The days were long, the work was hard and the machinery was basic.

The Australia Day weekend in Quambatook will take people back to the back-breaking era more than 100 years ago as historic farm machinery is run through its paces.

The Quambatook Heritage Working Machinery Association will display up to 50 headers, tractors and other machines for its annual Harvest Days.

Among the pieces of machinery to harvest the specially-sewn display crops will be a circa-1890s HV McKay stripper.

One of the first pieces of Australian grain harvesting machinery, the stripper only pulled the heads off of the crops and did not separate the grain.

The farmer of the day then had to fork the heads into a winnower, until the 1900s when the two machines were combined into one.

Quambatook Heritage Working Machinery Association's Ian Fisher said the harvest of years gone required more manual work.

"It was a lot of physical work," he said.

"Three bushel bags would have to be sewn by hand. It wasn't until the 1960s when bulk handling came in that things became much more automated."

The machine has been converted to be tractor-pulled, rather than horse-drawn, but the machine's full processes will be on display at the Quambatook Tractor Pull Complex.

Other machines include a 1926 header, painstakingly restored by the club at Quambatook over the space of several years.

The club's collection also includes two Chamberlain tractors, known as a 9G, or nine-gear, and a 45K, standing for 45-horsepower.

There will also be judging for the best-restored pieces of machinery on the weekend.

The Harvest Days begin at 10am on Saturday, January 24, with harvest displays in the afternoon.

The Sunday event starts at 8.30am with a church service.