its been cheap but i have a feeling hire of a similar sized replacement would be a lot more than we pay now
i say its been cheap but had we bought this current machine when new I think we would be better off today - however hire hasn’t tied up lots of capital and the risk has been someone elses
not sure which way to go on this in the future
Best start with a quote to buy and a quote to hire, consider risk, make decision.
Personally I prefer to own my combine - once it's paid for it doesn't cost as much as a hire bill in repair & depreciation, and if the jobs especially tight, it can stay an extra year if it has to.
But I'm the opposite end of the acres scale to you, so invariably the risk is less.