Check out this mysterious, no-nonsense combine; but where is it from?

This machine (pictured above) is offered under the Khersonmash brand.

Khersonmash is most readily associated with the ‘Kherson Machine-Building Plant’ – the only factory in Ukraine concentrating chiefly on the production of combine harvesters.

The company’s history stretches back over 125 years. For the past decade or two, the SKIF range of combines has formed part of the entity’s product line-up.

The company doesn’t just make combine harvesters; other products include cultivators, seed drills and trailers.

A modern SKIF model, powered by a 276hp, six-cylinder AGCO Sisu Power engine, is pictured below. This photograph was taken at the recent Agro-Expo exhibition in Kiev.

The company is also known for the earlier SLAVUTYCH machines (which have been around since the late 1990s). One of these (older) combines is pictured below.

Nowadays, Khersonmash offers several SKIF model types. While much of the company’s products are sold in Ukraine, the firm does routinely export to Russia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro.

This video (below), while unfortunately not available with English subtitles, does show one of the entity’s newest combine harvesters in action.

Kherson Machine Building Plant claims to be “one of the oldest agricultural machine building enterprises” in Ukraine; it can trace its roots back to 1887 (in the guise of a foundry).

In 1923, the company embarked on the manufacture of engines.

Product timeline

It wasn’t until the late 1950s that Kherson Machine-Building Plant became involved with grain harvesting equipment; the move into this product line was sparked by the acquisition of another (separate) manufacturer in 1957.

It launched its own combine harvester – the Khersonec-7 – in 1960. Interspersed with other diverse products, the Khersonec-200 (combine harvester) followed in 1977.

The first SKIF combines (the SKIF-290 and SKIF-330) joined the product dossier in 2010.