Tractor, timber and agricultural machinery in the Soviet Union

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Agricultural machinery in the Soviet Union has had a presence since the beginning of the union in the 1920s however many developments in this industry occurred during the USSR's existence such as the opening of domestic factories for agricultural equipment beginning in the 1930s, the mass-mechanization of collective farms, and the import of foreign equipment following the collapse of the USSR in 1991

History

"Universal" Tractor (1934-1940, 1944-1955)
Belarusian MTZ-80 (1974-present)
Ukrainian KhTZ T-150K (1971-present)
Logging with a Belarusian MTZ-82L in Estonia (November 2021)

The domestic production and research of Agricultural machinery in Russia began in the mid 1800s when Artisans Andrei Terentyev and Moses Creek created the first Russian threshing machine. Some other events of note include:

  • 1888 - Mechanic Fyodor Blinov builds the world's first model of a crawler tractor.
  • 1893 - Yakov Mamin invents the plow with two plowshares.
  • 1910 - Yakov Mamin created a tractor named "Dwarf", later known as the "Russian tractor".

In 1917 there were approximately 165 tractors across the entirety of Russia, this reflects the lack of industrialization present in the country as the Mass production of agricultural equipment such as tractors only started in the 1930s. After the Bolsheviks took control of the nation following the Russian Civil War, production of agricultural machinery on an industrial scale began.

  • 1918 - At a Petrograd factory, the Bolsheviks organized small-scale production of crawler tractors.
  • 1921 - The Soviet Government issued a decree "On agricultural engineering".

Following the revolution there was a dramatic change in the agricultural industry as the government pushed a change to Collective Farms which necessitated the introduction of mass-mechanization. Examples of factories include Kolomna, Kharkiv Locomotive Factory, and the Obukhov plant. Most of the production for tractors occurred at the "Red Putilovets" which produced a derivative of the Fordson tractor. The ZAZ produced the first domestic harvesters.

  • 1926 - Production started for tractor cultivators that could do continuous tillage .
  • 1928 - Production of tractor plows began and the nation at this point has produced 1,300 tractors .
  • 1933 - Commissioned in 1930, the Stalingrad Tractor Factory began producing tractors with a capacity of 144 tractors a day. This marked the true beginning of mass-production of tractors in the USSR.
  • 1931 - The Kharkiv Tractor Plant was built.
  • 1932 - Production of tractor potato harvesters began.
  • 1933 - The Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant was built.
  • 1937 - The USSR produced 44,000 units of combine harvesters this year which represented the largest such production on Earth, the U.S in comparison only produced 29,000 units that same year.
  • 1937 - The S-65 tractor began production which was the first tractor in the USSR with a closed cab.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, the Soviet Union was the largest producer of crawler tractors in the world. The war greatly affected the entire nation including the production of agricultural machinery which was heavily disrupted by the destruction of several factories and the relocation of others to the eastern areas of the Union. Furthermore the economy changed to primarily support the war effort until the production of tractors resumed in 1944. After the war concluded, many more advancements in the agricultural industry followed as the USSR rebuilt.

  • 1947 - The S-4, the first domestic self-propelled combine harvester began production.
  • 1948 - The Minsk Tractor Works started production of the first Soviet skidder KT-12.
  • 1956 - The S-100, the first industrial tractor began production.
  • 1957 - The DET-250, the first Soviet high-power industrial tractor diesel-electric drive began production.
  • 1960 - The Soviet Union had the largest production of tractors in the world .
  • 1975 - The T-330, the first Soviet tractor-bulldozer with a front cabin began production.
  • 1983 - The T-800, Europe's largest tractor began production. It was designed to work as a crawler dozer, it weighed 106 tons. (without blade length - 7945 mm, with blade -12 400 mm, width without blade -4185 mm, Width -6000 mm blade height -4775 mm.).
  • 1991 - USSR collapses, many factories either close or are privatized.
  • 2001 - The state-owned company Rosagroleasing is established to provide support for agricultural producers and to support leasing program.
  • 2003 - Concern Tractor plants was founded, uniting the main Russian producers of tractors.

Manufacturers of tractors in the USSR

Tractor Plants in 1980

More information Name, Location ...
Name Location Year established Types of tractors Models of tractors Current status
Altay Tractor plant (ATZ) Rubtsovsk, Russian SFSR1942Agricultural and industrial crawler tractors, crawler skiddersT-4A, TT-4Went bankrupt in 2011
Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) Chelyabinsk, Russian SFSR1933Agricultural and industrial crawler tractorsT-130, DET-250Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant in the corporation Uralvagonzavod
Cheboksary Industrial Tractor Plant (ChZPT) Cheboksary, Russian SFSR1975heavy industrial crawler tractor to work as bulldozersT-330"Promtractor" plant within the group "Tractor plants"
Vladimir Tractor plant (VTZ) Vladimir, Russian SFSR1945Agricultural wheeled tractorsT-25Vladimir Motor-Tractor Plant (VMTZ) within the group "Tractor plants"
Lipetsk Tractor plant (LTZ) Lipetsk, Russian SFSR1944Agri-transport tired tractorsT-40"Lipetsk tractor" plant within the group "Tractor plants", closed since 2009
Kirov Plant Leningrad, Russian SFSR1801Heavy wheeled tractor general purpose terrainKirovets K-700Kirov Plant Company
Volgograd tractor factory (VTZ) Volgograd, Russian SFSR1930Track general purpose agricultural tractorsDT-75"Tractor Company "VgTZ" within the group "Tractor plants"
Onega Tractor Plant (OTZ) Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russian SFSR1703tracked skiddersTDT-55Onega Tractor Plant within the group "Tractor plants"
Minsk Tractor Works (MTZ) Minsk, Byelorussia1946general purpose wheel tractorsMTZ-082 Belarus, MTZ-50 Belarus, MTZ-52 Belarus, MTZ-80 Belarus, MTZ-82 BelarusMinsk Tractor Works
Kharkiv Tractor Plant (KhTZ) Kharkiv, Ukraine1931tracked and wheeled tractors high-speed all-terrain multi-purposeT-150, T-74Kharkiv Tractor Plant
Pivdenmash Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine1944Agricultural wheeled universally-tilled and transport tractorsYuMZ-6Pivdenmash, currently does not produce tractors
Chisinau Tractor Plant Kishinev, Moldavia1961beet, viticultural, horticultural crawler tractor with a narrow trackT-54, T-70ceased production
Kharkiv Tractor propelled chassis Kharkiv, Ukraine1949wheeled tractor self-propelled chassis for mounting bodies and special equipmentT-16Plant self-propelled chassis
Pavlodar Tractor plant Pavlodar, Kazakhstan1966Track general purpose agricultural tractorsDT-75Went bankrupt in 1998
Tashkent Tractor Plant (TTZ) Tashkent, Uzbekistan1942wheeled cotton tractors (including tricycles)T-28Kh2, T-28Kh4, MTZ-50KhTashkent Tractor Plant
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Combine factories in 1980

More information Name, Location ...
Name Location Year Established Types of harvesters Models of harvesters Current status
RostselmashRostov-on-Don1929combine harvestersSK-5 NivaCompany "Rostselmash"
Krasnoyarsk Combine Plant Krasnoyarsk, Russian SFSR1942combine harvestersSKD-5 "Sibiryak"Joined the group "Tractor Plants", was closed in 2013.
Taganrog Combine Plant Taganrog, Russian SFSR1915Rice-harvesters on crawlers, combine harvesters wheeledSKGD-6 "Kolos", SK-6II "Kolos"at its base in 1997 was founded Taganrog Automobile Plant (TagAZ), the production combines discontinued in 2002
Ryazselmash Ryazan, Russian SFSR1905semi-mounted potato harvesters for building with tractorsKKU-2A "Druzhba"Ryazan Combine Plant, the production is not engaged, the building leased
GOMSELMASH Gomel, Byelorussia1930foragers, trailed forage harvestersKSK-100, KS-2,6GOMSELMASH
Dalselmash Birobidzhan, Russian SFSR1938forage harvesters crawlerKSG-3,2The plant went bankrupt in 2002
Yaroslavl Motor Plant (YaMZ) Yaroslavl, Russian SFSR1916foragersYaSK-170Yaroslavl Motor Plant composed of GAZ Group
Ternopil Combine Plant Ternopil, Ukrainebeet harvestersKS-6Ternopol Combine Plant
Kherson Combine Plant Kherson, Ukraine1887self-propelled harvesters corn, trailed harvesters cornKSKU-6 "Khersonetz-200", KOP-1,4 "Khersonetz-7"Scientific-Production Enterprise "Kherson Machine-Building Plant"
Bezhetskselmash Bezhetsk, Russian SFSR1943flax pullersLK-4Bezhetskselmash
Plodselhozmash Kishinev, Moldaviaharvesters cabbage, tomatoes, grapes, fruits and berriesUKM-2, SKT-2A, SVK-3M, MPyA-1AAgromasina
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VT-200

Manufacturers of tractors in Russia

As part of Concern "Tractor plants"

More information Name, Location ...
Name Location Year established Types of tractors Models of tractors
PromtractorCheboksary1975Bulldozers, Tractors, & PipelayersChetra T11, Chetra T15, Chetra T20, Chetra T25, Chetra TG122, Chetra TG222, Chetra TG302, Chetra TG503, Chetra TG511
Onega Tractor PlantPetrozavodsk1703Crawler tractors, Skid Chokers, Forest Fire Crawler Tractors, Mowers, Tracked Timber Trucks, & conventional Tractors.Onezhets-310, Onezhets-320, Onezhets-330, Onezhets-335 and other
Krasnoyarsk plant Timber Engineering (KrasLesmash)Krasnoyarsk1916Crawler tractors, Skid Chokers, Felling and Skidding machines, Chokerless manipulator machines, Loaders, & ForwardersChetra KS-146, LZ-235, LP-18K, LT-187, TT-4M-23K, LT-188
Volgograd tractor factoryVolgograd1930General purpose Crawler TractorsAgromash-90TG
Vladimir Motor-Tractor Plant (VMTZ)Vladimir1945Universal Wheeled Tractors, Self-propelled Tractors, & Forest Fire TractorsAgromash-30TK, Agromash-50TK, Agromash-60TK, Agromash-85TK, Agromash-30SCh, Agromash-50SCh, Agromash-60TK 211V MPU
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Other Tractor manufacturers

More information Name, Location ...
Name Location Year Established Parent company Types of tractors Models of tractors
Peterburg Tractor PlantSaint Petersburg1801Kirov Plant companyheavy agricultural tractors, wheel dozers, wheel loaders, industrial tractorsKirovets K-744, Kirovets K-9000, Kirovets K-702, Kirovets K-703
Chelyabinsk Tractor PlantChelyabinsk1933Uralvagonzavod corporationindustrial tractors, bulldozers, tractor pipelaying, trenchers based crawler tractorsT10M, B10M, B11, B12, B14, DET-250M2, DET-320, DET-400, T-800, TR20.22.01, TR12.22.01
Alpha-TechnicOryol1990-swheeled tractor universal high-power tractors based on the Kharkiv Tractor PlantOrTZ-150K
AgrotechmashSaint Petersburg, Tambov (plant)1997wheeled tractors, wheeled bulldozersTerrion ATM 3180M, Terrion ATM 4200, Terrion ATM 5280, Terrion ATM 7360
Cherepovets Casting-Mechanical Plant (ChLMZ)Cherepovets1950wheeled tractors under license Minsk Tractor Works; bulldozers, loaders based on tractorsBelarus 320Ch, Belarus 92P-Ch
Kama Tractor Plant (KamTZ)Naberezhnye Chelny2012joint venture ETcorp (Russia, Moscow) and ARGO SpA (Italy)Agricultural wheeled tractorsTTH-186, TTH-215, TTH-230
CNH-Kamaz CommerceNaberezhnye Chelny2010joint venture CNH Industrial and Kamazwheel agricultural tractorsNew Holland Agriculture
Zavod Specmashine "Baltietz"Saint Petersburg2003heavy agricultural tractors, truck tractors, loaders and forklifts based tractors, wheel dozers, bulldozer-excavator road machines, snow machines, skidders, timber stackersK-707T Baltietz, K-703 Baltietz, K-702M Baltietz
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Foreign Manufacturers

More information Name of company, Location ...
Name of company Location Year established Types of tractors Models of tractors
John DeereDomodedovo2010Conventional Tractors
ClaasKrasnodar2005Conventional TractorsClaas Axion 820/850/ 920/930/940/950, Claas Xerion 4000/ 4500/5000
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Russian Combine Manufacturers

More information Name, Location ...
Name Location Year Established Types of combines Models of combines
RostselmashRostov-on-Don1929Grain and Forage Harvesters
Cherepovets Casting-Mechanical PlantCherepovets1950Trailed flax pullers
AgrotechmashSaint Petersburg, Tambov (plant)1997Conventional Combine HarvestersSR200 series, SR3000 series, SR3085 Superior series
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