The machinery trade and heritage farming enthusiasts do tend to revolve around the tractor as the main mechanical item on the farm, but the combine harvester is a hugely important part of the tillage machinery fleet and this is becoming more widely recognised.

It is not just here in Ireland that the interest is slowly gaining momentum; over in France there is determined effort to preserve these machines and keep them working to be enjoyed by fans of farm machinery for a long time yet.

Two men on a classic combine — (L-r:) Arsene Fricker and Albert Kuhnstetter are the two very knowledgeable combine collectors who were the force behind putting together the harvest event

As part of the Blodelsheim Vintage Festival in Alsace, France, the Sunday afternoon is given to a working demonstration of vintage and classic harvesting machinery and with some excellent weather this year it proved a popular event.

Tracing the history

Throughout history, processing the crop has been a matter of brining it back to the farmyard for threshing, and it wasn’t until the 1830s that a serious attempt was made to take the threshing operation out to the field by Hiram Moore of Michigan.

Reaper binder — Integrating mechanical reaping and binding with the thresher gave birth to the combine harvester

These first machines were large and unwieldy and stayed in America for another 100 years or so before the concept gained acceptance in Europe, with August Claas leading the way.

Thresher in parade — Threshers were also contractors tools in France, this one pulled by an SFV 401, the equivalent to a British single cylinder Marshall

From there on in, development was rapid leading to the sophisticated machines that we see in the fields today, but for half of that time combines were still very much an adaption of the threshing machine, and theses roots are there to be seen in the latest machines.

The French combine

The French machinery industry did not really start to consider the combine harvester until the early 1950s when Braud, Someca and SFV released their ideas of what self-propelled harvesters should look like.

This left the path clear for imports and one company that was not slow to respond was Massey Ferguson, which launched its MF 630 model in 1953 with an example working at Blodelsheim.

MF 630 combine harvester — The MF 630 was introduced in 1953 and was already showing a streamlined design

The company, in the guise of Massey Harris, had been producing reaper-threshers since 1910 and so had a head start on its European competitors who were still trying to work where to put the various elements and connect them together, judging by the appearance of the the Lanz 260S which entered the market in 1955.

Lanz 260S — Lanz combines were functional but the aesthetics did not match the American competition of the same era

However, self-propelled combines were a great expense, even in the 50s, so alternative approaches were made, including towable machines and wrap around units, the latter being pioneered by JF of Denmark.

JF wrap around combine harvester — J. Freudendahl A/S, or JF for short, produced wrap around combines from 1962 onwards. Buried beneath this unit is a Hanomag 300 tractor

McCormick was a big producer of towed units and when coupled to a period correct tractor of the same make, the combination does look very business-like.

McCormick towed combine — The McCormick F8-44 had an identical drum and cutter width of 1.2m and is here being towed by a McCormick F-237 Diesel from the same era

John Deere purchased Lanz in 1956 and the original combines were produced under the Deere name until the mid-60s.

JD Lanz combine — The John Deere Lanz 150 was produced until 1966 when Deere started to make machines of its own design

France catches up

Once on board with the combine French manufacturers such as Braud, were not slow in developing ideas of their own.

The Braud 2065 is a case in point, when not being used for harvesting the threshing unit could be removed and substituted for a baler.

Braud convertible harvester — The Braud 2065 from 1969 could be converted to a self-propelled baler

There is one European combine that stands out as a remarkable success, and that is the Claas Columbus which enjoyed a 12-year production run and elevated the company to the world’s largest producer of combines.

This is just a selection of machines that were working at Blodelsheim this summer. It is a biennial event so there is plenty of time to arrange the diary for a visit in late July 2026.

Tracing the history

The French combine

France catches up

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Combine legacy on display at vintage working day