✅ Tuning the T-40 tractor: remodeling the cabin, how to make a stove, do it yourself, homemade, modernization

T-40 cockpit conversion

First of all, you need to think about how comfortable you are inside the tractor. Factory sound insulation is not able to reduce the sound of a running diesel engine to an acceptable level, and the standard seat and rigid rear suspension transfer all the vibration to the driver’s back.

To reduce the noise level, it is necessary to dismantle the internal equipment and upholstery of the cabin, and then cover it with special materials. The first layer is vibration insulation StP BiMast or similar with a thickness of 2 to 4 mm. When laying the material, it is desirable to achieve 80-100% coverage. Particular attention should be paid to through technological holes, because their presence reduces the noise reduction effect.

Isolon (10 mm) or splen (4-8 mm) is laid on top of the vibration-isolating layer. For ease of cleaning, a rubber coating is used as the top layer on the floor. After soundproofing is completed, standard upholstery is installed.

Many people use a car seat as a chair. It will not be possible to achieve a comfortable landing this way, because... the chair does not have a suspension that softens shock loads transmitted to the frame.

The optimal solution is to use universal tractor seats with back support and armrests.

They have a spring or pneumatic damper, which increases comfort and reduces fatigue during long-term operation of the equipment.

In most cases, this will be enough for comfortable work in the tractor throughout the day. The remaining changes that are made to the design are individual and are prepared taking into account the needs of the operator. The most common of them are: installing a radio, gas lift for doors, a hand brake mechanism from YuMZ, raising the cab roof, lengthening the gearbox reverse lever and moving the pedals.

An alternative option is to make a homemade cabin. Its design is based on the drawings of the standard design, but with increased proportions.

The frame is made of profile steel pipe (3 mm). The future dimensions of the structure depend on the size of the selected glass with seals. It is preferable to use glass from serial models, since they are cheaper than custom-made ones, and in case of repair it is easier to find a replacement. Plexiglas can also be used to make windows. It is cheaper and easier to process, but becomes cloudy over time. Special places for fixing glass seals are prepared from steel plates 1-2 mm thick in the window openings of the frame.

The entire structure is welded from 4 parts: front, rear and 2 sides. For additional rigidity, the frame is reinforced with gussets at the corners. The doors are made from a profile pipe with 2 mm walls using a similar technology. After preparing all the elements, you can begin the final assembly of the frame. A steel sheet with a thickness of 2 mm is used to make the floor, and 1.2 mm is used for the roof, partitions and dashboard. The cabin will not be inferior to its factory counterparts.

YUMZ tractor stove. Heater and its installation

To heat the driver's cabin and heat the windshield at low ambient temperatures on the YuMZ-6AL and YuMZ-6AM tractors, a heater is installed using the heat of hot water from the engine cooling system.

The heater of the YuMZ tractor is installed on the floor in the front right part of the cab. The heater body contains a radiator with upper and lower connections for connecting hoses.

A fan with an electric motor is installed on top of the heater housing, to which is attached a pipe that directs heated air to the cab windshield. Water is supplied to the heater radiator through a hose from the water jacket of the starting engine. Cooled water from the heater is discharged through a hose to the water radiator. When installing the heater on the YuMZ-6AM tractor, liquid from the diesel thermostat housing is supplied to the heater radiator through a hose.

The heater fan motor is activated by a switch mounted on the heater housing. The switch lever has three positions: electric motor on (1580 rpm), electric motor on (3080 rpm), electric motor off.

YuMZ tractor heater diagram: 1 - radiator; 2 - body; 3 - switch; 4 — fan with electric motor; 5 and 10 — pipes; 6 - plug; 7 and 15 — rubber bushings; 8 — supply hose; 9 - clamp; 11 — thermostat pipe; 12 - drain valve; 13 — clamp; 14 - outlet hose.

Installing a stove on a YuMZ tractor

When sending tractors to a consumer, the heater is installed at his workplace in the cabin, and the connecting fittings of the heater are placed in a spare parts box.

Attention! Before installing the electric motor with a fan, check the distance between the motor disk and the end of the fan, which should be equal to (10±2) mm.

If necessary, set this size by moving the fan on the axis of the electric motor.

The heater must be installed in this order.

1. Drain the water from the engine cooling system.

2. Remove the glass of the right viewing window of the front wall of the cabin and put a metal plug in its place, with a rubber bushing installed in the hole of the plug.

3. Remove the plugs from the holes in the panels of the front wall of the cabin and put rubber bushings in their place.

4. Remove the plug from the flange of the starting engine cylinder and replace it with a pipe with a gasket.

5. Unscrew the drain valve from the lower pipe of the diesel radiator and the plug fitting. At this point, place a rotary square with gaskets, secure it with a passage fitting and screw the drain valve into the end of the fitting.

6. Place the inlet hose on the upper pipe of the heater radiator, and the outlet hose on the lower pipe, secure with clamps and pass them through the rubber bushings.

7. Place the hose on the starting engine pipe (for the YuMZ-6AM tractor on the thermostat pipe) and secure it with a clamp.

8. Place a hose onto the rotary elbow of the lower engine radiator pipe and secure it with a clamp. 9. Attach the outlet hose using clamps to the tractor side member.

10. Attach the heater to the cabin floor.

11. Connect the fan electric motor to the tractor’s electrical network according to the electrical diagram. The electric motor is powered by current from the horn terminal, which is connected by wire to the middle terminal of the switch. The left terminal of the switch is connected to the motor terminal marked 1, the right terminal is connected to the terminal marked 2.

How to make a stove on a T-40 tractor

Due to the air-cooled internal combustion engine, the Lipetsk tractor is not able to provide adequate heating in the cabin in winter. A way out of this situation may be to manufacture an additional heater. To do this, it is necessary to weld 5-6 longitudinal ribs 3 mm thick and 30 mm high on the engine exhaust manifold. A metal sheet (3 mm) with holes for air intake and supply is welded on top of the resulting radiator. The ends of the structure must be capped.

A turbine fan is installed on the outside of the cabin. It is necessary to lay a pipeline from the cold air supply pipe from the supercharger to the front hole of the radiator, and from the rear hole to the cabin. The entire pipeline is made of metal corrugation with a diameter of 50 mm. The warm section leading into the cabin must be insulated with fiber chimney insulation.

The hot air pipe runs into the lower part of the cabin and is directed to the tractor driver’s feet or the windshield. An additional toggle switch for turning on the turbine fan is displayed on the dashboard. This design ensures the supply of warm air immediately after starting the engine, because the exhaust manifold has a high temperature under any operating modes of the internal combustion engine.

How to make wings

The T-40 has small rear fenders that do not cover the rear wheels and provide poor protection from dirt. The easiest way to solve this problem is to install metal sheets on top of the stock fenders. It is necessary to prepare a piece of the required size and secure it to the tractor using clamps. After this, drill through holes every 30 cm and install rivets.

These fenders provide good protection from dirt, but the strength of the structure is determined by the condition of the factory parts. If they are rotten or damaged, they cannot be used as a base.

The most convenient way is to make trapezoidal wings. To simplify installation, when preparing a drawing of the product, it is necessary to focus on the attachment points of standard elements. Aluminum or steel sheets 2 mm thick are used. Markings are made on their surface, then elements of the future structure are cut out. To obtain even bends on the inside of the workpieces, it is necessary to make notches (0.5-0.8 mm) using a grinder.

When installing the wings to the tractor, standard fasteners are used, and the parts are fastened together using rivets. The finished structure has a high level of rigidity and can withstand loads of up to 100 kg.

We repair power steering on the T-40

The Lipetsk tractor is equipped with factory power steering, but over time its elements wear out. This malfunction can be identified by traces of oil. If you pay attention to the leak in a timely manner, you can repair the power steering with your own hands. To do this, you will need a gasket repair kit, which costs $2.

If repairs are not carried out on time, wear of the cylinder and piston will begin. Such a defect can only be eliminated by specialized organizations. In some cases, it may be necessary to replace the entire pump. The cost of the T-40 power steering is $120, and a restored power steering can be purchased for $90.

Work on power steering

Making the T-40 tractor better also means doing tuning work with the power steering. This structural element is highly susceptible to increased wear of parts, so it can fail quite quickly. The check is carried out using traces of oil fluid.

To extend the service life of the power steering, an additional set of special gaskets is purchased. They are used to eliminate the possibility of damage to the hydraulic booster, the replacement of which will cost the owner of the equipment very much. Moreover, only specialized services are able to perform this procedure. For this reason, periodic inspections of technical equipment for leaks are mandatory.

Front and rear axle conversion

The front axle of the Lipetsk tractor has a design flaw in the spring unit, which leads to the appearance of lateral play and premature failure of the support bearings, king pins, crosspieces and gearbox units. To improve the reliability of the unit and control accuracy, the bridge suspension needs to be modified.

The traverse blocks should be dismantled and the factory pins from the stockings should be cut off (along the weld seam). An electric arc welding machine is used to perform surfacing in the areas of work on the pins. After this, to return the required geometry, they are turned on a lathe, and bolts are welded to the internal parts to secure the king pins in the steering knuckle.

The restored part is welded into its original place. For the steering knuckles, prefabricated spacer bushings (load-bearing and fixing) are machined, which are installed in place of the spring units. During assembly, standard support bearings are used, O-rings are installed under the bushings, and the kingpins are fixed from below the steering knuckles using nuts.

Such a design change will make the tractor more rigid, but will improve handling, reduce the load on the power steering and make the unit more durable. The tractor frame has a large margin of safety, so the increased load on the side members will not affect its service life.

The rear axle only needs modification when using twin rear wheels. To do this, spacers 270-320 mm long are made from thick-walled pipes, which are fastened with standard bolts on the outer sides of the wheels.

Steering alteration

To improve the controllability of the Lipetsk tractor, it is necessary to install a T-40 steering conversion kit. The cost of the finished kit is $180. It consists of the following elements: a metering pump, an NSh pump, high-pressure hoses, a repair kit for the TsS-75 hydraulic cylinder, fittings and flanges for connection.

Before installing a metering pump, it is necessary to purchase a hydraulic cylinder or upgrade the standard power steering. To do this you need:

Disassemble the power steering and remove the piston.
Remove the safety valve and plunger.
Turn out 2 plugs (according to the inner diameter of the piston) and solder them using brass. To ensure proper operation of the power steering, the internal space under the plugs must be 3 mm.
Install the corner fittings on the side covers.
Attach the metering pump between the internal combustion engine and the hydraulic booster.
Connect the pump through the flow valve or install a twin NSh pump.

Super T-40AM LTZ.

Good afternoon! So they decided to remake the T-40AM. So far we have redesigned: the power system, steering wheel, hydraulics, pneumatic brakes and a tilting cab back like KamAZ, but we want to continue remaking it. Need advice on design, etc. Very grateful for your help.

well done. all sorts of mikhonisms on it, put a hood on it, put some on the boiled one and it will be great.

but when you bring all the controls into the cabin, how will it recline? The levers will not interfere? Another minus is the air brakes, the simplicity of the mechanism disappears (started and drove) + load on the compressor (and this is also an extra cost). In my opinion, a lot of unnecessary things you want from a simple and unpretentious tractor. The rapid drive was not installed in the best place for the servants, and the sleeves will get hurt from what gets under the wheels. Well, anyway, respect for your determination and efforts - go for it and so that it turns out better than from the factory

Good evening! And so the distributor is installed in the most convenient place, since in the old place the distributor valves are not flattering and due to oil leakage from the distributor, the basket (friction discs) gets oiled. Regarding the pneumatics, we have not yet completed the work; we intend to insert the cylinders under the cabin in place of the tank and other components, and we are going to make the control mechanisms in the cabin for pneumatic-electric joysticks.

Some mechanisms were made temporarily, as they had to be squeezed out in the field.

Good evening! We've painted it for now, but there's still more to come. But there is still a problem with the hood; I don’t know what shape to make. Files: 6.jpg 7.jpg 5.jpg 4.jpg 1.jpg

There is an idea to make a hood like in the photo. But my interior is lame Files: img.jpg

As if it’s not a T-40 at all, take a photo of the inside of the cabin, I’m very interested in the pedal unit, where did you install it?

Well done owner! Skillful fingers!

I'm interested in installing a hydraulic cylinder in a trapezoid, how it was installed, where it was taken from, detailed photos. Thank you.

“The Lipetsk tractor T-40 is the best tractor of the 20th century.” “A Russian tank is not as terrible as its drunken crew” “And there is only one warrior in the field if it is a T-40AM tractor” “Strength not supported by wisdom dies under its own weight!”

pedal unit factory brake pedals taken and slightly overcooked

Gur done like Tokh, it’s better to take the cylinder size 40*20*280, but he put it at 50*30*320

I converted the power system to 12 volts, the pump was taken from the Volga, I don’t know the problem with the air.

Gur done like Tokh, it’s better to take the cylinder size 40*20*280, but he put it at 50*30*320

There is a topic here, not far away, because the T-40AM carries a Belarusian attachment, it was nicknamed T-40AMG, I immediately remembered the T-16MG, because G says that it has hydrostatic steering) That means the T-40AM too from the mountain you can say T-40AMG, but for yours, with a lot of alterations, even more so. This is true, by the way. How many turns of the steering wheel did you make left and right? Thanks for your reply regarding the cylinder dimensions. And where can I get it from? if you know.

To the right side there are about 7 turns and to the left 5 turns the cylinder is most suitable from the T-16, but if you install a cylinder with a stroke of 320 mm, the turning radius will be smaller. And with a cylinder of 280 mm from the T-16, you will need to change the levers from the LTZ they are shorter than T-40 by 50 mm, they cost then 1200 rubles per pair

How many liters is the dispenser? 5-7 is a lot. you'll get tired of turning.

the dispenser from KSK-100 is best to install a double-acting cylinder, the speed will be the same, or there will be two cylinders like on the MTZ-1221, but you need to connect one cavity, the smaller the cylinder volume the better

This means you need to try 160 for your cylinder. although the thing is not cheap, you will understand if you work a lot of revolutions or not. Thanks for the answer.

By the way, advice, since the air intake has been redone, feed the intake manifold differently; for better saturation of the cylinders, make the inlet in the center, between the second and third cylinders.

Nonsense! - so it will come to dynamic supercharging!

It won’t come and this is not nonsense. The 4th cylinder is “starving”, in certain modes, not much, but still.

Good afternoon, I want to change the intake manifold from the T-25 and there will be fewer problems during repairs. I will need to make an adapter.

Install two of these and spark a couple. There will be no problems starting in winter

Good, it should start normally even without spark plugs. There are heads with glow plugs, those are even more efficient than the spark plugs in the intake manifold, but if you don’t have them, those will also do.

New heads cost about 2500. I wonder if there are oil seal caps, do you know?

Installation of the GAZ-66 bridge at MTZ

Another tuning option aimed at improving the MTZ’s cross-country ability, as well as its traction characteristics, is the installation of a GAZ-66 axle. This type of alteration is extremely complex, so we strongly advise you to carefully study this issue on the Internet, and when working directly, pay attention to the following points:

To transmit speed, it will be necessary to make an intermediate gearbox.
A bushing should be welded to the bridge to secure it to the tractor.
The drive can be supplied from some 150-horsepower MTZ (if, for example, you install a GAZ bridge on the 82nd Belarus).
If the gearbox of the main pair of GAZ-66 extends beyond the width of the tractor, then it is better to shorten it. So it will stand in the center, like at the MTZ bridge.

Super T-40AM LTZ.

well done. all sorts of mikhonisms on it, put a hood on it, put some on the boiled one and it will be great.

Some mechanisms were made temporarily, as they had to be squeezed out in the field.

Good evening! We've painted it for now, but there's still more to come. But there is still a problem with the hood; I don’t know what shape to make. Files: 6.jpg 7.jpg 5.jpg 4.jpg 1.jpg

There is an idea to make a hood like in the photo. But my interior is lame Files: img.jpg

As if it’s not a T-40 at all, take a photo of the inside of the cabin, I’m very interested in the pedal unit, where did you install it?

Well done owner! Skillful fingers!

I'm interested in installing a hydraulic cylinder in a trapezoid, how it was installed, where it was taken from, detailed photos. Thank you.

pedal unit factory brake pedals taken and slightly overcooked

Gur done like Tokh, it’s better to take the cylinder size 40*20*280, but he put it at 50*30*320

I converted the power system to 12 volts, the pump was taken from the Volga, I don’t know the problem with the air.

Gur done like Tokh, it’s better to take the cylinder size 40*20*280, but he put it at 50*30*320

How many liters is the dispenser? 5-7 is a lot. you'll get tired of turning.

This means you need to try 160 for your cylinder. although the thing is not cheap, you will understand if you work a lot of revolutions or not. Thanks for the answer.

Cabin of the T-40 tractor

This model is equipped with a single-seat closed cabin, which is made of stamped panels connected to each other by resistance spot welding. To ensure complete safety for the tractor driver, in the event of the tractor tipping over backwards, it is equipped with a tubular frame.

The T-40 cabin offers a fairly large viewing radius, which is convenient when performing any agricultural work. Almost all walls are 90% glass, and if there is heavy dust and dirt, the design provides a windshield wiper.

Drawing and diagram of the T-40 tractor cabin

Below we will provide a detailed diagram of the tractor cabin and give a detailed description of it.

The roof consists of a wooden frame and plywood boards, which are covered with leatherette. There is a lighting lamp on the right side, and a fan on the front.

In the rear corner there is a bracket for attaching a thermos. The rear window can be half-open, this helps the tractor driver to observe the trailed or mounted equipment while working. Rear view mirrors are placed on the left door, which is necessary so that the driver can see what is happening behind without being distracted from direct driving.

Tractor on methane

The idea of combining diesel and gas is far from new. For several years now, companies have been operating in our country that, for a fee, supplement diesel engines with gas cylinder units.

However, these companies mostly work with automobile engines (dump trucks, tractors and various cargo vehicles). However, a tractor can also be converted, eventually replacing up to 80% of diesel fuel with natural gas. The algorithm for introducing gas cylinder equipment (LPG) is as follows:

First, we install the gas supply system to the engine, install all the necessary sensors, install the injection reducer and electromagnetic gas injectors.
Then we install a suitable diesel fuel supply limitation system. It all depends on the type of motor. So, for example, an electronic actuator is installed on engines with a mechanical fuel pump, and on engines with electronically controlled fuel systems we install a special control unit that limits the supply of diesel fuel.

The advantages of the gas-diesel modification are obvious:

Diesel fuel saving.
The time of using the tractor without refueling is almost doubled.
Safe to use.
Increased engine overhaul period.