[keitholivier]

Where in the US are you ? Availability of equipment does help keep the price down. I like this vendor in Cleveland OH: http://www.gahrmachine.com/index.asp

I would recommend that since you have a farm, you may tend to have bigger equipment, so I would try to get the biggest swing lathe with a reasonable bed (30-40") that I could find. You will run into limitations very fast with a 12" swing.

Keith