The Russian agricultural machinery market has been actively developing in recent years. Over the previous five years, the production of domestic equipment has increased 3 times. Exports also showed positive dynamics. For example, in 2022, the volume of exports of tractors in value terms increased by 1.5 times compared to 2014, and the volume of exports of soil preparation equipment doubled.
The main reason for the growth of the domestic market for agricultural machinery is the state support provided to manufacturers of agricultural machinery on the basis of Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1432. In accordance with this resolution, manufacturers of agricultural machinery are provided with a subsidy in the amount of 15-20% of the price of machines and units, which allows them to provide quite significant discounts to buyers. These measures contributed to the stabilization of the purchasing activity of Russian households after a sharp drop in demand in 2009 caused by the financial and economic crisis (Graph 1).
Chart 1. New tractors and grain harvesters purchased (Rosstat data), pcs.
Agricultural machinery market research
At the end of 2022, she conducted a survey of Russian farmers to identify which brands of agricultural equipment buyers preferred. As part of the survey, respondents named the brands and models of tractors and self-propelled agricultural machines that they use on farms purchased since 2012 as new equipment.
The study involved more than 1,600 respondents across the country, with a total farm area of 16.9 million hectares. More than 15 thousand units of agricultural equipment were examined, including 9,593 tractors, 4,642 grain harvesters.
The 10 best tractors on the Russian market have been identified
Agricultural machinery has never been the center of attention. It is only interested in narrow circles of people for whom tractors and motor vehicles are primarily needed for work. I would like to tell you that the tractor production of the Russian Federation is still alive and continues to be relevant in many sectors of our life. Experts have prepared the ten best options.
Photo: rostselmash.com
In Russia, Belarusian tractors from MTZ and the American John Deere have earned enormous popularity. However, domestic products could easily compete with them in popularity. Rostov-based Rostselmash has been producing tractors since 1929. It is rightfully considered one of the oldest representatives of heavy equipment. Today the popular model Rostselmash Versatile 2375 is supplied to the market.
The St. Petersburg “Baltiets” is recognized as the youngest. The name indicates the production location. Tractors began to be produced on the banks of the Neva only in 2006. And now the K-707T has already become a favorite in narrow circles. Experts are confident that their plant has a great future.
Photo: en.terrion.ru
In addition, in the Northern capital there are two more factories specializing in the creation of agricultural machinery. We are talking about “Kirovets” and “Terrion”. The first one has rightfully earned the title of “long-liver”, since the history of the plant dates back to 1801. It was then that cast iron production began. The turning point for the plant was 1924, when the first tractors rolled off the assembly line. Terrion has not yet managed to be remembered for its bright products, since it began producing agricultural equipment only in 2002. However, despite the short history, their brainchild ATM 7360 is successfully sold on the market.
It's no secret that KAMTZ from Naberezhnye Chelny must be excluded from this list. To produce tractors, the capacities of the KamAZ automobile plant were used, from where freshly painted performance characteristics are produced.
Photo: https://kam-tz.ru
The Volgograd VTZ plant began its history in pre-war times. From here comes the famous, almost legendary DT-75. By the way, the tractor has undergone a major modification, which happens extremely rarely with these machines.
The history of the Chelyabinsk ChTZ plant, which opened production back in 1933, is rich. Today, the manufacturer focuses on the production of construction equipment, but also continues to produce the T-10.
Rounding out the top ten are the Rubtsovsky “Alttrak”, founded in 1941 with the “Alttrak T-501” crawler tractor, and the St. Petersburg “Petra-ZST” with the “Petra-ZST 390” universal machine.
Tractors
According to the results of a study conducted by , the most popular tractors in Russia are those produced by the Minsk Tractor Plant (MTZ). MTZ tractors accounted for 56% of all surveyed tractors purchased since 2012. In second place are the Kirovets tractors, produced by the St. Petersburg Tractor Plant, and in third place are John Deere. Collectively, the Top 3 major tractor brands account for 85% of all tractors surveyed (Graph 2).
Graph 2. Top 5 popular tractor brands in Russia, % of the number of equipment units covered by the study
Among MTZ tractors, the most popular is the MTZ 82, among PTZ tractors the Kirovets 744, and among John Deere tractors the 7830 model. The first two tractor models are in great demand among individual farms, while John Deere is in great demand among agricultural holdings.
Russian-made agricultural tractors - the most popular models
Vladimir Tractor Plant - supplies tractors to the consumer market with power ranging from 30 horsepower to 180. This range allows the use of VTZ tractors in almost all areas of national and agricultural production. The Volgograd Tractor Plant supplies the domestic market with crawler tractors.
The Altai plant for the production of tractors for agriculture does not lag behind in productivity and popularity.
The company produces both tracked and wheeled vehicles that are capable of coping with tasks of any complexity.
But the most popular model produced in Russia is the DT 75 tractor. Its popularity has not fallen for several decades. This was facilitated by:
- unique tractor efficiency;
- ease of operation and maintenance;
- affordable price.
Thanks to these characteristics, DT 75 has been a sales leader on the Russian agricultural market for many years.
Combine harvesters
Combine harvesters produced 6 out of 10 combines purchased during the period from 2012 to 2022 were produced (Graph 3).
Graph 3. Top 5 popular brands of combine harvesters in Russia, % of the number of equipment units covered by the study
The main buyers of domestic combine harvesters are individual farms, while equipment from foreign brands is in great demand from agricultural holdings.
AGROSALON-2018 – universal mid-size tractors
Russian farmers will be able to operate tractors using liquefied methane
Alexander Klimnov, photo by the author
We continue to highlight new products from the International specialized exhibition of agricultural machinery AGROSALON-2018. I have already written about unmanned and mini tractors - now it’s time for the “salt of the earth”, or rather the “golden mean” in the form of general-purpose tractors of medium (from 80 to 150 hp) power. Such machines are most common both in agriculture itself and in related areas, for example, land reclamation and forestry, as well as in public utilities and auxiliary work in construction. Russians are most familiar with the brand of the Belarusian MTZ (the Belarus brand), although the country also produces domestic analogues, for example, the Agromash brand (but this manufacturer chose to counter-display at the Golden Autumn 2018 exhibition).
Restyled tractor "Belarus-82.1"
Among the presented mid-size Belarus tractors (1.4 t class), there was, for example, the restyled Belarus-82.1 (MMZ D-243S2 Stage II engine, 81 hp, 18x4 gears) with a nice streamlined plastic hood and system Trimble Agriculture precision agriculture products, including the GFX-750 display, NAV900 navigation controller and Autopilot™ guidance system. The portal-type front drive axle on this tractor is equipped with bevel gears.
The new gas-cylinder tractor "Belarus-1221.2" can even run on liquefied natural gas
However, the most important new product is the gas-cylinder tractor MTZ-1221.2 (Sinomach MT05.14-50 engine, 140 hp, Euro-5, 16x8 gears, hydraulic system load capacity on the suspension axis - 4300 kg) adapted for working on compressed natural gas gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The volume of filling tanks is 15 m3 in the case of CNG and 198 liters in the case of the LNG cryotank. The pressure in the cryotank is 0.6–1.59 MPa at a temperature of -161°C. The nominal gas fuel consumption is 16 m3/h.
Cryogenic tank volume – 198 liters of liquefied methane
The export orientation of this development is obvious, for example, to China, where cryogenic LNG gas filling stations already exist. However, there are prospects for the use of such a gas tractor in Russia, in any case, competition with the Russian analogue Agromash-85TK (however, it runs only on compressed methane), by the way, presented at the parallel exhibition “Golden Autumn 2018”, it can provide noticeable competition. However, I think that Belarusian tractor manufacturers should gasify, first of all, their bestseller MTZ-82.1, especially for work in public utilities (such a tractor would be in demand in both Moscow and St. Petersburg). However, in the extensive line of MTZ there is a 78-horsepower model “Belarus-92P” with a gas-diesel MMZ GD-243-1321 with a 14-cubic-meter gas reserve, saving up to 70% of diesel fuel. However, MTZ did not present this model for AGROSALON-2018.
Tractor "Belarus-1221.2" with "Khokhloma" airbrushing
The tractor "Belarus-1221.2" (with twin tanks and an enlarged radiator (with a modified hood design) was presented with aerography "like Khokhloma", fulfilling the task of a showstopper. The aerography of the tractor was done by the capital's studio "AirTimeStudio". It turned out quite nice, however, it is doubtful what A farmer would fork out for such fun.
Universal tractor "Belarus-1523v" with Belarusian folk motifs in the exterior
The universal tractor “Belarus-1523v” with graffiti in the style of Belarusian embroidery is equipped with an MMZ D-260.1 Stage I diesel engine with a power of 148 hp. with a cooling unit for improved thermal conditions, 16x8 gears. The hydraulic mounted system is equipped with an electro-hydraulic system for automatically adjusting the depth of tillage. Load capacity on the suspension axis is 6500 kg.
The luxury cabin is equipped with athermal glass, a seat with air suspension from the German company Grammer, climate control and a radio. The tractor is equipped with LED headlights and upgraded tires.
New Russian-Turkish tractor Basak-2060BT
A new product in the general purpose tractor segment is the Basak (“ear of grain” in Turkish) brand, new to Russia, presented from the Tver region. The tractors will be assembled at Bezhetskselmash from large-unit machine kits supplied by the famous Turkish manufacturer - the company Başak Tractor & Agricultural Machinery, which has been producing tractors under license from Steyr-Daimler-Puch since 1978, fully localizing them in 1996 under its own Basak brand. Since 2012, the company has been part of the SANCO Group holding (its MST division is already known in Russia, supplying front loaders and backhoe loaders), which invested $180 million in tractor production, which allowed it to increase production to 10 thousand tractors per year.
Russian-Turkish tractor Basak-2080S
Now the company has begun widespread international expansion. Models Basak-2060BT (58 hp, Euro-3a, 3020 kg), and Basak-2080S (82 hp, Euro-3a, 4050 kg).
Tractor ANT 4135F from Kovrov
The Kovrov Electromechanical Plant (KEMZ) presented the already well-known model of the all-wheel drive general purpose tractor ANT 4135F (136 hp, 581 N•m, 24x18 gears, 4600 kg), the hydraulic mounted system with a maximum lifting force of 77 kN is equipped with hydrostatic control.
Tractor Case MAXXUM 125
Dealer equipment "BM Tekhnika" (Business Market LLC) showed (and at different stands) tractors of the Maxxum series of the world brand CASE IH (working with it since 2012). Thus, the “junior” tractor of the Maxxum 125 model is equipped with a 126 hp diesel engine. at 2200 rpm (with 2 valves per cylinder) Tier III environmental standard and Synchro mechanical transmission with 12x12 gears. The more powerful Maxxum 140 model is equipped with a 141-horsepower (at 2200 rpm), also with 2 valves per cylinder and Tier III standard diesel engine and a Powershift manual transmission with 24 gears, both forward and reverse, with 2-speed shift to high and low gears. The optional Powershift transmission with 16 forward/reverse gears features a throttle lever with integrated controls. Both Case Maxxum tractor models feature a high-efficiency PTO for fuel economy with an operating speed of 540/1000.
Tractor Case MAXXUM 140
To be continued on the portal www.rim3.ru
Prospects for the development of the Russian agricultural machinery market
In accordance with the strategy for the development of agricultural machinery in Russia for the period until 2030, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1455-r, the state will continue to actively support the development of domestic production and export of agricultural machinery, as well as the modernization and scientific and technical development of agricultural machinery.
However, on the other hand, the financial support of farms will put serious pressure on domestic demand, caused, among other things, by rising inflation and prices for raw materials. These factors increase production costs. In addition, demand will be limited by the low availability of loans for the purchase of new agricultural machinery.
Gor Manukyan, senior project manager
What are Russian agricultural tractors made of?
Machines for agricultural work, manufactured by a domestic manufacturer, consist of the following main components, mechanisms and assemblies:
- engine;
- power train, also called transmission;
- chassis;
- governance mechanisms;
- auxiliary equipment that ensures the performance of various types of work.
Today, domestic manufacturers are actively producing new generation tractors. The range of such machines is very wide. The list of modern tractors in Russia includes both large-capacity tractors and small-sized models that are intended for private farming. Thanks to the constant introduction of innovative technologies into production, Russian tractors are in great demand in many parts of the world.
