Vintage and classic tractors are always a popular attraction at rallies but they present an even greater spectacle when working.
It has always been the aim of the Melleray Vintage Club to have the machines doing what they are supposed to do; this year it was the turn of the combine harvester to shine.
Getting grain from the field and removing it from the inedible part of the plant has always been a challenge, since mankind settled down to farm. Over the last 200 years, the operation has been mechanised to the point that it is done entirely in the field.
Birth of modern machines
It was by combining the cutting and threshing operations that today’s modern harvesters were born. Although they have grown bigger and more expensive, the basic operating premise has not changed quite as radically as you might think.
Representing the replacement of the scythe with a cutting-bar at the event in Lismore, Co. Waterford, yesterday (Sunday, July 22) was a pair of reaper binders. One of these is pictured below.
They cut and bundled the standing crop into sheathes. These were then taken to a stationary thresher, which literally separated the wheat from the chaff (and straw). This picture (below) shows the thresher in action.
Bringing these two operations together had been tried in America since the turn of the last century, but it wasn’t until after the war that the idea really took hold in Europe.
The Nordic countries were very much at the forefront of combine harvester development. The Aktiv from Sweden was well regarded. One such machine (at yesterday’s event) is pictured below.
Massey Ferguson and New Holland also became deeply involved in the business in the post-war period.
Three examples of such machines were also present at yesterday’s working demonstration. These hark back to the 1960s and 1970s; this picture (below) shows them (along with the aforementioned Aktiv) being put through their paces in the searing heat.
These machines, for want of a better description, really show off the bones of the modern combine harvester. Fast forwarding to the current era, we can see that the basic shape has remained largely unchanged.
However, cutting widths have grown enormously. So, too, has driver comfort!
Proceeds
Proceeds from yesterday’s event will go to Lismore Community First Response.
Below is a further collection of shots from the ‘working demo’, which also included an ‘on-site’ tractor pulling competition.
Click on a thumbnail in the gallery (below) to open up a full-size image; once opened you can scroll sideways to see the next picture.
