A vintage combine was in action again this harvest - nearly six decades after it first rolled off the production line.
The 1968 Senator - the 200,000th combine made by German agricultural machinery Claas - was put through its paces in a Suffolk cereal field.
With its modern styling - and with double the production of its predecessor of six years - it was seen as cutting-edge.
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It also marked the beginning of a new era with its seed green livery still used on CLAAS machinery today.
The company founder August Claas - whose son Helmut helped build up strong ties with Suffolk - handed over the machine to Scottish farmer John Steven on August 16, 1968.
It spent the next decades working Scottish fields - but was eventually returned to Claas UK’s headquarters in Saxham, Bury St Edmunds.
The technical service team there restored the machine to working order with the help of the Claas World Parts Centre in Hamm - which was able to provide many of the parts overnight.
On July 24, the Senator was put back to work on George and Freddie Gittus's farm at Saxham where it harvested around 20 tonnes of wheat in five hours on its first - gentle - run.
On July 31 it was in once action again at the Manns' family farm - Honey Hill Farm in Little Saxham - just behind the Claas UK headquarters.
This was the original base for Bill Mann, who began importing Claas machinery to the UK in the 1930s.
In a rare display, three generations of Claas combines - a 1953 SF, the 1968 Senator, and a modern Trion 720 - worked together in the same field.
The SF achieved a throughput of about four tonnes an hour, while the Trion 720 managed 40 tonnes per hour — 10 times the output of its predecessor.
The Senator was described by the company as more than just another model.
Claas said: "With its modern styling, the new CLAAS corporate identity and the introduction of the iconic Seed Green livery, it marked the beginning of a new era – one shaped by the pioneering spirit and forward-looking vision of Helmut Claas.
"In the year that would have marked his 100th birthday, the restored Senator serves as a powerful reminder of that remarkable period of innovation and progress."
Claas is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery, with 11,500 employees globally and a turnover of 4.9 billion euros in the 2025 financial year.
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The company, headquartered in Harsewinkel, Westphalia, was founded in 1913 and remains family owned.
Its UK headquarters is at Saxham, Bury St Edmunds.
The Claas family also owns Troston Farms, a 1,500-hectare arable estate near Bury St Edmunds.
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