Minsk Tractor Plant

Since 1953 the main product of the Minsk Tractor Plant has been the "Belarus" general-purpose row-crop tractors of the 1.4 t (14 kN) drawbar class. The first product of the plant under construction in 1948, however, was the 2PF-55 bog plough.

In 1950–1951 the KD-35 crawler tractor was built for 9 months; its production later continued at the Lipetsk Tractor Plant. Minsk, however, continued to make the engine fitted to the KD-35 (37 hp) for the Lipetsk plant. The same engine was also used in the general-purpose row-crop tractor the plant's designers had been working on since 1948. The tractor was developed in two versions: the MTZ-1 with closely spaced front wheels (for cultivating tall crops) and the MTZ-2 with front and rear wheels running in the same track. The tractors had an independently engaged PTO, a hydraulic linkage for lifting mounted implements and a removable adjustable hitch. The MTZ-2 gearbox had 5 forward gears and 1 reverse, and its top speed was relatively low – 13 km/h. The number of implements that could be used with it did not exceed about twenty. Series production of these tractors began on 14 October 1953. By the mid-1950s the design of the MTZ-2 was falling behind ever-growing requirements, one of the main shortcomings being its relatively low transport speed of 13 km/h.

So in 1955–1956, as a result of modernising the MTZ-2, the MTZ-5 (1956), MTZ-5L and MTZ-5M (1957) appeared. Compared with the MTZ-2, the MTZ-5 had a more powerful and economical engine, an independently engaged PTO and a split hydraulic system, i.e. with remote cylinders.

At the end of the 1950s these tractors were modernised again, and from 1959 the MTZ-5LS and MTZ-5MS were built. The letter "S" (originally a Slavic letter) in the designations stood for "skorostnoi", i.e. high-speed tractor. On the -MS and -LS engine power was raised to 48 hp from 45 hp. These tractors had a 10-speed gearbox (10 forward and 2 reverse gears), giving speeds of 1.93 to 22 km/h.

From 1959 to 1961 the MTZ-7, MTZ-7L, MTZ-7M, MTZ-7LS and MTZ-7MS with a driven front axle were also built. The first MTZ-7 prototypes used the front axle of the GAZ-67 military off-roader, which was later replaced with that of the GAZ-63 truck because it was not strong enough. The drawbacks of these tractors were insufficient ground clearance under the middle of the front axle and an insufficient adjustment range for the front track width. Because of these shortcomings the tractors were hard to use for inter-row cultivation.

At about the same time – the late 1950s and early 1960s – production of cabs for Belarus tractors began. Alongside production of the MTZ-5 versions, design of a new-type tractor, the MTZ-50, began in 1956. The first MTZ-50 prototypes were completed in 1958. The new tractor had a 55 hp diesel engine and was the first Minsk tractor with hydraulic power steering. It had a 9-speed gearbox giving speeds of 1.65 to 25 km/h. Series production of the MTZ-50 began in May 1963, and in 1964 the MTZ-52 with a driven front axle was added. To make the transition from the MTZ-5LS and MTZ-5MS to the MTZ-50 smooth, without interrupting production, the transitional MTZ-50PL was built from 5 January 1962; it combined the running gear of the MTZ-50 with the D-48 engine of the MTZ-5LS/-MS, tuned to 50 hp from 48 hp.

It should also be noted that when the Minsk Tractor Plant switched to the MTZ-50PL and later the MTZ-50 and MTZ-52, production of the MTZ-5LS and MTZ-5MS was transferred to the Southern Machine-Building Plant in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine (whose later tractor models are known under the YuMZ brand), where it continued for about another ten years, until the early 1970s.

Another MTZ-50 variant was the MTZ-50H for cotton growing, built from 1969 to 1977, whose production was then transferred to the Tashkent Tractor Plant.

On 3 December 1970 the MTZ-50 and MTZ-52 were awarded the state Quality Mark. In 1971 a prototype of the MTZ-80 was completed, and three years later, in 1974, its series production began; a little later the MTZ-82 with a driven front axle was added. These tractors have the D-240 4-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine with 75 hp. They have a split hydraulic system, independent and synchronous PTOs, a hitch and remote hydraulic cylinders. Series production of the modernised MTZ-100 and MTZ-102 began at the end of the 1980s. Their main difference from the MTZ-80 and MTZ-82 is the turbocharged D-245-206 engine (100 hp) and a semi-automatic powershift gearbox. From the mid-1980s the two-wheeled MTZ-05 small tractor was also built.

Tractors are still the plant's main product today.