Friday the 31st July, saw the 200,000th Claas combine, a Senator, which was built in 1968, returning to the historic home of Claasin the UK.

Farmed by the Mann family and just behind the current Claas UK headquarters at Saxham, Honey Hill Farm was the original base used by Bill Mann when he first started importing the machinery and combines into the UK in the 1930's.

The 200,000th Senator model, was bought by Scottish farmer John Steven and was handed over to him by the founder of Claas, August Claas, on the 16th August 1968. After decades of faithful service in Scotland, the machine was acquired by Claas UK in 2025 and returned to their UK headquarters, where it has been restored to full working order.

For its full working return to the Mann family farm, the historic unit was joined by a 1953 Claas SF and by a modern day Trion 720. Put to work on the farm of George and Freddie Gittus in Suffolk, it harvested around 20 tonnes of wheat in just five hours. 

When the Sentor was launched, the manufacturer described it as more than just a new model, because in addition to its modern styling, it also saw the introduction of the iconic seed green colour still used on their machinery today, and marked the beginning of a new era for Claas combine harvesters.