Am I a fool?

Is it foolish of me to buy a 2500 dollar combine for only farming 35 acres of land? It is a nice older Gleaner M that I would love to have but I am having trouble pulling the trigger because of the small acreage I have available. What should I do? I have been renting the land out but I was born and raised on a farm, have always wanted to farm again and this is my chance, even though it is on a small scale. I have a full time job in town so this is just a sideshow. I already have 3 A-C tractors, a JD press drill, an IH 4 bottom plow, a 13 foot disc, a 4 section drag, an A-C mower conditioner, a Nwe Holland 273 square baler, a New Holland 850 round baler, a New holland 56 rake, 3 hay racks and a JD 800 swather. It seems like I'm in so deep now I might as well buy the combine and a couple gravity boxes and have it over with. Any advice would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

I believe your approach to be correct. Being frugal, buying good, used equipment and easing into it is smart. If you change your mind, you can liquidate with a zero or minimum loss.

Nope not at all.  I just bought a M2 for not much more than that.  Still need to go pick it up sometime.  I farm about the same amount of ground as you, but have a couple of chances in the next couple of years to grow some.

Do your own preparation, planting, cultivating or spraying, but hire the harvest. The maintenance on the combine will cost more per year than the cost of custom combining and hauling.

Gerald J.

If you can get a little custom work to make up for upkeep and maintenance it would be well worth it.  We only farm about 100 acres, and we bought a nice F2 for nearly 5K a few years ago, and we also do about 50 acres of custom harvesting which helps quite a little, and makes it more comforting to own a combine.  The maintenance and repair costs on these combines is very little if they have been keep good care of, we rarely have trouble with ours.  I would say go ahead and buy it.

I think you will enjoy it as long as your machine is in good shape.  Get one that has had a bad life and you will be fixing more than combining.

Dad and I bought a 75 Deere 4400 just this year and it ran like a top.  It was a hoot to do it all for ourselves for a change.  At the rates here for a custom job that machine will be paid for next year.  Cant beat that.  nd it feels great to dump the first bin of your own harvest.

Buy it!!

I say buy it as well. Heck I was told 15 years ago that we couldn't afford to own a combine for 200 acres.  We bought a good used machine back then and still have it. We have had to make several repairs over the years, but nothing over the top. As long as your drive train is sound you can figure out the rest.  The thing we always liked was being able to harvest when it was right, not when it was convenient for someone else to come in and do it for us.

I own a A-C One-Ninety, a four bottom plow, 13 1/2 foot disc, and I'm wanting to buy my Grandpa's old A II combine someday.  The only land I own is the 50 X 175 foot lot that my house sits on, so if you think your foolish then I'm really foolish...lol.  I'd say go for it.

Amen to Fred's comment. 

Go for it! I would in a heartbeat!

An old combine will need TLC-------especially if it hasn't been shedded.  You should also have a shed to keep it in going forward.  You will also need to learn how to adjust it.

Economically, you might be better off having a neighbor custom combine for you----------but that wouldn't be as much fun!! 

35ac X 4$corn X 100 bu = $14,000 35ac X 4$corn X 180 bu = $25200

I don't have a lot of land but I got An old A just to have the fun of picking my corn. Don't spend a lot of $$$ on the old gal but she is a ball to run and I have had a crowd show up just to watch it run and I can get the corn out when I think it's ready not when someone has time to do it. So after all my babbling BUY IT!

Nothing like being in control of your own harvest. In a moment of ??? I bought an old M-M 3490 self propelled combine with a Scour Kleen. Parked it in the shed as a shed ornament. This year had a weed infested barley field (why-its a long story). First 1/4 bin of JD combine and more green weed seeds than gold. Figured on writing off field. Light went on-spent 2 days getting the MM operational and a way I went. Never missed a beat, paid for itself first season. If no major repairs and doing the minor ones yourself its a clear win.