THE FIRST CENTURY OF KIROV TRACTORS

Abstract

In 2024, it will be one hundred years since the start of serial production of the Fordson-Putilovets tractor at the Krasny Putilovets plant in Leningrad. This event marks the formation of the tractor industry in the domestic engineering industry. The history of tractor production at the plant is rich in events that are significant for our country. In 1934, for the first time in the USSR, serial production of Universal row crop tractors was established here. In the late 1930s, tracked row crop tractors K-8, K-9, K-10 were created. In 1945, the Kirov Plant, located during the war in Chelyabinsk at ChTZ, created and mastered the serial production of the first industrial caterpillar tractor in our country "Stalinets-80". In 1947, the Kirov plant began to produce KT-12 skidders, which had no analogues in the world tractor industry. In 1964, the plant mastered the production of the Kirovets tractor with all drive wheels and an articulated frame with a capacity of 200 hp. Over the past sixty years (1964-2024), 52 models of Kirovets agricultural tractors have been developed and put into production. In the "Soviet" period from 1964 to 1991, 4 models of new Kirovets tractors were put into production, and in the "Russian" period from 1992 to the present - 48. The intensity of implementation has increased approximately tenfold, which indicates the increased activity of design and technological services in a market economy. Analysis of the energy saturation of tractors shows its increase by 1.5 times from 12.3 to 18.6 W/kg. Starting from 2000, Kirovets began to develop within the framework of the "traction-energy" concept, when ballast weights, double wheels, wide-profile tires, rubber-cord tracks, etc. are used to realize their potential traction capabilities. With the further growth of energy saturation, and this is an integral part of technical progress, it is necessary to search for new solutions in terms of realizing the power of the tractor in agricultural operations. From 1964 to 2024, specific fuel consumption decreased by 1.2 times (from 258 to 214 g/kWh), which indicates the improvement of diesel engines. The new Kirovets K 525T (250 hp) and K-530T (300 hp) produced in 2024 absorbed all the achievements of the domestic tractor industry. The K-525T is equipped with a new gearbox that provides speeds of up to 50 km/h. A modern tractor of the Kirovets brand manufactured by PTZ carries in its design all the achievements of scientific and technical progress, effectively performs technological operations in agricultural production and provides comfortable working conditions for the tractor driver.