than 50 acres
D19 � $1500-3500 cheap HP and with hi/lo gives an option to stop forward momentum with PTO running.
NH x8 series thru 2xx series or JD x4, xx4, reliable if not abused and reasonable price wise $500-1500. Belt driven sickle mower with bolt on section $200-500 (3pt for lift)
Pull type bar rake (on rubber), Cheap under 200 bucks
For anything but grass a Crimper, Again cheap, under 100 bucks. Little better $8000-12000, close to or more than 50 acres
60+ HP diesel tractor $4-5000
NH 3xx (not 310/320) JD 3xx - $1500-3000
NH, JD, etc Moco, Hybine (maybe disk mower) � $2000-3000
JD, NH Bar Rake (? wheel rake) $500-800
2-4 basket tedder $1000-2000 Link to an old post
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