Whats the deal on Belarus?

[D7E]

Any farmer that i have ever met will give them the trophy for being the worst tractors ever made and are quite a laughing stock...
100% unreliable.
We tried them and i would say a belarus with 2000hrs is comparable to a JD'MF'Ford with 7-8000 hrs .I've lived in 3 countries and they are virtually unsaleable.
I actually saw a reasonably nice cond 80?hp fwa in the late 80's make $1900 on an auction a couple of weeks ago...It went to a wrecker.......?

 

[Bird]

In 1995, one of the four Kubota dealers I visited also sold Belarus. Of course the new Belarus sold for about half what you would pay for a comparably sized John Deere. There were no HST models. Apparently he sold quite a few since I saw quite a few in the area. But I never knew a Belarus owner who wasn't trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

 

[Taylortractornut]

ive used a few and you either like them or dislike them. I know a few folks that have them and they dont win any contest for beauty but there utility is great if youll maintain them Ive helped refine a friends just with alot of bearings and fitment. I likedt he air cooled motor my frind had problems with his at first but it was run without having the valves adjusted. Thats a must for alot of air cooled engines of that type. The hydraulic oil was 90 eight that was replaced by Hytrans it also had shavings i nthe engine and transmission. that was changed. One fellows we worked on won his at a contest it was a wreck but has been a fair mahine for work around the sawmill. His2wd has more levers than a 143 Cat grader and more pedals than a 5299 American crane. On lever is a 3 point lift for normal use plowing and such just a float and another beside it has a power up and down. 2 sets of remotes at the front and 2 at the rear 2 levers at each set. Thats across the dash. Some of the loader controls are on the left instead of the right. I did replace the power steering with a a Charlyn unit and few other things. Dad and I were inspecting the machine and he told pops to try it out. Dad used the wrong 3 point lever and it stood up on the brushhogs wheel. I wasnt aware of the parts problems, most I new that were sold as refining kits in a crate.

 

[chh]

They are total junk. I owned one that I was foolish enough to by new in the late 80's. 80'ish hp supposedly with a FEL, cab, air and MFWD. Air worked for just over a year and crashed, everything leaked, parts were expensive. It was about 8 years old and had about 1200 hrs on it when the steering arms fell off going down a ranch road. That was the last straw. Most dealer would offer $4000 grand trade in for it. A MF dealer offered $7000 because he knew somebody that wanted a cheap tractor and would take it asap(NOBODY wanted it on their lot). I took that for trade on a new MF and waved happily as they hauled the Belarus off with the steering baling wired on.
I see them sitting in fields with weeds and bushes growing around them on a regular basis here in eastern OK.

 

[Renze]

Over here, a farmer used to have a BX 100 model, for manure spreading with an 8000 liter tank. They had plenty of older 40 to 60 hp Fords and Deutz for raking and tedding.
A contractor has one to pull the sprayer, because it has a high clearance and high cab, which is beneficial when spraying in corn.

In Holland, we have 2 small companies that import them... None of them has parts in stock. Its all a bit of grey market.. Its been a long time since a new one was sold in my area, and they dont have a good resale value here either...

For the money, they are not a bad tractor. They did have an inconsistent quality, but not worse than Italian cars... They are certainly rough, but they work. Some of them died early because of careless assembly.

Kirovets articulated tractors (also sold under Belarus name) were a whole different breed. Some of them got 35.000 hrs without the engine being touched. They were developed on demand of the army as artillery tractors, where possible agricultural use was just a benefit. They came out in 1964, 220 hp with air operated 4 speed powershift and 3 main gears. Many of them are still in use in Eastern Europe and beyond. Problem is that the critter comforts of 1974 (back then in 1964 they were 10 years ahead of time) werent updated much.

We have used Zetors for the last 20 years. they also came from the east, but have way better critter comfort, a strong resale value and cheap maintenance and parts. Right now i could trade a 3 year old belarus for our 22 year old Zetor, but it would be dumb because Belarus parts are hard to get, they depreciate much more, and i'll be stuck with a 1970's cab design instead of a 1983's...

 

[kodiak88]

I have a Belarus 562 with a brush hog loader.I have had it for five years and it gets used on the farm and does a good job.Its a four cylinder 65hp liquid cooled.id stay away from air cooled junk.I just rented a 400 cat backhoe and got it buried and if it wasnt for the old belarus it would still be there stuck!I live in upstate NY where i get 1 to 5 feet of snow in 24 hrs and my 2003 gmc2500hd cant even get 3 feet in the drive way without getting buried.I just start up the old belarus,without it plugged in ,let the cab get nice and warm and go out in a light jacket and move that snow like it was butter.I have had two problems with it though 1 was i got it buried discing a mud hole.That was my fault should have never went in it,i broke a shift fork cost 40 bucks for a replacement,i was slamming it forward and back with the discs on took 2 days and it was back running,i did the work myself and i aint no mechanic.2 was one winter it lost power and i had to call someone to fix it found out it was a slug of gooy old diesel in the fuel line blew it out with air. Parts can be found on the net easy even alt and starters can be converted,ive got a gm delco alt on mine and you can put a gm starter on too with a adaptor mount.If you farm for a living youll get what you pay for,but if you piddle around like i do and take care of things these tractors are good,but not the air cooled crap.

 

[LBrown59]

They are total junk. I owned one that I was foolish enough to by new in the late 80's. 80'ish hp supposedly with a FEL, cab, air and MFWD. Air worked for just over a year and crashed, everything leaked, parts were expensive. It was about 8 years old and had about 1200 hrs on it when the steering arms fell off going down a ranch road. That was the last straw. Most dealer would offer $4000 grand trade in for it. A MF dealer offered $7000 because he knew somebody that wanted a cheap tractor and would take it asap(NOBODY wanted it on their lot). I took that for trade on a new MF and waved happily as they hauled the Belarus off with the steering baling wired on.
*****I see them sitting in fields with weeds and bushes growing around them on a regular basis here in eastern OK.

*****That's not junk .
They just have them camouflaged so nobody will steal them!

L . B .

 

[kodiak88]

Thats true LBROWN59 out there in eastern OK give chh a range finder and he can be a tractor pirate!!!