KhTZ HTZ
1 model in this series
HTZ-T2r by the Kharkov Tractor Plant – tracked tractor with wood-gas power, 45 hp and around 16,000 units built (1938–1941).
The Kharkov Tractor Plant (KhTZ) was one of the Soviet Union's central farm-machinery works and, from the 1930s, produced tracked tractors in large numbers. The HTZ-T2r, built between 1938 and 1941, is a wood-gas-powered variant, meaning an engine that burned gas generated from wood or charcoal rather than petrol or diesel.
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The tracked tractor delivers 45 hp and reaches a top speed of 8.04 km/h. At a weight of 5,850 kg, the machine ran on tracks rather than wheels. With around 16,000 units built, the T2r was not a small series but a widely used version of the tracked tractor of its time.
Wood-gas technology was, during and just before the war, a response to fuel shortages: a generator mounted on the vehicle gasified solid fuels such as wood into a combustible gas that fed the engine in place of liquid fuel. Efficiency was markedly lower than that of a diesel or petrol engine, which shows in the low top speed, but the technology kept the machine running when petroleum products were unavailable.
Surviving T2r examples are today collector's pieces of technical history. When acquiring one, the condition of the wood-gas generator is critical, since its components – the gasification shaft, filter and pipework – are in most surviving vehicles no longer original or functional. Tracks and rollers should be checked for wear; spare parts for this early generation of tracked tractors can practically only be obtained by custom fabrication.
Sources: SpecCodex-Register: Kennwerte des Modells HTZ-T2r
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Tractor in 3D section
Turn the model, look inside and click an assembly — each one is explained.