Hey All,
MulishOne You have 74 acres in the Okanogan. What is on the 44 you don't mention? The 30 ac - what kind of irrigation are you talking about? How many acres can you irrigate? Can you flood, wheelline or move pipe? Is the hay irrigated? How many cuttings? Why can the other 15 only support 5 or 6 head of cattle - is it dry? What is your hay/pasture mix? Why do you need to put in 3 ac of "green manure"? Don't you have a legume in the mix already? There is a whole lot that just don't add up here.
To my way of thinking 15 acres of hay hardly justifies anything more than a basic small square baler with an old pull type rake, an old sickle bar mower a trailer an a couple ambitious high school kids. I'm at a loss as to what to say but you could probably get by with a 8n if you had to - depending on the baler (baler with an engine on it!). You say you want to mow and rake with horses? If this is really so then just get your hay custom baled as you will spend a lot feeding draft horses.
What you really need will be determined by your basic production plan. I'd spend a lot more time figuring a production plan then think about tractors. That said a 45ish horse FWA will probably do all you need. Once again it depends on your plan.
-Ed-
MulishOne You have 74 acres in the Okanogan. What is on the 44 you don't mention? The 30 ac - what kind of irrigation are you talking about? How many acres can you irrigate? Can you flood, wheelline or move pipe? Is the hay irrigated? How many cuttings? Why can the other 15 only support 5 or 6 head of cattle - is it dry? What is your hay/pasture mix? Why do you need to put in 3 ac of "green manure"? Don't you have a legume in the mix already? There is a whole lot that just don't add up here.
To my way of thinking 15 acres of hay hardly justifies anything more than a basic small square baler with an old pull type rake, an old sickle bar mower a trailer an a couple ambitious high school kids. I'm at a loss as to what to say but you could probably get by with a 8n if you had to - depending on the baler (baler with an engine on it!). You say you want to mow and rake with horses? If this is really so then just get your hay custom baled as you will spend a lot feeding draft horses.
What you really need will be determined by your basic production plan. I'd spend a lot more time figuring a production plan then think about tractors. That said a 45ish horse FWA will probably do all you need. Once again it depends on your plan.
-Ed-
I would also look at JD and MF. MF has some pretty nice transmission choices.