MAZ-525 - the ancestor of modern BelAZ

BelAZ mining dump trucks are known in all countries of the former Soviet Union. Most of the equipment produced in Belarus is exported to Russia. Of course, there are complaints about the quality of dump trucks, but they are cheaper than their foreign counterparts. And now, when Japanese and American equipment has left our market, there is no alternative to BelAZ. Chinese models are offered but not trusted. Although, in Belarusian dump trucks there are also enough parts from the Middle Kingdom.

If you look into it, BelAZ was not “born” in the BSSR at all. The model appeared in the city of Yaroslavl. They started developing a quarry dump truck there and almost completed the project, at least they made the technical documentation. But then they decided that YaAZ should be retrained to produce diesel engines. And all the developments were transferred to Minsk to MAZ. That’s where the model with the index 525 appeared. By the way, local designers came up with the cabin themselves. Truck could carry 25 tons. An unremarkable figure now, but back then it was shocking. And not only Soviet experts, but also foreign ones. They couldn’t produce MAZ-525 in large batches – there simply wasn’t enough space for them at the Minsk Automobile Plant. As a result, the quarry dump truck was transferred to Zhodino. That’s how the first BelAZ appeared. And the author of the “AUTO VIDEO” channel will tell the story of the MAZ-525.