We have only 3 acres of hay, plus a 4ac field at our school (8 mile away) and it's pretty much impossibleto find someone to come do it at the right time, so I decided to gear up over the last year to do it myself. I work a desk job full time, so "farming" is all evenings and weekend work.
I already had a Kubota B7100 4x4 (originally 16hp, I'd swapped in a 20hp D950 motor). Paid $500 for the tractor w/ FEL and a junked motor, have $600 into the replacement motor.
I picked up a New Holland 451 7ft sickle bar for $450, then put $120 (and a bunch of hours) into new bearings and a few sections.
I bought (2) junker Kuhn 2-basket tedder/rakes, tore both apart and made one good one (many more hours). $900 + 100 in parts
I got a JD14T for $1500 (too much), went throught it to time and grease everything, baled 490 bales, then found a better condition 24T for $750 so bought that and sold the 14T for a little less than I had into it.
So total I have about $2300 into it (not including the tractor), and already saved half that by not having to buy hay for the 2 horses this year, plus was able to cut and bale at the right time instead of waiting weeks for someone who said they'd come but put priorities on bigger fields
The tractor only weighs 1000lb + ~500lb FEL. I couldn't have done it without the 4x4 or FEL (traction and weight up front for steering). The little tractor looked pretty tiny running all that gear but did it without any problem. an 8ft mower would have had me going in circles to the right. I planned my baling so I didn't have to go down a small hill in the field (the baler would likely run over the tractor). (I think a 2000lb 25hp 4x4 tractor would be perfect, but would go larger if I had to deal with hills.) Sickle mowers and old small balers don't take much power. I cranked out well over 100 bales/hr, then hauled gear to and from the remote field and brought hay back to the barn on my $900 flatbed trailer behind my $1000 F250 diesel, then loaded in the loft using a $120 elevator.
Being able to weld, make parts and fix things enables saving loads of $$. It was a very enjoyable and satisfying experience, and I learned a lot. I'm already looking forward to haying next year. It should be easy now that everything is bought already and rebuilt!
It takes a whole lot of trips to bale a remote field. Easily 3x the work and time as doing our own pasture, plus a breakdown means hauling it all home and trying again another day.