6 Best Massey Ferguson 1839 Small Square Balers For Cold Climates

The sun is dropping fast, the air has a sharp bite, and that hay has to be in the barn tonight. In a cold climate, the baling window isn’t a suggestion—it’s a deadline set by Mother Nature. Choosing the right small square baler isn’t just about making hay; it’s about reliability when you can’t afford a breakdown.

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Massey Ferguson 1839: A Cold Climate Workhorse

The Massey Ferguson 1839 isn’t the newest or flashiest baler on the market, but that’s precisely its strength. It’s a direct descendant of the legendary Hesston in-line balers, a design that packs hay straight through the machine. This means less leaf loss and more uniform, dense bales, which is critical when you’re working with brittle, cold-cured alfalfa.

This baler is built with simple, robust mechanics. When it’s 40 degrees Fahrenheit with a stiff wind blowing, the last thing you want is to diagnose a faulty sensor or a complex hydraulic issue. The 1839 is a machine you can understand and often fix with a wrench and some common sense, which is invaluable when the nearest dealer is an hour away.

Its modest size and power requirements also make it a perfect fit for the 40-60 horsepower tractors common on hobby farms. You don’t need a massive, fuel-guzzling tractor to run it effectively. This accessibility, combined with a reputation for durability, makes the MF 1839 a go-to choice for anyone baling in less-than-perfect conditions.

MF 1839 with Twine Tie for Maximum Reliability

For most small-farm operators, the twine-tie version of the 1839 is the undisputed champion. The knotter system is famously reliable, a design that has been perfected over decades. It just works, bale after bale, which is exactly what you need when you’re racing against a coming frost.

In cold and damp conditions, simplicity wins. Twine knotters have fewer moving parts than wire twisters and are generally more tolerant of slight adjustments going out of whack due to temperature changes. Modern plastic twines are also incredibly resilient; they don’t get brittle in the cold and resist the rot that can plague sisal twine in bales stored over a long, wet winter.

This isn’t to say they never miss a knot, but troubleshooting is straightforward. A missed tie on a twine baler is usually a quick fix—re-threading the needle or adjusting billhook tension. That’s a five-minute job, not a two-hour headache, getting you back to baling before the dew settles.

MF 1839 with Wire Tie for Dense, Icy Straw

While twine is the all-rounder, the wire-tie 1839 is a specialist for tough jobs. If your primary goal is baling heavy, damp straw for bedding or banking against a foundation for the winter, wire is superior. It cinches down and holds dense, springy material that would cause a twine-tied bale to sag and lose its shape over time.

Think about baling corn stalks or late-season straw that might have a bit of ice in it. That material fights back. Wire ties provide the unyielding strength needed to keep those bales tightly packed and easy to stack. They also add weight, which can be an advantage if you’re selling straw by the ton.

However, this strength comes with tradeoffs. Wire is more expensive and can be a real pain to handle with cold fingers, even with good gloves. The twister mechanism is more complex than a knotter and can be fussier in icy conditions. For most hay operations, it’s overkill, but for a farm focused on high-density bedding, it’s a tool worth considering.

MF 1839 with Wide Pickup for Heavy Haylage

The standard pickup on an 1839 is perfectly adequate, but the optional wide pickup is a game-changer for heavy crops. In northern climates, first-cut hay or haylage is often thick, heavy, and not always perfectly uniform. A wide pickup gathers more of that windrow in one go.

This means less weaving with the tractor to catch the edges of the windrow, saving you time and fuel. More importantly, it ensures the chamber is fed evenly, which is the secret to making consistent, "brick-like" bales. An evenly fed baler is a happy baler, with fewer missed ties and less chance of a shear pin breaking from a sudden clump of wet grass.

This feature is especially valuable when baling delicate crops like alfalfa or clover. Every pass you don’t have to make is precious leaf material saved from shattering. In a cold climate where growing seasons are short, maximizing the quality of every bale counts.

MF 1839 with Hydraulic Tension Control

Most balers use manual cranks to set bale tension. You get out, turn the handles, make a few bales, check them, and adjust again. Hydraulic tension control lets you do all of that from the tractor seat, on the fly.

This might sound like a luxury, but in variable conditions, it’s a powerful tool for consistency. As you move from a dry, sun-drenched hilltop to a damper, shaded part of the field, the crop changes. With hydraulic controls, you can ease off the tension for the damp spot to avoid packing a bale too tight, then increase it again for the drier hay, ensuring every bale is the same density and weight.

This level of control means better stacking, more accurate feed rationing, and less risk of a moldy core in a bale that was packed too tightly when damp. It’s about turning out a professional-quality product, even when conditions are working against you.

MF 1839 with Bale Kicker for Solo Operations

The solo farmer knows the dread of watching a field of 300 bales drop to the ground, waiting to be picked up by hand. A bale kicker, or thrower, is the single greatest labor-saving device for a small square baling operation. It takes the finished bale and tosses it directly into a wagon trailing behind.

This transforms a three-person job into a one-person task. You can bale and load simultaneously, clearing the field in a single pass. In a cold climate, this speed is everything. It allows you to get the hay out of the field and into the barn before evening moisture or an unexpected rain shower ruins your hard work.

Setting up a kicker system takes some practice. You need wagons with tall sides and have to match your ground speed to the thrower’s arc. But once you have it dialed in, the efficiency is unmatched. It’s the difference between being done by dinner and working under floodlights with numb fingers.

Late-Model MF 1839 for Modern Performance

While the 1839 has been around for a while, a newer, late-model version is often the best investment. The fundamental design is the same, but Massey Ferguson made incremental improvements over the years. These often include stronger bearings, hardened steel in high-wear areas like the knotter bills, and better overall build quality.

These small upgrades add up to big gains in reliability. A baler that has seen fewer seasons will have less metal fatigue and less slop in the plunger and tying mechanisms. This translates to more consistent performance, especially when you’re pushing the machine hard to beat an incoming storm.

When inspecting a used 1839, pay close attention to the pickup tines, the plunger knife’s sharpness, and the condition of the knotters. A well-maintained, lower-hour machine from a later production year might cost more upfront, but it will likely save you far more in avoided downtime and replacement parts.

MF 1839 Twine vs. Wire: The Final Verdict

The choice between twine and wire comes down to your primary crop and your tolerance for complexity. Twine is the versatile, reliable workhorse. Wire is the heavy-duty specialist.

Here’s the simple breakdown for a cold-climate farm:

• Choose a twine-tie model if: You primarily bale dry hay for animal feed. Your top priorities are reliability, ease of use, and safe, easily handled bales. You represent about 90% of hobby farmers.
• Choose a wire-tie model if: Your operation revolves around producing the densest possible bales of straw or coarse forage. You need maximum bale integrity for transport or long-term outdoor storage and are willing to accept the higher cost and complexity.

For the vast majority of small-scale farmers, the twine-tie MF 1839 is the clear winner. It provides the best combination of performance, reliability, and operational simplicity. It’s the machine that will give you the least trouble when you have the most to lose.

Ultimately, the Massey Ferguson 1839 is a fantastic platform, but the right configuration makes all the difference. By matching the baler’s features—like twine tying, a wide pickup, or a kicker—to the specific demands of your cold-climate operation, you’re not just buying a machine; you’re investing in a reliable partner for getting the hay in the barn.