Heinrich Lanz A
1 model in this series
Heinrich Lanz SZL: coal-fired single-cylinder tractor, 21 hp/15.4 kW at 150 rpm, steel wheels and 8,500 kg weight, from before 1912
Heinrich Lanz was a German farm machinery manufacturer from Mannheim, whose tractor production was one of the defining names in the early motorisation of German agriculture. The A series with the SZL model belongs to the initial period of motorised draft power before the First World War, when coal-fired engines running very slowly still existed alongside steam and horse traction.
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The SZL is powered by a water-cooled single-cylinder engine fired by coal, producing 21 hp, or 15.4 kW, at just 150 rpm. At a weight of 8,500 kg, with rear-wheel drive and steel wheels measuring 1,150 mm by 200 mm at the front and 1,500 mm by 400 mm at the rear, the machine is a heavy, extremely slow-turning tractor from the early construction period.
A rated speed of 150 rpm is far below what later tractor engines achieved and is typical of the stationary and semi-stationary drives from which early tractors evolved: large rotating masses and low speed delivered even torque for draft and belt work. Such a machine was built for heavy tillage and the stationary driving of threshing and other work machines, not for fast travel.
When buying such an early Lanz tractor, the condition of the frame, the steel wheels and the coal-firing system matters most, as far as these components survive in original form. A vehicle of this age is generally a unique museum piece, for which parts can only be sourced through custom fabrication or from specialist vintage-vehicle restorers.
Sources: SpecCodex-Register: Kennwerte des Modells Heinrich Lanz SZL
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Tractor in 3D section
Turn the model, look inside and click an assembly — each one is explained.