Rostselmash is one of Russia’s larger manufacturers of agricultural machinery with a wide range range of combines, tractors and other implements, from air seed drills to simple harrows in its portfolio of products.
With Russia being heavily sanctioned the company is having to turn to its own resources to replace or substitute what it used to freely buy in from the west, and that includes the engineering expertise that goes into its agricultural machinery.
It was particularly hard hit as it relied upon its Canadian subsidiary, Versatile Tractors, to supply its 3000 series machines which ranged from 440hp to 583hp, power provided by a Cummins engine driving a Cat TA22 16+4 power shift transmission with auto capability.
Rostselmash sells Versatile
Having sold Versatile to the Turkish Basak Traktor company in late 2023, Rostselmash has had to withdraw its premier machines from its catalogue leaving only the smaller 2000 series, which tops out at 430hp, as its largest offering.
These are also equipped with a 16+4 powershift transmission, although the company’s literature does not make it clear from where it is sourced.
What we are told, is that the engine used is an 11.6LWeichai WP12 unit from China that has a maximum power output of 453hp according to the manufacturer, meaning that it is operating near its limit in the Rostselmash 2400 articulated tractor.
Big new box
Yet Rostselmash has recently launched a new transmission to cater for tractors of between 440 and 620hp, model sizes that it doesn’t presently have in its line up.
Once again, it is a 16+4 box with nine of the ratios working in the field speed range of 7-20kph – the top road speed being 40kph.
It is, we are told, Russia’s first-ever powershift transmission for heavy tractors in this power range, no transmissions of this type and size have been manufactured in Russia until now, according to the company.
Known as the RSM PowerShift, it can be used in either manual or automatic mode and is undergoing bench-run tests with the complete driveline to be trialled in the field this year, fitted to a Rostselmash 3002 4WD, a hitherto unknown model.
Big new tractor to follow?
This might well indicate that the company is designing its own range of high horsepower articulated tractors to eventually compete with the Versatile models it used to sell.
Weichai has a range of diesels up to 10,000hp and is a sister company to Lovol Tractors, so sourcing an engine to replace the 15L Cummins unit used in the larger Versatiles should pose few problems.
To underline the new determination of the company to emerge stronger than before, the company’s design engineers are also working on several more transmission units for rigid and articulated tractors of power ratings between 170 to 600+ hp.
