Belarus tractors listed on Tractor Zoom
I’ve wondered this more times than I can count: do any of our videos ever change an auction? Most of the time, I never really know. I’ll put a tractor in the spotlight, tell its story on video or in words, and the auction does what it does. Maybe a bidder found it because of me. Maybe they were already watching it. But usually, there’s no way to connect those dots.
However, a recent conversation with tractor collector Erik Myers finally gave me an answer for one particular tractor. We were talking about a Case 1570 Spirit of ’76 when this enormous Belarus 7010 came up in conversation. It was then that Erik casually told me that it was my fault that he had this big ol’ lummox in his collection.
See, back in October of last year, I’d featured that tractor in a video ahead of the Joe & Mary Jane Booth collector auction in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the video went a little bit nuts. Tons of people saw it; I think it’s got about a quarter million views right now. At any rate, one of them was Erik, who had a pretty simple reaction. “Hey, that’s pretty cool and weird, and I kinda want it!”
Apparently, he wanted it badly enough to buy it.
So, while I can’t tell you if our video influenced the final price, I can tell you it changed the buyer pool, which I think is pretty neat. In some ways, knowing that Erik bought that tractor because he heard me talking about it in a video is gratifying. It also validates the whole reason for my job here at Tractor Zoom; to get more eyeballs on equipment!
Well, now we get to try it again. Because now, less than a year later, Erik’s had his fun with this big Cold War-era dinosaur, and it’s time to send it off to a new home. So let’s take a closer look at it, shall we?
A Belarus that’s not really a Belarus…
This 1979 Belarus 7010 isn’t really a Belarus in the way most American farmers know the name. Normally, when they hear that name, they probably imagine a fairly generically-styled compact rowcrop tractor. And that’s totally fair; Belarus has been building tractors of all shapes and sizes at the Minsk Tractor Works (abbreviated MTZ) since 1946. In fact, MTZ is one of the biggest tractor plants (if not the biggest) on the planet, and it’s still operational today. They turned out their four millionth tractor in 2023, and they’re still building tractors today!
The big Belarus was…big.
Everything about this machine feels oversized, because it was. The Belarus 7010 was roughly the size of a Steiger Bearcat III, just with a longer hood. Under that hood lived a 14.9-liter YaMZ turbocharged V8. That’s 907 cubic inches and about 235 horsepower at 1,700 RPM. The tractor weighs nearly 30,000 pounds, which was fairly substantial for the era.
I’ve seen a few descriptions claiming the engine traces back to a WWII tank. I think that’s probably stretching the story a bit. The YaMZ-238 family came along in the 1960s, making it much more of an early Cold War-era design. Soviet manufacturers used variants of this engine in heavy trucks, tractors, and military vehicles. Either way, it’s a great big turbodiesel V8. And according to Erik, this one doesn’t leak oil. (And yes, he checked. There is oil in it.)
The tractor also uses a partially synchronized transmission with sixteen forward and eight reverse gears. Erik says it feels especially strange going backward, and I can understand why. Eight reverse gears seems a little excessive. Top speed in reverse is about 13.5 MPH. Doing that in a 30,000-pound articulated 4WD sounds sketchy at best. And while engine tends to stay dry, Erik says the transmission and differentials make up for it. I suppose that’s par for the course. Porous castings tend to weep, and those seals and gaskets are pushing 50 years old.
I’m sure that the controls, sightlines, articulation, and sheer size all take some getting used to. Furthermore, it probably doesn’t feel like a Steiger or Versatile from the same era, and quality control seems to be a big reason why. When I posted the video last October, a few people with firsthand experience chimed in. They all said roughly the same thing. If you got a good one, they were decent tractors. The problem was getting a good one. That helps explain why so many of these big machines eventually ended up in salvage yards or parked along fencerows.
From Kentucky to Michigan…
When it sold last fall, the tach showed roughly 965 hours, and Erik bought it probably more for the novelty of it than anything else. The tach shows 966 hours today, so apparently he’s driven it just enough to confirm that it is indeed big, and weird. And now that he’s had it for a bit, it’s time to let somebody else have a go at it.
During our conversation, Erik told me his collection is always evolving as his interests change. That’s a collecting philosophy I can absolutely get behind.
Case in point; two years ago, when he first teamed up with Aumann Vintage Power for an auction, the focus was mostly small Ford tractors from the 1940s and ’50s. Since then, his interests have shifted toward muscle tractors, oddballs, and most recently, V8-powered muscle tractors. So, it’s time for another auction to make room for the V8s (or whatever rabbit hole comes up next).
There’s plenty of interesting iron on this sale, too. A few nice Olivers. The Spirit of ’76 we talked about earlier. A very pretty 1206. A D21 that needs a little TLC, and what may be one of Jon Kinzenbaw’s only John Deere 5020 repowers using a 6V-71 Detroit. It’s well worth a look, and I’ll link to the sale below.
I have no idea where the Belarus will end up going next. Maybe somebody reading this will see it and have the same reaction Erik did last fall.
“Hey, that’s pretty cool and weird, and I kinda want it!”
If that person is you, please reach out and let me know. I’d love to hear what you’re going to do with it!
Here’s the link to the sale on Tractor Zoom. Check it out!
