I’M fairly handy around the yard and I can drive a tractor, but when it comes to makes and models, until now, I just knew you were either red or green.

As a hobby breeder with nine horses and 25 acres to keep right, elbow grease and our pick-up truck only goes so far. So best foot forward my husband and I made the decision to save ourselves the torture of rolling large bales across the paddock to the feeder by hand and to invest in a secondhand tractor. But where to start?

Budget is an obvious factor to consider when you are looking to purchase a tractor, but it is not the only factor. It is also important to consider the size of the tractor.

Look and measure where you will likely to be driving the tractor and do you have somewhere to store it? Ideally, you should have the capacity to store your tractor under cover, especially during the worst of the winter.

The next thing to think about is what you are going to do with it. If you need the tractor to roll an arena you will need something with a very tight lock so that you can easily turn and roll the maximum surface area.

A smaller, compact tractor is more suitable for lighter work such as rolling arenas or driving through barns, but wouldn’t necessarily suit more heavy duty work in poor weather conditions.

Consider what attachments you will need to go with the tractor, such as a bale grabber, fork, different sized buckets etc. Make sure to check that all of the attachments you want are available with the tractor you are interested in.

Finance is a big factor in determining what you buy. Buying secondhand is a great way to save, but it’s important to have a mechanic check any tractor before you go ahead with the purchase and try to buy from a reputable dealer when possible.

In my quest for the right tractor on a budget I contacted dealers who could provide warranty; I also looked on Done Deal and in the ad magazines.

I eventually found our tractor of choice through an advert on Facebook, we had our tractor mechanic friend check it out and last week bought a Case 5140 which will do all the jobs we need; shifting bales, harrowing and rolling paddocks and scraping back the winter paddock. Job’s a good’un.

Here are a selection of what else I found this week and how much they cost (VAT not included).

Case 785XL €11,600

Case MX100C €13,805.81

Case JX100U €19,200

Renault 70.34 €9,604

Renault 70.14 €14,406

Lamborghini 775 €11,885