History of the KZKT-7428, characteristics of the tractor

In 1963, the Kurgan plant, belonging to the defense enterprises of the USSR, produced a military vehicle MAZ-537, which was a saddle eight-wheel tractor. The main purpose of the machine was the towing of semi-trailers with a low frame, which were used for the delivery of bulky goods and caterpillar vehicles.

The birth of a new tractor

The development of the military industry did not stand still, the 537th tractor was obsolete rather quickly and could no longer fully fulfill the required volumes of tasks. Therefore, the country's leadership commissioned the KB of the Kurgan plant to create a new car. He headed the work on the project Yu.T. Butrov, who was the chief designer of the enterprise.

The main emphasis of the KB engineers tried to do to increase the power of the tractor. Experimental models (KZKT-545 and KZKT-7426) were decided to supply with tank engines, however, because of the small resource of diesel engines, this idea was abandoned. Work continued, and as a result, the light appeared KZKT 7427 with an engine produced by the software Barnaultransmash, which had the marking D-12AN-650.

The machine was tested in 1985. Two ballast experienced tractor KZKT-7427 were presented to the commission's commission. But even here the old problem surfaced - the new engine was able to withstand only a year of normal operation of the equipment, after which it would require major repairs. It was also decided to abandon such an engine, and further development of the tractor was carried out in the direction of using the power unit YaMZ-8401, which was designed in the Design Bureau of the Yaroslavl Plant.

The new model of the tractor was given the index KZKT-7428. As the power unit on the machine installed engine YaMZ-8401.10, which has already been tested and performed well in practice. The engines of this brand were installed on BelAZ trucks 7540 and 7548. The prototype of the new tractor is considered to be KZKT-7427, but for the sake of fairness it's worth saying that the real basis for the car is the "old man" MAZ-537.

Machine Features

Like its predecessors, the new tractor was designed to tow semi-trailers with an allowable mass of 70 tons. Equipped with two turbochargers, the engine was installed in a special engine compartment located directly behind the cab. The power unit had 12 cylinders, it had a capacity of 650 liters. from. For fuel, two tanks of 420 liters and an additional 60-liter tank equipped with a heating system were provided.

In addition, the car was allowed to use in the mountainous terrain, if the height of the overpassed passes did not exceed 4000 meters. The guaranteed service life of the machine was not less than 5 years, provided the mileage was 20,000 km. The maximum speed that the tractor could develop was 65 km / h with fuel consumption of 125 liters per hundred kilometers.

Transmission of tractor unit

The basis of the entire design of KZKT-7428 was a spar frame. It was on it that almost all the elements of the machine were attached and hung.

To switch the speeds used three-stage hydromechanical gearbox, equipped with a torque converter with the ability to block it, and a transfer case with two stages. To increase the passableness, a whole system of differential locks was installed in the transmission. In all the bridges of the car automatic self-blocks were put, inter-axle differentials were manually blocked.

Tractor КЗКТ-7428 was equipped with a separate drive for each wheel, with independent suspension and hydraulic shock absorbers. Traditional for other models, the rear axle's balanced trailing arms have been replaced by multi leaf springs.

Cabin KZKT-7428

The cab of the tractor, made of metal, is designed for 6 people. Two front adjustable sprung seats were assigned to the driver and the senior car. The second row was intended for the crew of vehicles on the trailer platform. If necessary, it was possible to transform the seats into two places for sleeping. The cabin life support system includes:

• Heat and noise insulation of reinforced type;
• Two layers of glazing with light protection, implemented in the form of curtains;
• Installation, which provides filtration and ventilation of air;
• Radiation shielding screens;
• Two heating systems with the possibility of independent operation.

Externally, the cabin has 4 doors, but in fact the designers left only two front ones opening. The hind ones remained only in the form of imitation. This decision was made to increase the strength of the design. All this equipment allowed to operate the tractor practically without restriction on climatic zones. The guaranteed service life of the machine was not less than 5 years, provided the mileage was 20,000 km.

Output to mass production

After passing the tests and having received the approval of the acceptance commission, in 1990 the tractor entered service in the SA, and its serial production was also allowed. However, the mass production of cars did not happen. The transfer of the country's economy in the early 1990s to a new commercial route led to the fact that the plant, having passed the bankruptcy procedure, was transformed into an enterprise that was named OAO Rusich. Despite all the difficulties, he still managed to survive the economic turmoil and not drown, like most defense enterprises. To date, the plant has set up production of a variety of equipment designed for heavy-duty use. Among the list took the place and the tractor КЗКТ-7428 "Rusich", which became the basis for the creation of new wheeled chassis KZKT-8003, 8005 and 8014.