Sometimes ya gotta run old junk stuff to survive. Thats how i was able to farm for 40years. I worked off-farm and patched my old worn out equipment as needed on a shoestring budget. Eventually i was able to afford better equipment in time to retire with no debt. Nice equipment is great but sometimes not feasible for the size of operation. Hey, as long as it gets the job done and is relatively easy to repair and get parts for, it doesn’t have to look pretty. I have never tried to keep up with my neighbours equipment-wise. I farmed for myself-not the bank
If you have seen any of my posts, you would see my mainline equipment dates from 1984-1999. I use some stuff which is much older.
But, if you are going to do that, you have to expect to repair it, and, if you don't maintain it, the repairs are going to be much more extensive.
The ones I am talking about, when they see a wheel seal leaking, they say, "I've got to get my loads this week, I'll worry about that later". Then when the bearings burn up and the bearing siezes to the spindle and destroys that, and the hub, too-"I need you to work all night on it, why do I have such terrible luck!, etc., etc.