It is going to boil down to your own personal preference, price & availability of both tractors & tillage tools in your area.
I agree with those that stated a tractor that is equipped with live hydraulics, live pto would be much better for hay & possibly a pull type combine for grain, hydraulics will enable the use of mounted, semi mounted, or even a trail type tillage implement.
Inital purchase of used vintage equipment is very reasonable compared to the more modern versions, are much easier to work on, and parts availability is getting much better, BUT, you will certainly spend a lot of time & money getting them into dependable condition. You can usually buy a tractor already "restored" much cheaper than you can "fix one up" so knowledge of what to look for and check over before purchase is key. The plus side would be most vintage equipment is built to last compared to some of the more modern versions, so once you do get into shape, they tend to last longer with minimal maintenance.
More modern equipment is certainly higher to purchase, but you gain the benefit of turn key operation with no breakdowns (hopefully), at least at first the warranty should cover any problems, but there is nothing worse than having your shiny new tractor in the shop with a truck load of seed waiting next to the idle planter.
So it tends to be a trade off, if you enjoy tinkering and fixing up equipment, I would go the vintage route. If you have a dozen or so mason jars stuffed with cash buried in the back yard, new equipment would be the way to go.
To properly answer your intial question, I like the Farmall 300 and 350 series row crops for grain & hay, they have enough muscle to get most jobs done, and are small enough to keep fuel costs down, the two point fast hitch can easily be adapted to three point for a very versatile tractor, and the utility versions are very handy for livestock. I would go with a 300 or 350 rowcrop, and a utility 300 or 350 to start out with, as your farming needs change you can go up to either larger or more specialized equipment as the need arises.
Let us know what you decide.
This post was edited by rhtx55 at 17:23:23 06/22/11.
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