T500 – Soviet tractor from Cheboksary

Not every technical innovation can be immediately put into serial production. Sometimes, for various reasons, you have to wait several years (or even decades). In other cases, there is even a change in production facilities selected for the implementation of the planned project.


The crawler tractor model discussed in this material encountered both of the situations described above. Nevertheless, she waited in the wings and even managed to stand on the assembly line for a total of almost two decades. Having also survived the change of eras and reached the new millennium.

I hope you are already at least a little intrigued, so we can continue the story by touching directly on the representative of the family of promising industrial tractors, which had maximum unification in many design details.

I had to wait almost 15 years

The development of documentation for the new tractor was completed in 1967. Its logical result was the appearance of the first prototype in mid-autumn. It was proposed by engineers from the Chelyabinsk plant. True, this happened almost five years before the launch of the enterprise, which eventually mastered mass production of the new product. So, we had to be patient and wait.



In general, this process turned out to be an amazing multi-step process, stretching, in fact, for more than 18 years. During this time, everything happened: a change in capacity, testing and refinement of the initial design. Below you can trace the chronology of the main events associated with the creation of the T500.

✅ 1967 – emergence of a project based on the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant
✅ 1981 – creation of the Cheboksary prototype
✅ 1984 – first tractor of final design
✅ spring 1985 - the appearance of a separate site for the assembly of the new T500
✅ end of 1985 - the beginning of full-fledged mass production of the model

The enterprise team had very little time left, so in the first year they were able to assemble only three units. But the fact of their appearance became the basis for the acceptance committee to give the go-ahead for mass production of the T500 model tracked industrial tractor at the beginning of next year.


Yes, such a good design could well become a worthy brainchild of the legendary Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant. But in the late 60s, his creative team was too closely involved in fine-tuning the elements of the previous T330. In order to simultaneously master the new product, which also required considerable modifications, there was neither the technical capabilities nor the basic time.

However, the company already had many famous models, including the most productive bulldozer in the world T800. But for the young Cheboksary plant, the delivery of a promising tractor to the assembly line became a pretty good launching pad for its further development. After all, the model they produced turned out to be in great demand in several industrial areas:

✅ oil and gas industry
✅ road construction works
✅ reclamation activities
✅ mining industry
✅ hydraulic engineering, etc.

Widespread use in various industries was not the only advantage of the new reliable technology. She could still work in practically all climatic zones of the vast country. After all, the operating range of the T500 was a hundred degrees Celsius (from + 50 to – 50). And now you can focus more on the main technical indicators that provided the crawler tractor with such broad capabilities.

Technical features and indicators of T500

The period of appearance of this design coincided with the time of great construction projects in the USSR. It was then that a record number of residential areas were built in all populated areas of the country. At the same time, auxiliary infrastructure also developed, among which the main role was played by asphalting roads.


All these heavy construction works of various profiles required powerful special equipment. First of all, this applies to reliable bulldozer tractors. It was on their shoulders that all the auxiliary moments that accompanied the grandiose creative process fell. Therefore, it is not surprising that the T500 came in handy on many types of objects:

✅ construction of high-rise buildings
✅ laying new roads
✅ development of new areas
✅ beautification of non-residential territory, etc.

For such various applications, the T500 was equipped with special tracks that had a seal and hinge lubrication. Factory treatment was usually enough for the entire service life. And the tracks also received a detachable closing link with a pitch of 25 cm.

Increased maneuverability of the vehicle during work was ensured by the bifurcation of power flows possessed by the tractor engine gearbox. A classic cardan is used to transmit torque.


But turning on the spot was possible thanks to the function of switching on different directions of movement of the tracks. The box was three-speed with reverse, six-shaft. This ensured the required speed limit for the gears (indicators in parentheses for driving in reverse):

✅ first – 4 (3,3) km/h
✅ second – 7,2 (6) km/h
✅ third – 13 (11,4) km/h

Performing any task would be impossible without reliable bulldozer-ripper equipment, including a blade and the ripper itself. The first was more than two meters high and four and a half meters wide. Weight – 8,25 tons. The second type of equipment had an adjustable level and a weight of 6,33 tons.

Operator workplace and export geography

We also tried to make the bulldozer driver’s workplace as comfortable as possible. Although the cabin was not very large in size (single-seater), it perfectly damped vibrations, thanks to its installation on rubber shock absorbers. It also had other important advantages:

✅ large glass area providing excellent visibility
✅ special upholstery to suppress external noise
✅ sprung seat with adjustment to the operator’s dimensions
✅ ventilation and heater

In addition, the T500 tractor received a 990-liter main tank, as well as a 150-liter tank for the cooling system and for the hydraulic system of attachments - 480 liters. Without equipment, it weighed 41,8 tons, and with bulldozer equipment its weight grew to almost 60 tons (59,455).


Its production continued successfully until 2000. Moreover, the reliable design has received a very wide export geography. In February 1989, the tractor was thoroughly tested in Czechoslovakia. This opened the way for the T500 to the markets of many countries located on different continents: Yugoslavia and Spain, Colombia and Venezuela, distant Australia.

Two years later, he was awarded an honorary diploma by the organizing committee of the specialized exhibition in the city of Verona. This was another confirmation of the success of the 6,2-meter tractor with a 480-horsepower engine.