If I was going to invest time and $ in getting a old NH baler running well, then yes I would be mowing via sickle and raking with side delivery. No sense piece medaling it out. Retrieval would be done via pick-up and trailer, but hey...I’ve got 3 kids that need to experience something better than TV and phones 😁
I worked in a diesel shop as a teen and currently do all my own maint on all my stuff. For a living I work on complicated stuff which circles back to Cowdoc’s question; work full time, can be demanding with travel, but 4-10’s, so 3 day weekends. I like to tinker, but also like to hunt/fish/shoot.
Budget is the part I have a hard time zeroing in on. I’m a pretty practical guy, so budget has to be justified. I don’t really need any of this stuff, it’s for hobby farming, which is why I refuse to go big. In all honesty, a used yanmar or Kubota in the $5-7K range would probably suite my needs if I keep having others harvest the hay. It’s just that if Im going to pay $15K for a sub-compact, it seems the next step up to something 25 HP for another 2K seems like a good idea.
