The K-700 or “Kirovets” tractor first saw the light of day in 1962. It was essentially time itself that forced it to be created. The recent war dealt a severe blow to the agricultural industry; the territories newly populated after the occupation had to be cultivated and developed again. The development of the K-700 in its own way was the result of rearmament. Before its appearance, low-power DT-54 tracked tractors were mainly used in the fields.
It is noteworthy that in 1959, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev went on a working trip to America. There he was shown a tractor from the John Deere company, the Secretary General was so impressed with the American technology that upon arrival he immediately gave the Kirov Plant designers the task of creating a brand new machine that would allow the country’s agricultural sector to be restored faster and more efficiently. The future K-700 was based on the German Wagner tractor. But Soviet engineers designed the equipment for two purposes: in peacetime it performed civilian work, and in wartime it could be an artillery tractor.
Purpose and scope of application
The energy-rich universal wheeled tractor “Kirovets K-710 “Ilyich” was designed to work with wide-cut mounted, semi-mounted and trailed implements. Hydrofied machines, combined machines and implements with active working bodies, which are designed for plowing medium and heavy soils to a significant depth, for deep moldless loosening, plantation plowing, stubble peeling and soil disking, for continuous cultivation, harrowing, work on sowing grain and other crops, as well as performing large transport work in agriculture.
The wheeled tractor “Kirovets K-710 “Ilyich” has become a general-purpose agricultural tractor of the 80 kN class. The tractor was equipped with a separate-module hydraulic system, a three-point hitch and a pendulum tow hitch, designed for attachment to a full range of agricultural and transport machines.
"Kirovets K-4". Designer's Gambit
The St. Petersburg Tractor Plant, part of the group, is one of the few domestic machine-building enterprises that manage to successfully compete with foreign manufacturers. Even in conditions of the economic crisis, tractors of the famous Soviet brand “Kirovets” are in steady demand in Russia. And today they are exported to 30 countries.
The former Kirov plant is an enterprise with rich working traditions and a collectivist spirit, which has been preserved here despite the “reforms” of liberals and market pandemonium. The leader of the Russian Communists, Gennady Andreevich Zyuganov, often visits the plant, and during the recent presidential election campaign, the candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the people's patriotic forces of Russia, Pavel Nikolaevich Grudinin, spoke here and answered numerous questions. It was impossible for the people's candidate to come to the city on the Neva and not visit the St. Petersburg Tractor Plant. Everyone was waiting for him here. After all, in terms of their worldview and attitude to life, the workers, engineers and management of the plant were and remained Soviet people, true patriots, as if the decades of the wild market and Gorbachev’s collapse had never happened.
Journalists from the Red Line TV channel came to the St. Petersburg Tractor Plant because they learned that another new product was rolling off the factory assembly line - the Kirovets K-4 model, a middle-class tractor with a 240 horsepower engine, a little more than seven meters long and overall width only two and a half meters. Today, rural producers in Russia especially lack machines with exactly these characteristics. Until relatively recently, middle-class models were purchased in Ukraine, where they are produced by the Kharkov Tractor Plant. But after the Kiev regime began to erect barrier after barrier between the fraternal countries, cooperation became impossible. Even with the acquisition of the simplest spare parts, the peasants had insurmountable problems. So a group of design engineers from the St. Petersburg Tractor Plant, led by Alexey Gavrilov, set about developing a domestic model of the Kirovets K-4 tractor just in time. And the result exceeded all expectations.
Design Features
The design of this technique is not quite the classic “Kirov” one. The frame of the K-710 “Ilyich” tractor consists of two semi-frames connected to each other by a hinge device. The tractor semi-frames can freely rotate relative to each other, around horizontal and vertical hinges. It turns out that the K-710 tractor consists of two parts that are capable of turning together with the wheels relative to each other.
A similar scheme of the so-called articulated agricultural special vehicle was used on the popular Soviet tractor T-150K from the Kharkov Tractor Plant. This property ensures consistently excellent maneuverability and constant engagement of all tractor wheels with the soil surface. The diesel engine and all power plant systems are mounted on the first, front half frame.
The tractor was equipped with a 24-volt electrical system. To operate the K-710 with agricultural machines that have active rather than passive working parts, a power take-off mechanism was provided.
Characteristics of the Kirovets K-700 tractor
The K-700 had dimensions of 7235x2530x3225 and a ground clearance of 440 mm with a weight of 12 tons. The power unit of the vehicle was an 8-cylinder diesel YaMZ-238NB with a capacity of 220 hp. pp., it was optionally possible to install a pre-start heater in the car. The car was assigned to traction class 5.
Structurally, the Kirovets consisted of two parts, the frame was “breakable”. The two parts of the frame were connected in the middle by hinges. This solution made it possible to move along the “intersection” and avoid obstacles without any special loads. When compared with other tractors in its class, the K-700 can be called extremely passable and maneuverable.
The car had a mechanical four-mode gearbox with 16 speeds. The fuel tank held 450 liters. In general, the design was quite unpretentious; this was also one of the advantages of the Kirovets. It had a three-point hydraulic system of attachments with a lifting capacity of 2 tons. Most of the “attachments” were available to this machine, the range of applications was wide, and the tractor driver could change it independently. The speed of the K-700 was quite high for such equipment. While plowing, he could move at speeds of up to 10 km/h.
The cabin was all-metal and sealed, had heating, was equipped with fans, the tractor driver's seat was sprung - the designers paid special attention to driver comfort.
Tractor engine K-710
The K-710 Ilyich tractors were equipped with four-stroke twelve-cylinder V-shaped diesel engines YaMZ-8403 with turbocharging, compression ignition, liquid cooling system, direct injection of diesel fuel and charge air cooling.
This diesel engine is started using an electric starter. To facilitate starting in the cold season, the K-710 Ilyich tractor was equipped with an electric torch device and an engine pre-heating system. To maintain optimal thermal conditions, the YaMZ-8403 diesel engine is equipped with thermostats and an automatic fan control system. High pressure fuel pump: 185.1111-90. Generator: 6582.3701. The hood is a one-piece structure; it opens using gas cylinders.
Technical parameters of the YaMZ-8403 diesel engine
- Working volume – 25.86 liters.
- Power – 500 horsepower.
- The highest torque is 2744 N.m (280 kgf.m), at a rotation speed of 1400 rpm.
- Cylinder diameter – 140 millimeters; piston stroke - 140 millimeters.
- The minimum specific fuel consumption is 211 g/kWh (155 g/hp·h).
- Overall dimensions of the engine – 1910×1230×1300 mm.
- Engine weight – 2050 kilograms.
Main parameters of K-424
- Operating weight 10,000 kg. (without additional ballast)
- Engine: diesel, 240 hp, 2300 rpm, 900 N•m.
- Gearbox: automatic with electronic communication with the engine.
- Drive axles with differential locks, the front axle is sprung.
- Hydraulic open disc brakes.
- Tires: 23.1R26 model F-37.
- Hydraulic system of working equipment: Bosch tandem axial-piston pump 100 cm3 + gear 40 cm3 for steering, maximum productivity 210 l/min. Flow rate through one hydraulic valve section is 95 l/min. Rear linkage: 4 adjustable hydraulic lines, free drain.
- Rear linkage: category III with power and position control, lifting capacity 6000 kg.
- Cabin with built-in protective frame, all-metal, two-seater, sealed, with heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
- Dimensions. Length 6971 mm, width 2540 mm, track 1930 mm, height 3490 mm, ground clearance 500 mm, turning radius 6200 mm.
- Optional - ballast weights, wheel doubling kit, tow bracket, pendulum, multi-lift, power take-off mechanism and front agricultural linkage.
The machine underwent an annual test cycle at three machine testing stations and on farms in seven regions of Russia.
Warranty 1 year or 2000 hours (whichever comes first).
Transmission and axles of the “Super Kirovets”
The transmission of the K-710 tractor consisted of a semi-rigid coupling, a gearbox, as well as drive axles and a cardan drive. The gearbox was installed mechanically, with hydraulic control of the clutch and brakes and with gear shifting without interruptions in the power flow within each operating mode.
The gearbox is of a planetary type, eight-speed, two-mode. The center differential is mounted on the transfer shaft. They ensure uniform distribution of torque to the front and rear axles with different rolling radii of the front and rear wheels. The gearbox was installed on special rubber shock absorbers.
The clutch used was YaMZ-187 - dry type, friction, single-disk, with a diaphragm extension spring and with friction linings on a non-asbestos base. The driven clutch disc with a diameter of 400 millimeters is equipped with a spring-friction type damper, with elastic fastening of one of the friction linings.
Both axles are driving on the K-710 tractor. The first of them (front) was attached to its half-frame on springs, and the rear axle - with special stepladders. Each of the two axles consisted of a main gear with a final drive differential and service brakes.
Chassis K-710; steering, brake and hydraulic systems
The wheels on these tractors were mounted on discless, collapsible wheels with low-pressure tires. The wheels were equipped with service brakes with pneumatic drive. The parking brake was a disc type, with a pneumatic drive - mounted on the front flange of the transfer shaft of the gearbox.
The steering was based on a hydraulic steering wheel and a priority valve. The rotation control is provided hydraulically, using a hydraulic distributor and two hydraulic cylinders that move the semi-frames relative to each other around the vertical hinge.
The hydraulic distributor is controlled using a metering pump, which is connected to the steering wheel. The hydraulic system has a flow regulator, which also ensures a constant flow of oil to the hydraulic cylinders.
Cabin of tractor K-710
The cabin of the K-710 tractor is all-metal, double, protected and sealed, with special tinted windows. It is located behind the engine compartment and is attached to the frame through shock-absorbing structures. Thermal insulation, heating and ventilation systems used in the production of the cabin create a consistently favorable microclimate at the K-710 operator’s workplace. Both seats - those of the operator, the trainee or the partner - are sprung and equipped with double-acting hydraulic shock absorbers. The stiffness of the seat springs can be adjusted depending on the weight of the operator.
Summary of the history of the K-710 tractor
At that time (late 1970s / early 1980s), the K-710 “Ilyich” became the most powerful tractor in the Soviet Union with simply incredible labor productivity. It was almost twice the performance of the mighty K-700. And also with such design features as a safe cabin with a rigid frame, with air conditioning (!) in the cabin, with a soil pressure indicator of 0.8 kg/kV.cm.
However, in the end, this tractor model never went into mass production. Such significant power, combined with the high cost of production and further maintenance, turned out to be not in demand in the national economy of that time. Therefore, the K-710 tractor became mainly a demonstration of the power of the Kirov plant (like the BelAZ gigantic record-breaking truck).
The K-710 tractor received the nickname “Ilyich” after a ceremonial demonstration of five samples of this equipment from a pilot series, organized in April 1980 and dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. In this “Olympic” year, the two hundred thousandth tractor rolled off the assembly line of the glorious enterprise.
However, despite the fact that this tractor, although it did not go into mass production, it was he who, one might say, gave birth to the modernized K-701M tractor of the new generation: this model simply absorbed all the best solutions from the K-710 “Ilyich” . The K-701M tractors were put into mass production in 1985. In the same year, from the assembly line of the Leningrad Tractor Plant
Nowadays (2000/early 2010s), the old idea of creating a super-powerful, energy-rich tractor has received a new embodiment. The K-710S “Stanislav” tractor, like the “Ilyich”, was created in a pilot batch and did not reach mass production. Its manufacturer was not the Kirov Plant, but the St. Petersburg Machine-Building Plant.
The K-710S tractor features an improved frame design with a balancer, which is located on the under-engine bridge. Like the Ilyich, other advantages of the Stanislav included: a special mechanical gearbox for agricultural purposes, with hydromechanical gear shifting, without interruption of the power flow, improved hydraulic system components with a long service life and reliability, and an improved cardan transmission. The developers of the K-710 C tractor were especially proud of the unique cabin with a special safety cage, increased viewing angles and air conditioning as standard.
This model of the tractor was made to have an overall width, which made it possible to operate the K-710S “Stanislav” with the ability to travel on public roads without issuing additional permits. Such overall dimensions of the tractor were due to the use of axles and wheels of a different size than those of its predecessors, as well as the installation of an in-line rather than a V-shaped diesel engine.
For this purpose, a Chinese-made six-cylinder in-line diesel engine CS11SB320 was used. Its rated power was 236 kW (320 hp). The fuel tank was designed to hold 450 liters of diesel fuel.
Technical characteristics of the K-710S Stanislav tractor in numbers:
- Overall dimensions: length 6.9 m × width 2.53 m × height 3.5 m.
- Operating weight: 13.4 tons.
- Standard base: 3,480 mm +/- 20 mm.
- Tire size (optional): from R21.5 to R26.
The front and rear frames of the K-710S Stanislav tractor are welded sheet structures without the use of hinge pipes, with the installation of balancers on the under-engine bridge. The front semi-frame of the tractor is designed to accommodate a diesel engine with a power of up to 600 horsepower.
The brake system is three-circuit, disc brakes. Air system – with an air cleaner with a Klean air centrifugal prefilter.
The axles on the K-710 S Stanislav tractor, as well as the engine, are imported. They are equipped with automatic locking cross-axle differential (No-Spin). Front - with balancer, model M-9000FB-Y. Rear – model M-9000R –Y.
This tractor can be equipped and used with any attachments: with classic and wedge-shaped bulldozer blades, with variable geometry; milling and rotary equipment; support transportation equipment; TSU or SSU coupling devices; loading equipment (buckets); equipment UDM2, DKB.
A whole era has already passed since the release of the K710 “Ilyich” tractor, and such powerful (500 hp) wheeled tractors for agricultural purposes have not yet been created. The most powerful tractor in the St. Petersburg tractor range in our time is the Kirovets K-742 “Premium” tractor (K-744R4). It is equipped with a Mercedes-Benz OM460LA E3A/3 diesel engine with 428 horsepower and costs a lot of money. produces energy-rich tractors of the eighth traction class, with a diesel power of over 500 horsepower (9R series).
Technical characteristics of K 4
Thanks to its high characteristics, the K 4 tractor is a reliable and unpretentious piece of equipment. Below are the characteristics of the machine.
Dimensions and weight parameters
- Traction class – 4;
- Weight of the equipped tractor without additional attachments - the weight of the tractor depends on the configuration and ranges from 9,000 to 12,000 kilograms;
- The length from the front bumper to the rear of the attachment when raised is 7150 millimeters;
- The height of the model from the ground to the upper edge of the exhaust pipe is 3480 mm;
- Mirror width 2550 mm;
- Maximum weight of rear attachments – 6500 kg;
- The maximum weight of the front attachment is 4500 kg;
- The size of the installed tires is 23.1 R26;
- Minimum turning radius – 5800 mm (on the outer wheel);
- Wheel formula – 4x4;
- Longitudinal wheelbase – distance between the front and rear axles – 3100 mm;
- Wheel center track – 1930 mm;
- Ground clearance at the hinge joint is 520 millimeters.
