If you're mowing the hay, at the very least, you'll need a sickle bar...…..which is heavy. PTO horsepower is one consideration. Tractor weight is another. We have a Kubota B2930 on the tree farm. That's more horsepower than an old John Deere A. But no weight to handle big implements. Your baler is going to be heavy, too. If your fields are all level...………. But if you have slopes, you need tractor weight to keep you out of sticky situations.
We did a little haying on level and rolling terrains. Our IH-584 did well. 60 horsepower and around 6000 lbs on the hoof.
I am a huge fan of Orange. We also have, on the tree farm, a Kubota MX-5000 4WD. 52 horsepower an 3500 lbs + the 500 hanging on the front. Will handle any baling job on any reasonable (and most any UNreaonable) terrain you wanna work it on. It doesn't have a lot of frills or creature comforts. Nice used ones with good hours can be had with little pain.
