Popular Post bluegreen Posted July 28, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted July 28, 2017 Hello all, I thought I would start a new file of non digital camera pictures that Ive taken over the years . It seems appropriate to start with a few shots of my fav ever Claas machine, the mighty Commander 228cs combine Back in 1991 I got to take some pictures of the first 228 sold out of Manns of Saxham to a farmer whos land is within a mile of Saxham itself. It had a 22ft header and carting duties were with a newish Ford 7810. Unfortunately my camera was playing up on the day and I only got one half decent shot. Manns sold a lot of 228s around my area, some had only 20ft headers but in 1994 one farmer who was always pushing for more performance got one of only two 30ft headers fitted to new UK Claas 228s. My camera was fine on this occasion. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 Also In 1991 Claas were demoing the new 260hp 118SL and I got a couple of pics of it in the field with Stetchworth estates 1 yr old NH TX36. The pair of 228s with 25ft headers were bought in 1995 by Bartlow estates to handle 4000acres of cereals and pulses. They were probably amongst the last sold in the UK. I think that pic was taken in 1999 in their last harvest. And I don't think Ive seen a Commander working in the UK since, unlike the still plentiful Dominators. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tractor Twitcher Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Brilliant topic Phil. Love seeing older photos like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEP Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Thanks for posting them up - Great photos, and a great period for machinery give me them over a lexion and big CR any day! Really good background info as well, keep the pictures and the info coming. Cheers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Palmer Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 nice topic Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 Thanks Gents, most of these pics will be me digitally photoing my old originals so they wont look as good as the originals, but interesting none the less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 I thought I would stick with older Claas harvesters for a while before posting pics of other brands. So firstly two evening pics from the late 80s of two 1984 Claas 116cs plus 20ft heads and one 106 with 17ft. And then three pics of a brand new 1987 Claas 115cs with 17ft header working near Newmarket. Finally a 116cs with a "Huge" 22 ft header which was the biggest I had seen in 1987. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CX820Joe Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Great to see these older photos. I've only seen one Commandor and that was a fairly fleeting sighting, so nice to see them in action. The first two aren't at Oliver Walston's Thriplow farm are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 No Joe, they were Chris Browns from Bury st Edmunds contracting near Kennet church....................he switched to three JD 1188s the next year. The 115cs was Robert Claydons of Ashley /Gazeley and no clue about the 116 except it was near Haverhill. What and where did your Dad drive Mark?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 Next up Stetchworth estates, in 1987 they merged farms with their neighbour and both had orders in with Claas for a pair of 108sl machines.........................so they ended up keeping all four for a couple of seasons on the 3000 acres of cereals. They also kept all their tractors for two years until they decided which way to go which meant a mixture of brands as one farm was Ford the other MF. They usually started all four machines together and then split off into pairs at opposite ends of the estate. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 In 1989 Vesty farms of Thurlow bought 6 Claas 108s and 108sl combines for three of their four farms and then in 1990 changed two 98s machines on their fourth farm for one of the first generation Claas maxi 108sl combines with 20ft. These were only available for that year and then replaced with the snazzy white panelled, white augered versions for 1991. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) Hi Mark, as I recall I did take one picture of a 8080 working on Primrose Hill Moulton in a field that Barons of Moulton manor farm work these days. I never could work out whos machine it was as all the fields surrounding that one were harvested with claas machines. Did your Dads farm do contract works? I will dig the photo out and put it up when I do a New Holland sequence of pics. In the meantime heres a brand new 1991 Demonstrator Claas maxi 98sl Edited July 30, 2017 by bluegreen 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 No sorry Mark never saw that one. I did used to look round Uptons farm next door which was mainly Fiats and a few Fords. And Ive always kept an eye on the CNH test centre in between both those farms as well. I was first person to get pics online of NH T7000, TSA, CASE MXU ............somebody else got to the Puma just before me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 Hundon Hall near Bury st Edmunds ran four Claas 108sl combines from 87 to 1990 and then in 1991 were the first to get a new 118sl pictured below on wide tyres. I thought they would have more the next season but instead bought a Axial flow 1680!! And then a Claas 228 as well in 93, before going over to NH in 1997 along with a few other big farms with TX68s. As I recall the four Claas machines came rolling past me on my bike and turned into the field to be cut............I followed them and waited for them to get set up but just as they had cleared an area around the headland the heavens opened and I had to dive for cover from the deluge! That put the tin hat on my plans and I had to make do with a couple of shots of them parked up instead. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.watson Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Great pics Phil. For me, this is the golden age of farm machinery. The machines these days just don't have the charisma that they had back in the 80's and 90's. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) Yes that's right Mark, Ive seen several Fords NHs CASE machines over there years before they got launched. The Puma 210 was the best one in sept 2005, I took one look at it and knew CASE were going to be right back in business after the MXM disaster!! Stetchworth Estates went from four 108sl claas machines to two and a NH tx36 and then down to two when they bought this pre production 218 mega 20ft in 1992..................its funny, I thought it was just a rebadged 118sl with the APS unit fitted in the intake area, but comparing the pics above it looks a bit bigger with more vents in front of the grain tank. Edited July 30, 2017 by bluegreen 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) 33 minutes ago, chris.watson said: Great pics Phil. For me, this is the golden age of farm machinery. The machines these days just don't have the charisma that they had back in the 80's and 90's. I think a few of us are now arriving at that conclusion Chris, the new stuff is impressive but theres no heart in it.....................The last classic tractor made in my opinion was the JD7810 and since it was phased out in 2003 everything has become far too computerised. In hindsight JD killed it when they launched itec pro and left the driver as mostly a passenger. I'm going to change my layout soon, especially now the last classic combine is about to be made (Claas Commander 228cs).............I will put that on it with my JD fleet of 3 and 4000s and a pair of the 7810s and maybe a Magnum or a TW and that will be that. My new stuff can sit on the mantelpiece instead of the other way round ha ha!. In fact the pics below mark the changeover from machines made by men with just a little computer assistance to ones made with a lot of it. The year is 1995 and the farm is Oliver Walstons (very apt ha ha) and in the very charismatic corner are the JD4255 and the Brimont trailers which I know Mark will like..............just qualifying in that group is a new JD7600...........................then there is a pre production Claas 480 owned by Walstons and a prototype 460 in the same field. For me the Lexions arrival was the death of combine charisma, it was so obviously totally designed by computers!! Very impressive of course but for me personally it was such a massive departure in style from the 228 I just didn't like it. I would actually say that the current 780tt is probably the best looking harvester anyones made todate although the red and yellow machines and JD are all good lookers!! But it is heart and soul we are talking about here and theres no doubt the computer had really taken over from man upon the Lexion 480s arrival. Edited July 30, 2017 by bluegreen 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.watson Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 I remember the first 480 lexion I saw Phil, it belonged to a contractor called John Harrison, out of steeple bumstead in Essex, it had "acre eater 1" on the side of it, and by God did it eat acres. I remember how futuristic it looked, but now it looks somewhat classic. I hope after the imminent commandor release, someone makes a good, detailed 480, and for me, the Claas model stable will be complete, well, I say that, but a mega would be the icing on the cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CX820Joe Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 2 hours ago, bluegreen said: Yes that's right Mark, Ive seen several Fords NHs CASE machines over there years before they got launched. The Puma 210 was the best one in sept 2005, I took one look at it and knew CASE were going to be right back in business after the MXM disaster!! Stetchworth Estates went from four 108sl claas machines to two and a NH tx36 and then down to two when they bought this pre production 218 mega 20ft in 1992..................its funny, I thought it was just a rebadged 118sl with the APS unit fitted in the intake area, but comparing the pics above it looks a bit bigger with more vents in front of the grain tank. Don't mean to butt into your thread - but saw this 218 a few years ago, and always wondered if it too was a pre production machine as it was on a K plate which I thought seemed too early for them? Keep them coming! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 Hi Joe, Stetchworths was a K plate 92 as well, Claas often send out several pre production machines to customers a year before they officially launch them. Hi Chris, It was John Harrisons Claas 228cs with the 30ft header on it pictured earlier in this thread. If you look at the side on shot of his 228 someone has written "This is a combine" in the dust...............at that exact moment in 1994 the 228 + its 30ft cut was the highest output machine in the country. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.watson Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Very interesting Phil, thanks for the info. We had Harrison's come in a month ago to swath our whole crop Spring barley with their Claas maxi swather and the guys were saying they now only farm just over 2000 acres. To much competition for whole farm contracting now apparently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 A couple more old Claas pics, the first is one of the 4 Dom 108sl machines run by Stetchworth estates on its very first field hence the shiney green auger! The next was one of Vestys 108s machines back in 1989 a picture taken with a special lens to make the sky darker blue....................I soon got fed up with that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 I was very much into my Massey combines back in the late 80s, this 865 was on its final season in 1987 as the farmer had pre ordered one of the first MF38 machines for 1988. And talking of MF38s here is a real rarity, a 1987 pre production MF38 sat in TNS yard at Kentord near Newmarket. It had red wheels and a red door pillar unlike the 88 full production model. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tractor Twitcher Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 865! One of my all time favourite combines. Great to see that pre-production 38 too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegreen Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 Back in 1989 I tracked down a farm which had just replaced one of its two MF865s for a new MF38 along with a huge 20ft cutter bar......................and as luck would have it there was also an MF34 Demo combine in the field on its first outing. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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