JOHN Deere auto harvesters from the 1950s and 1960s took on the latest model at Parwan, south of Bacchus Marsh, on Saturday.

The "strip off" was a highlight at the wind-up party of harvesting contractor Paul Jensz and his father, John, on the family property.

John led the field on his cabless John Deere 45 with 3.04m front, followed by brother Arthur in a 1958 John Deere 95 Roundback header with 5.8m reel.

Paul headed into the crop with his father's original auto harvester, a 6.1m 95 Squareback built in 1964.

Up against them was a 2012 John Deere STS 9770 with a 12.8m front, one of the family's modern fleet of harvesters.

John said he restored the old harvesters because he did not want to see them scrapped.

He was restoring his father's original auto harvester, a John Deere 1955 Roundback with 4.3m front bought in 1956.

"I want to keep the old ones going for the later generations to see," he said.

Paul runs six John Deere headers as part of his contracting business plus two top-secret prototypes from the US manufacturer - harvesters which will be released commercially in two years.