The history of Swedish combine harvesters consists of manufacturers that Volvo acquired one by one: Bolinder-Munktell, Arvika-Thermaenius, and in 1969, Aktiv. After this, Volvo decided to discontinue the production of large combines (S 900 – 1000) and introduced two small models: the S 800, which was manufactured at the Aros factory in Västerås, and the S 830, which was produced by the Thermanius factory in Hallsberg. The different backgrounds also explain some of the differing technical solutions between the S 800 and S 830.

The S 800 had already been introduced to the market in 1966 under the name Aktiv 800. It had replaced the earlier Aktiv M 2 S model and was a major step forward in terms of appearance. Aktiv’s previously used carpet feed was replaced with a standard drum conveyor. The reel speed was adjustable via a variator, as was the fan speed. Alongside the Aktiv 800, there was a larger 10-foot Aktiv 1000, which was later sold under the name BM Volvo S 1000 until 1972. This model had nothing in common with the earlier model that bore the same number.

In 1974, the brand name changed from BM Volvo to Volvo BM. In 1975, the S 800 also received a hydrostatic variator for ground speed control and the steering was changed to hydrostatic.

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