Belarus KT-12/12A
1 model in this series
KT-12/12A: the wood-gas-generator tractor of 1951 to 1955, six-cylinder with 45 hp, 6,150 kg unladen weight, top speed 10 km/h
The KT-12/12A was built from 1951 to 1955, in the first post-war years of the Soviet Union, when fuel shortages encouraged the building of farm machinery with gas-generator drive: instead of diesel or petrol, the engine burns wood gas produced by an onboard generator fed with wood or charcoal. Tractors of this design eased the shortage of petroleum fuels in agriculture in the immediate post-war years, before diesel engines displaced wood-gas technology in the following years.
Read on 3 more paragraphs
The six-cylinder engine of 5,550 cm³ displacement produces 45 hp at 2,300 rpm – a modest figure for a six-cylinder, reflecting the lower energy density of wood gas compared with liquid fuel. With an unladen weight of 6,150 kg, a length of 4,500 mm, a width of 1,950 mm, a height of 2,790 mm and a wheelbase of 3,370 mm, the tractor reaches only 10 km/h top speed, a pace that points to pure field work rather than road transport.
At 10 km/h the KT-12/12A lies far below the 40 km/h limit of today's driving licence category L; the low travel speed combined with a high unladen weight is typical of early post-war tractors built for draft power at the plough rather than for covering distance. The onboard gas generator required extra steps to light compared with an ordinary diesel tractor, plus regular refilling of wood or charcoal during work.
Surviving examples are museum pieces today; when acquiring one for a collection, what matters is the completeness of the gas generator, the condition of the boiler and gas lines, and the originality of the cab and sheet-metal parts. Because spare parts for the gas-producing plant are no longer made, the value of the vehicle usually comes down to the preserved condition of the existing generator.
Sources: SpecCodex-Register: Kennwerte des Modells KT-12/12A
Models
Tractor in 3D section
Turn the model, look inside and click an assembly — each one is explained.