MAZ 537: photo. MAZ 537 ("Hurricane"): specifications

MAZ 537 "Hurricane" - heavy four-axle tractor of saddle type, military purpose. Produced at the Minsk Automobile Plant from 1959 to 1965. Since 1963 it is produced at KZKT, Kurgan plant of wheeled tractors. Carrying capacity up to 50 tons on semitrailers like ChMZAP-5247G.

MAZ device 537

The design of the tractor is quite simple, and therefore reliable. Cabin MAZ 537, photo of which was initially unavailable due to military secrecy, four-seater, two-door, metal, equipped with a self-contained heater. The engine is located behind the cab in the engine-transmission compartment, then there is a transfer case that transmits the rotation to eight independent axes. At the rear of the load platform is a fifth wheel coupling. Some modifications of the machine are equipped with a winch. The tractor moves on eight wheels, the four front ones are turning. Tubeless tires are equipped with pumping, in the event of a puncture, a pressure loss compensation mechanism is activated. The MAZ 537 "Uragan" car , whose technical characteristics speak of power and reliability, is a good example of the achievements of military equipment.

Power point

The diesel engine is high-speed D-12A-525A, adapted for fuel GOST 4749-73. Power 525 hp At 2100 rpm. Cylinders - volume 38 880 cube / cm, quantity 12, the arrangement is V-shaped. The diameter is 150 mm, the compression ratio is 14.5.

The motor is equipped with a preheater.

Cooling - forced circulation of antifreeze.

Transmission - three-stage, with hydromechanical switching.

Dimensions

Length - 8960 mm, height - 2880 mm, width 2885 mm. The wheelbase is between the first and second axes of 1700 mm, between the second and third 2650 mm, between the third and fourth 1700 mm.

The track is 2200 mm for all bridges. Ground clearance (clearance) - 500 mm.

Weight - 21.6 tons.

Modifications

• MAZ 537A is an onboard tractor, capable of carrying 15 tons in the body, 65 tons of the total mass with a trailer on the highway or 30 tons on a dirt road.
• MAZ 537D - is equipped with an alternating current generator set.
• MAZ 537G - equipped with a winch.
• MAZ 537K - tractor, designed to transport long-length crane equipment.
• MAZ 537L - for towing aircraft, equipped with a compact metal body.

The project to create a new powerful tractor

In the early 50-ies of the 20 century in the USSR there was a need for new powerful vehicles for the military. Rocket complexes, heavy armored vehicles on caterpillar tracks, fortification excavators and other equipment needed transportation both for short and long distances. Particularly difficult was the redeployment of military formations, which was carried out regularly. Up to six months it took to travel by rail and small-sized motor transport.

The design of the universal tractor began in the autumn of 1954, and by the summer of 1956 prototypes were ready. The four-axle full-length four-wheel drive chassis has become the base for several modifications of the military saddle tow. Characteristics of the machine were designed for long-distance travel at a speed of 40 - 50 km / h. The capacity of the tractor was sufficient to transport the platform with a ballistic intercontinental missile. However, the road train could only follow the road with a hard surface and exclusively on flat terrain. To overcome even a small recovery did not work, because the trailer did not possess inertia.

Application

The tractor MAZ 537 "Hurricane", the technical characteristics of which showed its reliability, was also widely used in regular troops for the transportation of various long-range combat systems. However, the towing of long platforms was hampered by the overly remote coupling. The road train did not fit into the turns, maneuverability was limited.

Every move to another place of deployment was an archetypal task for the military, the road train had to be stopped often, by means of complex manipulations, to align the course. Difficulties arose because of the narrow roadway. In the post-war USSR, all roads were extremely narrow, motor transport moved in a single row, in both directions. The danger of moving into the ditch was every minute. The heavy tractor occupied its full lane and also left for the oncoming. Complaints were filed from the civilian population, but the situation did not change.

In the end, military departments began to warn about the upcoming transportation of missile systems in advance. Notices of the forthcoming redeployment were received by road services and the state traffic inspectorate. The police blocked traffic on the highway, within 25-30 kilometers, the tractor with the trailer occupied the entire width of the carriageway and safely passed the free section to the next post. Then the next run was blocked.

Two years later, the design bureau of the Minsk Automobile Plant began to develop a truck-mounted version of the tractor truck with the MAZ 535V index. The body was abolished, in its place was installed a coupling with an automatic lock-lock and two degrees of radial rotation. Vertical load on the rear part of the tractor thus increased sharply, the designers had to reconsider the parameters of the rear suspension. They stopped on bridges with a planetary gear and a differential. Thus, the rear axles assumed the main load.

MAZ 537

The last version of the tractor unit was characterized by a more perfect engine power and cooling system. The flanges of the cardan shafts of the transfer case were strengthened. The need for this was dictated by frequent breakdowns, when the loaded tractor could not overcome the rainy portion of the road and the engine torque tore the cardan joints.

The creation of a family of heavy tank tractors MAZ 537, the characteristics of which repeated the basic parameters of the models MAZ 535 and MAZ 536, was the beginning of the era of new class of road-trains, with a high load-carrying capacity. There was a powerful incentive for the development of increasingly sophisticated heavy-duty semi-trailers and trailers for the transportation of multi-tonne indivisible goods.

The need to move massive structures has always existed. Abroad, road trains appeared much earlier than in the USSR, and this circumstance accelerated the development of Soviet vehicles of increased payload, as no one wanted to lag behind advanced technologies. To begin with, the design bureaus of the automotive industry developed the ZiS-10 tractor with a fifth wheel coupling on the basis of the famous ZiS-5 dump truck. The carrying capacity of the new car was only 6 tons. A small number of tugboats were produced, ZiS-10 was not widely distributed.

Foreign analogues

In the late 30-ies of the last century, truckers got acquainted with two heavy road-trains of foreign manufacture, truck tractors Daimond T-980 and REO 28XS, transferred to the USSR by lend-lease. Overseas tugs worked in tandem with the three-axle semi-trailers Roden Trailer, the carrying capacity of which was 45 tons. The cars were equipped with winches and transported armored vehicles.

At that time in the Soviet Union, tanks and other heavy military vehicles moved exclusively by their own way or were transported on railway platforms. Both methods seemed irrational, but there was no alternative then.

The post-war period

After the end of World War II, the USSR seriously undertook the development of domestic heavy tractors for the army and the developing national economy. In 1951, the car factory in Yaroslavl mastered the production of three-axle vehicles YaAZ-210G with a platform and a powerful winch. Large-scale production of these machines could not be adjusted, and in addition tractors could not pass off-road, especially during the rainy season or spring mudslide.

Thus, the tasks of creating heavy vehicles still required a solution, especially as the country was undergoing rapid industrial construction, and the military department was developing strategic missile systems that needed mobility. The armored forces also needed reliable heavy-duty tractors.

Design department

The Council of Ministers of the USSR in June 1954 adopted a resolution on the creation of a special design bureau for the development of particularly powerful military tractors with the possibility of subsequent modification in the civilian industrial version. It immediately became clear that the existing factory technologies and equipment in automotive production would not be enough.

We had to start from the machine-tool park, buy modern equipment abroad and create new technologies. At the Minsk Automobile Plant a large MAZ MAZ was organized, under the direction of the chief designer Boris Lvovich Shaposhnik. Before the specialists set a task to design and launch a heavy wheel tractor. This is how the MAZ 535 towing device appeared, which will soon turn into MAZ 537, a model with several modifications.

Production

Initially, the funds included in the development of the supercar were insufficient, since such a car can not be cheap. After adjusting the financial security of the project, the work began to boil. Non-standard solutions were adopted, which had never before been used in the domestic automotive industry. We had to take into account the special conditions of operation of heavy-duty tractors, the adaptation of units to the temperature range from plus 50 to minus 50 degrees, profile cross-country and many other parameters.

The heavy truck tractor MAZ 537 began to be produced serially in 1965. The car was intended for towing trailers and semi-trailers weighing up to 40 tons. From the basic version of the 537-th model was different rear-biased (at 345 mm) fifth-coupling mechanism and reinforced rear suspension. The car MAZ 537 was in a mode of constant restyling. In the production process, the functions of the transfer box were expanded, the rotation transmission to the generator drive was installed. The car's carrying capacity has significantly increased and amounted to 68 tons.

In parallel with heavy-duty truck tractors, on-board tractors for moving loads, up to 22 tons, along the highway, were designed and manufactured in limited series. The body of such a car was not equipped with seats, had no arches and awning, was used exclusively for the carriage of goods. Under the body was a winch for self-hauling, in case the tractor would get stuck.

Modernization

After a while the military MAZ 537 was modernized, and the car was given the "P" index. The technical characteristics remained unchanged, but the winch was abolished, and the body was re-equipped to transport personnel. Along the flaps, longitudinal benches and arcs for the awning were installed, which were adjusted in height - in the lower position the canopy covered the cargo, in the upper position it served as a protection against rain and snow for people. In accordance with its direct purpose, the tractor MAZ 537P could tow platforms with missile systems.

The operation of wheeled tractors required service specialists, qualified drivers and the corresponding material base. Therefore, in the 1970s, specialized enterprises for the centralized transportation of large-size and extra-heavy cargoes were formed. Association "Spetstyazhavtotrans" was engaged in transportation of non-standard cargoes, developing thus optimum routes. With the help of MAZ 537 tractors, a marble boulder, weighing 300 tons, was transported for the construction of the monument to V.I. Lenin in Leningrad. This unique transport operation was followed by the whole country.

Tractors "MAZ 537" in the north, where the laying of oil and gas pipelines were widely used, were widely used. The unpretentious car has worked well in a cold climate. Especially for the transportation of long-length gas-conducting joints, a pipe chute PV-481 was built on the basis of the MAZ 537 towing vehicle. Also for working in the northern conditions, prototypes of fire engines, technical mobile stations, all-terrain vehicles of emergency medical aid were created. However, trial copies did not arrive in mass production.

In 1991, the Kurgan plant of wheeled tractors began the serial production of a heavy semi-trailer KZKT-9101, with a carrying capacity of 54 tons, for the MAZ 537 towing vehicle, the technical characteristics of which fully coincided with the data of the semitrailer. The combination of components turned out to be successful, buyers were able to purchase a tractor and a semitrailer within one order.

For many years of production, the MAZ 537 tugs, photos of which are presented on the page, are gradually obsolete, both morally and technically. The machine has exhausted itself, the potential for further development has dried up. Became apparent hidden shortcomings, a lot of criticism caused low power of the power plant. The operation of the tractor was associated with frequent breaks for repairs, the army MAZ 537 did not accommodate the crew who transported tanks and other armored vehicles, which had to be followed separately. To do this, we had to attract additional cars.

In the end, based on the 537th model, a new tractor KZKT-7428 was created, which fully met the tasks of transporting combat tracked vehicles. Currently, the family of powerful wheeled tractors successfully solves all the tasks of transporting heavy military equipment, as well as civilian large-sized industrial structures.