Self-propelled harvester turns 60
Self-propelled harvester turns 60
JUST 60 years ago Massey Ferguson introduced the first self-propelled combine harvester.
It was a design which brought together a whole series of harvesting developments that had occurred throughout the preceding centuries. From sickle to cutter-bar, from reaper to binder, from land-wheel drive to self-propelled.
In 1909 Massey-Harris introduced its No1 Reaper Thresher – a land-wheel driven machine complete with cutter-bar, reel, threshing cylinder and separating system.
This was followed in 1922 with No 5, which, although still a pull-type machine, was equipped with an engine to power the cutting and threshing mechanisms.
1937 saw a tractor-drawn, pto driven version and in 1938 the Clipper version, with its straight through crop flow, prepared the way for the first self-propelled harvester – the M-H 20.
But it was expensive. Developed with performance and operating efficiency in mind, rather than weight or cost, it was only deemed to be economical on large acreages.
Hence the introduction of No 21 in 1941 – a 3.7m (12ft) cut machine generally considered to be the first "combine". These began arriving in Europe and the UK during the war, with its production as the M-H 722 starting at a Massey- Harris Manchester factory in 1948.
Since then, the basic format of the combine harvester has changed little, with cutting, gathering, threshing, separating and self-propulsion still the key elements. Canadian companies Massey and Harris merged in 1891 to become Massey-Harris which then became Massey-Ferguson in 1953 following the merger of the company with Harry Ferguson. *
The M-H No 21 became the first self-propelled combine harvester to be built in Europe when it was produced in Manchester as the M-H 722 in 1948. The basic combine format has changed little compared with todays machines.