Mike ,
I just talked to my DH ,
he says the jubilee over the 8N
and it would easily do what you want , even use a 7 foot haybine over a cutterbar...He did caution that if you want to attatch a front end loader , please then make sure you choose a tractor with a wide front end as opposed to tricycle, down side to that, around here those are running around 6500.he says if you found one in fair condition with a wide front at 2500 jump on it!you can afford to rebuild it if need be
a local dealer who corners the market on 8N,9N and jubilees ,by out bidding at all the local farm auctions , takes them back to the yard , cheap coat of paint , and resells them around 4500. trust me he loses no money ...teh yuppies crawl out of the walls to by them from him ....to mow their two acre yards .. and then pays him next season to rebuild them when they need new motors ....
now on another matter .. pesonally i wont auger another fence post hole ,ever Its worth every penny to hire someone to come and pound the posts for you .. sans that if you are going to put in hundreds of posts I would look into purchasaing a pounder( another source of income...we typically charge 2.50 a post if layed out , and 3 a post if we have to lay them out , our pounder payed for itself the first year ) .. DH says for that make sure that tractor you purchace has hydraulics .. not all of them do...
Paula
NE Ohio