S-65 Stalinets

In 1932, the Chelyabinsk tractor factory commenced operations and its first product was the S-60 tractor, a copy of the Caterpillar Sixty, which started production on 1 June, 1933.^[1] The following product, the S-65, featured the M-17 diesel engine generating 49-56 kW (60-72 hp). From 1937 until 1941, approximately 37,600 S-65s were produced.^[2]

The Stalinets-60 and 65 tractors were typically assigned to heavy division and corps level weapons such as the 152mm ML-20 and even the much heavier 203mm B-4 howitzer. These tractors were also commonly used by tank recovery teams to extract damaged tanks and by engineer units to tow special equipment. The slow speed of these tractors (3–5 km/h when towing) meant that many were captured by the rapid moving Germans in the early part of the war. S-65 tractors were also used by North Korean forces (supplied by the Soviet Union) during the Korean War.^[1]