Story of the exhibit
A combine that originally belonged to the Järva-Jaani collective farm. It was written off in the late 1980s, and as this was the time when private farms were being re-established, the machine escaped being cut up for scrap and passed into private hands (at that time the intended service life of a grain combine on collective farms was 7–8 years). So this combine harvested grain for a full 27 autumns! It was no longer needed when the owner decided to give up farming. The combine last worked in autumn 2007, just a few days before the donation took place.
About the model
Production years: 1973–1981
Production of "Niva" grain combines began at the "Rostselmash" plant in 1973, to replace the previous SK-4 generation. The base model is the SK-5 grain combine with one threshing unit and wheels. Variants are the SK-5-II – wheeled grain combine with two threshing units; SKG-5 – tracked rice and grain combine with two threshing units; SKP-5 – grain combine with one threshing unit and interchangeable half-tracks; SKP-5-II – grain combine with two threshing units and interchangeable half-tracks; SKK-5 – hillside combine for harvesting on slopes of up to 20 degrees.
The combine was built as the SK-5 until 1981. From 1981 the modernised SK-5M was built.
The throughput of "Niva" combines is 5–6 kg/s.
The "Niva" is probably also one of the longest-lived combines in the history of combine building worldwide: production of this combine, so widespread here in the 1970s and 80s, continues to this day in updated form under the name "Niva-Effekt", more than three decades after production began! Engine power has been increased and the operator's working conditions improved, and naturally many other assemblies are no longer quite the same as in Soviet times, but... otherwise it is still the good old "Niva"! However, "Nivas" are no longer sold in Estonia. Read more on the manufacturer's website!
In Estonia the heyday of the "Niva" lasted until the early 1990s, when they were gradually replaced by combines from "Western" manufacturers, bought both new and used. But the "Niva" has not disappeared from our fields entirely: although larger farms generally no longer use them, working examples, mostly in private hands, can still be seen here and there!
The first "Niva" combines were dark red, unlike the later bright red. Combines built from the mid-1980s can be distinguished from earlier ones by their white cab (earlier ones had a red cab, like the combine at the Old Tech Park).
