Nothing comes between good neighbors faster than broken equipment. I rent specialized stuff from a couple of rental companies near me. I've picked up some stuff off craigslist and the like. When I'm looking to buy something there are a couple of dealers I tell to keep an eye out for me for a good piece at a
fair price. None of my stuff is the same color except by accident!
I have a Ford 4600
tractor (blue) with a Brush Hog brand front end loader (yellow). The loader has a
skip bucket (yellow) and a 6 tined brush fork (grey). I have a Deere brush hog cutting deck(green) (from rental company), a BE 6" chipper and box scraper (red), a Kelly 50 back hoe (yellow) (from craigslist) , a Danuser post holer (used to be yellow now needs some paint)(from a dealer who kept an eye out for me).
I've rented tractors before I bought mine, the Deere deck before I bought it from the rental company, Bobcats, dump trailers and
spray painters (boy that saved a ton of time painting the skid barn I built!)
Buying equipment can work if you buy used, can repair it and it's something you use a lot. New stuff is so expensive you have to really make sure it can pay it's way. For example, most farms around here contract out their haying because it's too capital intensive.
I've dug a hole for neighbor to bury a horse and they've help me with some fences, but usually i need to get stuff done in a timely manner so renting has worked better for me than barter. Having the equipment of your own saves even more time.