Hunterridgefarm,
Good to know someone else is in my same boat. The baler should not be a problem weightwise as anything I'm looking at is heavier than the 3000 which has had not problems pulling the baler (small round bales).
I'm looking at the same lower range of tractors as you. I visited the NH dealer who had a nice TC 48 on the lot, which I liked a lot /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. Especially the loader and the bells and whistles. I also looked at the ihCase dealer who suggested a JX55. I live in Piedmont, NC and have multiple NH, JD and Kubota dealers to choose from, all with 15-20 miles.
It looks like it'll be one of those four. I'm still torn between a large CUT or maybe a larger "field" tractor. Price will certainly be a factor. As for the cab, no way. I have some how have convinced the wife that a new tractor is good, but a cab would really be pushing it. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I'll continue to enjoy the weather, whatever it might be.
I plan to take your advice and maybe take a test drive or two this Saturday. So far I have only looked, not touched. Hopefully, I'll get a better feel for the right tractor. I'm in no rush to buy, maybe in a month or two. I'm just having fun looking.
Thanks for your post.
