Getting into haying for self-sufficiency

Hello!

 

This is the second season we have owned a farm and first year we seeded 5-6 acres with orchard/fescue grass. It took and this year we had a 1st cutting and now a second cutting. We used no herbicides and still produced good, weed free hay (yes, I know, we are just lucky - a few docks but nothing else in quantity).

 

This year we had two different neighbors bale the hay, the first cut was very late because one of them had too many of his own acres to bale (I understand this) so we called someone else and this time we are on time. Our first cut looked really good but due to it being mowed late, it turned out to be too stemmy and was not useful for our own horses.

 

I love my neighbors, they are great people but I also understand my fields are not a priority. Since I do not want to depend on anyone next year, I would like to own my own equipment to mow/bale. I already own a nice, old Massey Ferguson 150 diesel tractor and would like to get the equipment to match it. Since I am not a commercial operator and the amount of acreage would mostly be 10 acres of orchard/fescue and teff in some fields, I do not want to spend an arm and a leg, used equipment is fine, I am handy with a wrench.

 

Question is - where do I start? Should I just go with a sickle bar mower for the cutting? Is that the cheapest/easiest option? I do not know much about haying equipment (obviously) but I do not want to make this too complicated (and expensive). Also, how do I know if a particular piece of equipment (like a sickle bar mower) will work with my particular tractor?

 

Thanks!

Getting into haying for self-sufficiency