Deutz Fahr combines may not presently enjoy the largest market share in Ireland, yet the company has a noble legacy of combine production dating back over 70 years.

The August Bank Holiday saw an early example of the company’s engineering at work at Ballinspittle in Co. Cork, alongside a good selection of other vintage and classic combines and two contemporary machines from the German company.

Old Fahr meets the new

The combine in question was a Fahr MB4 and it appeared with one of the latest models from Deutz Fahr, a C9306 TS, which had been brought along by Jim Power Agri of Co. Waterford and Cork, which was the main sponsor of the event.

Despite the 70-year gap in production dates the basic working principles of the two machines are much the same. The threshing drum still remains at the heart of the machine, although much else has changed in the way the crop is treated before and after the threshing itself.

Vintage Fahr combine — The Fahr MB4 was rescued from a dealer’s yard and brought to the De Courcey Harvest day by Derry Desmond

Fahr first thought about producing a combine harvester back in the late thirties. At the time it envisaged a cooperative agreement with Lanz and Claas to jointly develop a European combine, but Claas would have none of it and with the success of its MDB model, its decision to go it alone was vindicated.

Fahr therefore also decided to go it alone and developed a prototype trailed model in 1938, a machine which never entered production due to the intervention of the war.

Two Deutz Fahr combines — Two present-day combines from the present Deutz Fahr range joined in the day, demonstrating the dramatic evolution of the machine

The defeat of Germany saw the country struggling to get back on its feet yet Fahr rekindled the combine project in 1946, abandoning the idea of a trailed harvester and opting instead for a completely new self-propelled unit which first appeared on the market in 1951.

Starting afresh

This was known as the MD1, but it suffered from several problems, chief of which was its three-wheel configuration which detracted from its stability on slopes.

These issues led Fahr to rapidly design a new model with four wheels and the driver perched above the threshing cylinder. This became known as the MB2 and from it several further versions were derived, including the MB4.

Maintenance instructions on Fahr combine — Maintenance instructions on the MB4

Although it was the MB2 which established the Fahr combine pedigree, it was only made for a year, more refined models following in quick succession, including the MB4 of 1954, two examples of which made their way to Ireland, one of them now being owned and cared for by Derry Desmond of Co. Cork.

The fate of the other machine is unknown but this 71-year-old example is still in fine fettle for its age, with remarkably little work being needed to get it harvesting again, the biggest job being new feed belts.

Combines Yellow

The day wasn’t all about Deutz Fahr, there was a selection of combines from other manufacturers with the Clayson and New Holland logos to the fore.

Clayson combine harvester — The New Holland 1520 was built between 1971 and 1979

Just as Deutz had acquired Fahr in 1968, Sperry New had purchased a majority share of Clayson in 1964, the year after it had changed its name from Claeys, which was being confused with Claas at the time.

Thus we have a linage of products from the Belgian factory appearing under three different names, although the distinctive yellow livery has remained until the present day.

New Holland combine — Denis Cooper of Farnanes with his New Holland 1540 from 1976, which is still in regular use

To give the combine range a sense of continuity, New Holland kept the Clayson name on the side of the combines for several years after the purchase, while adding its own on the front.

Combines red

Massey Ferguson did not go unrepresented. The company had been making combine harvesters in Canada since before the war and its Model No 21 is credited with playing a big part in the success of US farming during the war years.

MF 735 combine — This Massey Ferguson 735 was the smallest on the field with a cylinder width of just 610mm

Three European models were working on the day with the smallest being a MF 735 which has a cutting width of 1.8m feeding a threshing cylinder 610mm wide, all powered by a 43hp petrol engine borrowed from the Austin Cambridge.

Its minuscule proportions were suited to the smaller mixed farm in the UK, the sort of enterprise which still thrived in the 1950s as the British government strived to make the country self-sufficient in food after the shock of the second world war.

Another small combine for its era was a Massey Ferguson 16 which had a slightly more generous head of 2.7m feeding a 860mm drum. It did though, have an excuse for its diminutive size, being designed as a combine for trials plots.

Massey Ferguson plot combine at Deutz Fahr day — From 1986 this plot combine was built by Sampo Rosenlew of Finland and finioshed in Massey Ferguson colours

Unlike the 735 which was built in the Company’s Kilmarnock factory, this model was bought in from Sampo-Rosenlew of Finland and was given a 75hp Perkins diesel to power it.

Danish Contribution

Dronningborg had been building threshing machines in Denmark since 1894 but it wasn’t until 1955 that it produced its first combine harvester. The company continued with trailed combines until 1971 with the D600 being the last of the breed.

Dania combine at Deutz Fahr day — The Dania D600 trailed combine is well matched to the very nicely preserved David Brown 990 of 52hp

Trailed combines were obviously cheaper than self-propelled models and they were popular on the smaller farms in Ireland where use could be made of them by lower-horsepower tractors.

Dronningborg had decided to market its mobile units under the Dania name, which is Latin for Denmark, and its two trailed versions, one of five foot-cutting width and the second, six, sold well for the company until the type’s inevitable displacement by self-propelled units.

Mighty motor

Combine harvesters evolved from the stationery threshing machines usually powered by a separate engine, the drive being transmitted by a canvas belt strung between the two.

The very earliest examples would be driven by horses, which were displaced by steam and eventually tractors. To power the Ransome thresher on the day the Desmond brothers had brought along a Crossely stationary engine dating from the 1900s .

Crossley direct injection engine — The 45-50hp Crossley engine powering the Ransome thresher is an early compression ignition engine

Other than its 8t weight the most noticeable feature was the fact that it was a compression ignition engine, rather than a hot bulb. This would make it a diesel from the very early days of this engine type.

Given the unpromising weather forecast for the day the De Courcey Vintage managed to hold a hugely successful and interesting day with a good turn out of visitors and range of machinery that marked several milestones in the development of the combine harvester.

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