Plenty of farmers and contractors continue to earn a decent crust from small square bales, evidenced by the 30 annual UK sales of Massey Ferguson’s SB 1842S.

Priced at about £28,000, it is geared up to get through 20% more crop an hour than the lighter-duty 1840.

This starts with a 2m in-line Hesston pick-up from the larger MF 185, and an accompanying high-speed reel leading hay or straw to a pair of 330mm-diameter cross augers and a wider, tapered chute.

See also: Massey Ferguson unveils new twin-chamber conventional baler

While the lesser model runs a single four-tine fork, the SB gets dual forks with two rows of three tines. This means they run faster, backed by a bigger, heavier flywheel.

It also has a marginally extended bale chamber, at 2.1m, and hydraulic density control – an upgrade on spring-loaded rails.

Rasspe knotters take care of crop packaging and come with centralised greasing and a cleaning fan to help keep them in tune.

Massey recommends pairing the SB with a 90hp tractor, 15hp more than the 1840. Hooking on a trail-behind Bale Baron will ramp up the power demand further.