Thank you. Enjoyed the video. Great memories. Grew up in northwestern Minnesota. I remember the binder and bundles and shocks and the threshing crew then coming through with the threshing machine and the big steel-wheeled tractor for pulley power. Our first combine was a used Oliver and there was no more dependence on the threshing crews. Then the first SP combine was a Massey 21A that had been on the Harvest Brigade. We ran that along with an IH 122C pull type combine. Next was a pair of used Massey 27's , then Massey 92's and then the Super 92's. I ran all of those except for the 21A. Then it was college graduation and on to the industrial world. When I left the farm, the next combines had cabs, starting with the Massey 510's, as I recall. I shivered in my chair as I watched you describe the miseries of barley harvest with no cab. On a warm, dry day, that could be about 12 hours of constant itching from about 9am to 9pm. Thanks, again.
Great video Alan,I can remember working on a Dania combine in late 1960,s the grain was bagged in 14 stone bags and released by shoot onto the ground to be lifted on to a flat trailer later,backbreaking work.. In early 1970,s a man near Ballivor had a Volvo combine,only one I ever saw.In mid 70,s I drove MF 525 and MF 625,no air con and engine beside you,torture on a hot day..
Another good story Alan. As with all grain farmers I have had a lot of experience with headers. I can relate some of the problems of handling horse drawn headers which my father related to us from watching his father. It makes any of our modern troubles look like nothing. It is a wonder they managed to harvest anything. I have driven PTO machines with a tractor without a cab as a young fellow, progressing to SP which was a great step forward. I have been out of it for 20 years now and my last machine was a JD955. Australian ones got 23.1x26 drive tyres, a 22ft 200 series front and an aftermarket AC cab. Mine had the grain box extended to 3ton which gave it a bit more range and in a good wheat crop I could fill the box in about 15 or 20 minutes. Not all crops were that good though more like twice that time. They were not a good machine but I kept it going because I couldn’t afford anything better. Chamberlain John Deere here sold a PTO version of the 955. A wizard of an engineer devised a setup on them that allowed the front to always be attached and be trailed behind going along the road. The machine was reversed and the front swung round and was attached to the feeder house and off it went. Jeff.
Great video. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from joining my dad in our Niva SK-5 combine during harvest while growing up in a small farm in north east Europe. Niva was the most widespread harvester back then for small to medium farms, due to it's simplicity, reliability and ease of repair. At around age 11 I remember watching my dad and uncle lifting out engine out of our Niva to replace the crankshaft that wore down with little less than few large wooden beams to act as levers, and then putting all back together just in time for harvest. I believe it is still being produced, in modernized version ofc, for Eastern European and African markets. There was a large collective farm nearby that was still active during my childhood years so I also used to commonly see larger combines like Yenisey, and Don, with their large cutter heads and grain bunkers working in big fields. A neighbour of ours had a Kolos SK-6, which is an interesting design in that it had a cabin situated in the middle of chassis (Most other soviet designs had it offset to right side when looking at combine from the front) and sporting a split grain bunker, surrounding the cabin. Some of the first western combine designs I remember seeing would be a Fortshtritt brand. But Claas came in fast as replacement for soviet designs and is some of the most prevalent brands in the fields currently, I believe. Dominator 88, 98 and 108 and early Lexion models were spreading fast in the early noughties displacing old soviet designed combines and making them increasingly rare sight during harvests.
@beemerhead117 Thanks for that brilliant information. I do recall reading about Nica combines alright. The SK-6 reminded me of a transformer with its odd looking cab set up. There is still plenty of them working away. Thanks for watching 👍
Good video, very interesting history, I work with combines (and other agri machinery) mainly dismantling into kits for export in containers our main line is Laverdas/Fiat agris which are popular in developing countries as they are mechanical (belts chains etc.) as hydraulic electrical/electronic aren't seen as very repairable, I know it's getting near harvest time as people are coming in for parts (new & secondhand) ready for harvesting, never worked on harvesters before this but climbing around working on them is very interesting seeing how the different manufacturers build their machines.
@Thepigfromthepot Of course. Sure it's one of the world leaders in harvest... And the Australian's are always great to build and modify their own machines to suit their conditions 👏
I think I was about 10 before we started combining, had quite a few years tractor driving leading home the sheaves Great work for a young boy, and every saturday forking sheaves from ruck through the mill till your arms were hanging off.
Cheers from Canada. Just so you know Gleaner (Allis Chalmers) had the first rotary combines not IHC. Actually they had the patent for them since the 1930’s but due to horsepower constraints weren’t mass produced till 1978
Great video Alan, Combines, I have many memories of my Dad driving them in the late 60's and 70's. As a child in a Push chair seeing a Bedford TK fire engine putting out a Claas Matador he was piloting .Later years him on a 1964 Clayson with a 6 pot Ford Industrial engine and a massive 10 foot cut. Sadly he is no longer with us, he hated the dust, wearing those metal frame Martindale masks, he used to come in for his tea, looked like he had been down a cool mine .Saying that I would love a Classic combine, an MF 525 or something from that era........keep up the good work, Dave 🙂
Great Video. The Massey Harris factory in Brantford was one of the few plants exempt from weapon production during WW2. Thus After the war they were way ahead of JD and IH. Immediately after the war a large percentage of the World's combines were made at the MH and Cockshutt Factories both in Brantford.
@@AgrimotiveFarmMachinery I think it was actually a Combi, bag filler only, and just looked it up now it was a mercedes engine om 636 that was in it Alan, might make more sense to You, but yes it would be a very rare sight in this country:)
I have stooked sheaves,worked on a thrasher,fed the wires on a stationary baler,next season a Volvo bm,green combine turned up and I was leading off with a 35 and a 3 ton trailer!!This was 63/64,I was 13/14.Not a guard to be seen,ear or eye protection unheard of,the good old days!!It's a wonder I survived!🤔👍🚜
Interesting comment regarding the safety stuff. Back then, we knew the consequences of risky behavior and there weren't as many lawyers trying to place blame on the manufacturers. Your comment caught my attention because, back in the late '40s and into the early 60's, my dad was frequently reminding me and his farm employees about hazards and safe operation. At his funeral, the minister even noted that my dad, in his months of working at dying, was expressing concern for the safety of those still working his land. Yes, it was different in the good old days!!!
@djsimonrossprice9400 Thanks. They really are a super machine. I'm eager to see how the CR 11 performs this season. Not that many around our way unfortunately.. JD and Class have the market dominated.. Thanks for watching 👍
@@AgrimotiveFarmMachinery Yes you could have given more credit to New Holland! The original Claeys MZ came out a year before the Claas SF, originally they were imported by Bamfords until New Holland took them over. New Holland were strong in regions that had a dealer but it took until the 8000 range before they became widespread in what were previously MF or Claas territory. Even here in Suffolk near the Claas works the New Holland CR has become the commonest combine, Claas second and John Deere third with IH a distant fourth and MF only a memory.
@chrischillingworth4812 Thanks, yes, in retrospect, I should have given NH more time. However, I was just drawing on my personal experience. There would be very few NH CR machines in my area.. New Holland would have been more popular in the 80's in my region before Claas and JD took a foothold in the market. Thanks for your comment 👍
Interesting with history of combies or call them headers here in Australia. Pa n his brother uncle Bob operated horse drawn i believe HV McKay No.4 then coverted to pull crawler tractor or normal tractor. After that No.6, post WW2 SP MF 525 then SP MF 585 n finally MF 3342 with 18ft close front the last of Australian made MF but design was meant be Taylor not Canadian. Pa was not impressed he though he pimp her out. Interesting he did look at buying Claas/CAT 480/500 combine as he was CAT fan n their newspaper article cut out n underlines, words add of this combine. Later family end up in partnership with neighbour Gordon who had lost his Gleaner L2 in a fire, he brought CaseIH 2188 with 36ft front, we supply semi truck, chaser bin n tractor. Unfortunately when Gordon was looking to replace CaseIH 2188 with used CaseIH red top 8010 with 40ft front he had lung cancer. As he took his last breath he heard combine coming up his farm track to house. We took over ownership of 8010 since then over 3500 rotor hrs n 5000 engine hrs has mass but we needed two semi trucks to keep up with monster.
Thank you. Enjoyed the video. Great memories. Grew up in northwestern Minnesota. I remember the binder and bundles and shocks and the threshing crew then coming through with the threshing machine and the big steel-wheeled tractor for pulley power. Our first combine was a used Oliver and there was no more dependence on the threshing crews. Then the first SP combine was a Massey 21A that had been on the Harvest Brigade. We ran that along with an IH 122C pull type combine. Next was a pair of used Massey 27's , then Massey 92's and then the Super 92's. I ran all of those except for the 21A. Then it was college graduation and on to the industrial world. When I left the farm, the next combines had cabs, starting with the Massey 510's, as I recall. I shivered in my chair as I watched you describe the miseries of barley harvest with no cab. On a warm, dry day, that could be about 12 hours of constant itching from about 9am to 9pm. Thanks, again.
Thanks for that information 👍
Great video Alan,I can remember working on a Dania combine in late 1960,s the grain was bagged in 14 stone bags and released by shoot onto the ground to be lifted on to a flat trailer later,backbreaking work.. In early 1970,s a man near Ballivor had a Volvo combine,only one I ever saw.In mid 70,s I drove MF 525 and MF 625,no air con and engine beside you,torture on a hot day..
@patwatters1 Thanks, Pat. Some great info there 👍
Another good story Alan. As with all grain farmers I have had a lot of experience with headers. I can relate some of the problems of handling horse drawn headers which my father related to us from watching his father. It makes any of our modern troubles look like nothing. It is a wonder they managed to harvest anything. I have driven PTO machines with a tractor without a cab as a young fellow, progressing to SP which was a great step forward. I have been out of it for 20 years now and my last machine was a JD955. Australian ones got 23.1x26 drive tyres, a 22ft 200 series front and an aftermarket AC cab. Mine had the grain box extended to 3ton which gave it a bit more range and in a good wheat crop I could fill the box in about 15 or 20 minutes. Not all crops were that good though more like twice that time. They were not a good machine but I kept it going because I couldn’t afford anything better. Chamberlain John Deere here sold a PTO version of the 955. A wizard of an engineer devised a setup on them that allowed the front to always be attached and be trailed behind going along the road. The machine was reversed and the front swung round and was attached to the feeder house and off it went. Jeff.
@jefftheaussie2225 Thanks for the brilliant information as ever, Jeff. I've driven JD 955 in the past. Alan 👍
Great video. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from joining my dad in our Niva SK-5 combine during harvest while growing up in a small farm in north east Europe. Niva was the most widespread harvester back then for small to medium farms, due to it's simplicity, reliability and ease of repair. At around age 11 I remember watching my dad and uncle lifting out engine out of our Niva to replace the crankshaft that wore down with little less than few large wooden beams to act as levers, and then putting all back together just in time for harvest. I believe it is still being produced, in modernized version ofc, for Eastern European and African markets. There was a large collective farm nearby that was still active during my childhood years so I also used to commonly see larger combines like Yenisey, and Don, with their large cutter heads and grain bunkers working in big fields. A neighbour of ours had a Kolos SK-6, which is an interesting design in that it had a cabin situated in the middle of chassis (Most other soviet designs had it offset to right side when looking at combine from the front) and sporting a split grain bunker, surrounding the cabin.
Some of the first western combine designs I remember seeing would be a Fortshtritt brand. But Claas came in fast as replacement for soviet designs and is some of the most prevalent brands in the fields currently, I believe. Dominator 88, 98 and 108 and early Lexion models were spreading fast in the early noughties displacing old soviet designed combines and making them increasingly rare sight during harvests.
@beemerhead117 Thanks for that brilliant information. I do recall reading about Nica combines alright. The SK-6 reminded me of a transformer with its odd looking cab set up. There is still plenty of them working away. Thanks for watching 👍
Good video, very interesting history, I work with combines (and other agri machinery) mainly dismantling into kits for export in containers our main line is Laverdas/Fiat agris which are popular in developing countries as they are mechanical (belts chains etc.) as hydraulic electrical/electronic aren't seen as very repairable, I know it's getting near harvest time as people are coming in for parts (new & secondhand) ready for harvesting, never worked on harvesters before this but climbing around working on them is very interesting seeing how the different manufacturers build their machines.
@@stevehill4615 Thanks for your input. And thanks for watching 👍
Great to see Australia get a mention
@Thepigfromthepot Of course. Sure it's one of the world leaders in harvest... And the Australian's are always great to build and modify their own machines to suit their conditions 👏
I think I was about 10 before we started combining, had quite a few years tractor driving leading home the sheaves Great work for a young boy, and every saturday forking sheaves from ruck through the mill till your arms were hanging off.
@alanreid3063 Yes, my dad keeps telling me how easy we have it these days 😅 Thanks for watching 👍
Cheers from Canada. Just so you know Gleaner (Allis Chalmers) had the first rotary combines not IHC. Actually they had the patent for them since the 1930’s but due to horsepower constraints weren’t mass produced till 1978
@brianhamp702 Yeah, that's true. And JD messed about with it in the 50's. IH like to take the credit though 🤣
Great video Alan, Combines, I have many memories of my Dad driving them in the late 60's and 70's. As a child in a Push chair seeing a Bedford TK fire engine putting out a Claas Matador he was piloting .Later years him on a 1964 Clayson with a 6 pot Ford Industrial engine and a massive 10 foot cut. Sadly he is no longer with us, he hated the dust, wearing those metal frame Martindale masks, he used to come in for his tea, looked like he had been down a cool mine .Saying that I would love a Classic combine, an MF 525 or something from that era........keep up the good work, Dave 🙂
@m0ogy Thanks, Dave. Yes, I remember my dad having many a black face after cab free harvesting.. 🤣
@@AgrimotiveFarmMachinery I can't think it could of done them any good.
@@m0ogy Definitely not!
Great Video. The Massey Harris factory in Brantford was one of the few plants exempt from weapon production during WW2. Thus After the war they were way ahead of JD and IH. Immediately after the war a large percentage of the World's combines were made at the MH and Cockshutt Factories both in Brantford.
@@donmaloney6226 Thanks for that information, and thanks for watching 👍
First combine i followed was a clayson m103 around 1973 when i was 16 years old 😅.
@@limi800 Super machine. Thanks for watching 👍
Mighty stuff Alan,fair play, Thank You, yes My late Father ran Kola's and later Claas Matador's, no cabs, 😁👌👍🙏
@patkelly7999 Thanks Pat.. Kola hydromat was it? Think they had Perkins engines. Rare machine these days
@@AgrimotiveFarmMachinery I think it was actually a Combi, bag filler only, and just looked it up now it was a mercedes engine om 636 that was in it Alan, might make more sense to You, but yes it would be a very rare sight in this country:)
@patkelly7999 Yes, most likely an OM 636.. Would have been from the 50s or early 60s, I'd imagine. 👍
Nice one Alan. Found that very interesting as there is zero combining up with us. There is more ufo sightings than combines in the Glens.
@FlyingFergyMan Thanks Cathal.. I guessed that from your drone footage today 🤣🤣
I have stooked sheaves,worked on a thrasher,fed the wires on a stationary baler,next season a Volvo bm,green combine turned up and I was leading off with a 35 and a 3 ton trailer!!This was 63/64,I was 13/14.Not a guard to be seen,ear or eye protection unheard of,the good old days!!It's a wonder I survived!🤔👍🚜
@laurencecharlton8760 Thanks for that. Yes, they were special times alright. 👍
Interesting comment regarding the safety stuff. Back then, we knew the consequences of risky behavior and there weren't as many lawyers trying to place blame on the manufacturers. Your comment caught my attention because, back in the late '40s and into the early 60's, my dad was frequently reminding me and his farm employees about hazards and safe operation. At his funeral, the minister even noted that my dad, in his months of working at dying, was expressing concern for the safety of those still working his land. Yes, it was different in the good old days!!!
Great video alan !!
@padraigobrien8391 Thank you. 👍
We are welcomed back. Actually it is nice to be back.
@ronaldlucas5360 Thanks Ronald 😊
Great video but trust me as a senior demonstrator for N.H you'll NEVER beat YELLOW... 😅
@djsimonrossprice9400 Thanks. They really are a super machine. I'm eager to see how the CR 11 performs this season. Not that many around our way unfortunately.. JD and Class have the market dominated.. Thanks for watching 👍
Excellent video thank you, I used to drive a new holland 1530 many years ago, New holland still popular here in West Cork.
@@Gearoid35 A super machine in their day. Our neighbour here had a cabless one before trading up for an 8070.. Thanks for watching 👍
@@AgrimotiveFarmMachinery Yes you could have given more credit to New Holland! The original Claeys MZ came out a year before the Claas SF, originally they were imported by Bamfords until New Holland took them over. New Holland were strong in regions that had a dealer but it took until the 8000 range before they became widespread in what were previously MF or Claas territory. Even here in Suffolk near the Claas works the New Holland CR has become the commonest combine, Claas second and John Deere third with IH a distant fourth and MF only a memory.
@chrischillingworth4812 Thanks, yes, in retrospect, I should have given NH more time. However, I was just drawing on my personal experience. There would be very few NH CR machines in my area.. New Holland would have been more popular in the 80's in my region before Claas and JD took a foothold in the market. Thanks for your comment 👍
It was similar where I grew up in 80s/90s in West Cork, most were NH Clayson combines. My neighbour had red Deutz-Fahr combines though for many years.
Thanks!
@austinfanning8641 Thank you so much. Very much appreciated 👍
Great video as always 👏
@@theghostofcornpop4175 Thanks 👍
Interesting with history of combies or call them headers here in Australia. Pa n his brother uncle Bob operated horse drawn i believe HV McKay No.4 then coverted to pull crawler tractor or normal tractor. After that No.6, post WW2 SP MF 525 then SP MF 585 n finally MF 3342 with 18ft close front the last of Australian made MF but design was meant be Taylor not Canadian. Pa was not impressed he though he pimp her out. Interesting he did look at buying Claas/CAT 480/500 combine as he was CAT fan n their newspaper article cut out n underlines, words add of this combine. Later family end up in partnership with neighbour Gordon who had lost his Gleaner L2 in a fire, he brought CaseIH 2188 with 36ft front, we supply semi truck, chaser bin n tractor. Unfortunately when Gordon was looking to replace CaseIH 2188 with used CaseIH red top 8010 with 40ft front he had lung cancer. As he took his last breath he heard combine coming up his farm track to house. We took over ownership of 8010 since then over 3500 rotor hrs n 5000 engine hrs has mass but we needed two semi trucks to keep up with monster.
Thanks for that super information. Much appreciated 👍
How would they get on cutting rushes…
@@78mikehayes I had a feeling you might say something like that 😆
@@AgrimotiveFarmMachinery I say something more constructive when you do a video on mulchers…
@@78mikehayesI'll do a video on the Major Cyclone just for you.
@@AgrimotiveFarmMachinery you can do it with John’s cyclone and my 1200 when I get her home.