I'm no farmer and am curious. We have two new threads today about preparing the field planting hay, now I'm wondering......for a very small operation what is the smallest implements for cutting and bailing hay on the market. I'd like to see what is available and how small a tractor you could get away with.
I have 10 acres--6 acres available for a hayfield. So I qualify as "very small". All my haying stuff is used. Very few small haying operations can afford the price of new haying equipment.
Mowing: I have three sicklebars--
---a 7-ft 3pt hitch variety (a Massey Ferguson 41, $550 at a local auction a few months ago)
---a 7-ft pull type sicklebar (Allis Chalmers 80T, $150 from a neighbor)
The 80T is shown attached to my 2008 Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine, 45 hp pto) which is overkill for this mower. I could easily handle it with the 1951 Minneapolis Moline BF (27 hp engine) that I'm restoring now. Same goes for the MF-41 sicklebar
--- a Farmall Super A (23 hp engine, 18 hp pto) with a 6-ft mid-mount sicklebar mower ($1300). CalTrans used this mower for highway mowing.
My baler is a Massey Ferguson 124 two-twine small square baler
The MF-124 baler is speced at 30 hp pto (min), but there's a YouTube video showing this size baler being operated by a Super A.
YouTube - FARMALL Super A
Of course, mowing and baling are only part of the haying story. You need tillage, planting, spraying and bale handling equipment also.