Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation completed the tests of its Chelyabinsk T-10m tractor fitted with a bush-cutting device for clearing the forests off bushes and young offshoots coming to up to 120mm, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports.

The unit, which looks like a bulldozer with an impressive wedge-shaped shovel with blades, was tested at Sofrino, Pushkinksy District, on the premises of TsentrLes, the federal agency in charge of controlling fires in Moscow Region.

The performance of the tractor was assessed by an ad hoc intergovernmental committee comprising Professor Vladimir Kazakov (PhD in agriculture, Forestry Scientific Research Institute), Grigory Mitsin (the project’s Chief Designer, Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant), and Director of TsentrLes Alexander Morozov.

To test the tractor, a tricky section of the forest covered in willow-shrubs, bushes, and old furrows was chosen.

‘The tractor passed the section smoothly in second gear at the speed of 3km per hour. The committee came to the conclusion that the fire-breaks it made were wide enough to let the firefighting vehicles pass. This means the unit is officially recommended for fire stations, and foresters can already place their orders with Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant,’ says the project manager Grigory Mitsin.

In the future, the vehicle will be made suitable for a wider range of applications. The tested unit will be transferred to Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant for the designers to improve on it and to make it even more universal.