Top of the Claas: from SF to Lexion 780 (DVD) - Stephen Richmond and Jonathan Whitlam (Tractor Barn)

German farm machinery manufacturer Claas has been producing self-propelled combine harvesters since the 1950s. In this programme Stephen and Jonathan chart the story of the various Claas combine models from the very first SF type to the Lexion 780.

Mainly concentrating on  the bigger models in each range, the story develops over the decades  as we see machines at work still gathering in the cereal harvest many  years after they were produced.

Models featured include  the Matador Giant, Senator 70, Dominator 85, Commandor 115CS, Lexion  480, 600, 770 and many more besides.

Four smaller Lexion  combines are shown at work in one field in Lancashire while a similar  output is achieved by a sole Lexion 770 model in Suffolk. We also see  how the combines are moved around from field to field and prepared  for different crops.

We watch the Lexion 770  break the world record for harvesting the most wheat in an eight-hour  period in 2011 and then the introduction of an even larger combine –  the  Lexion 780 – that without doubt deserves the title, ‘Top Of  The Claas’.