Prototype of new Bulgarian tractor - looking for investors?

[borissov]

That's the latest project for new 82 h.p. tractor Bolgar.
The factory in Bulgaria has more than 60 years of producing history / 120 000 tractors made / but now the situation is very bad. There's no investor for the newest prototype ...

 

[Skyco]

Make those wheels chrome and you might get some interest..... Are those 40 inchers?

 

[Renze]

It is just a license built MTZ 82 from Minsk... if thats so, i wouldnt put money in it... It is not worth to develope a fancy looking cab with curved windows that are expensive to produce and replace, on this old MTZ. It would only make the cost of ownership higher, while the tractor itself has nothing more to offer.

If Bolgar tractors want to survive, they should go with either Carraro or ZF, buy an engine from Perkins, Iveco, Cummins, and invest in proper transmission and engine technology first.
There is absolutely no point to make an antique MTZ 82 more expensive by putting new sheetmetal and cab on it. If farmers want a tractor for dirt cheap initial purchase, dont care about ergonomics, and dont care about the parts price and availability, they buy an MTZ. If they want a modern cab, they can buy plenty of economy models of the bigger manufacturers, NH TDD series, Zetor Proxima, Same Argon which have a way better customer support, parts availability, resale value.

 

[EddieWalker]

Renze knows allot more about the company then I do, so I'll defer to what he said about the quality of the tractor itself. What caught my eye is that it's all candy. That fancy sheetmetal isn't going to sell and I sure wouldn't want to pay for it. What the world needs is more reliable, long lasting affordable tractors. That thing belongs in a Sci Fi movie, not out in the field pulling a mower or plow!!!

Eddie

 

[borissov]

It is just a license built MTZ 82 from Minsk... if thats so, i wouldnt put money in it... It is not worth to develope a fancy looking cab with curved windows that are expensive to produce and replace, on this old MTZ. It would only make the cost of ownership higher, while the tractor itself has nothing more to offer.

If Bolgar tractors want to survive, they should go with either Carraro or ZF, buy an engine from Perkins, Iveco, Cummins, and invest in proper transmission and engine technology first.
There is absolutely no point to make an antique MTZ 82 more expensive by putting new sheetmetal and cab on it. If farmers want a tractor for dirt cheap initial purchase, dont care about ergonomics, and dont care about the parts price and availability, they buy an MTZ. If they want a modern cab, they can buy plenty of economy models of the bigger manufacturers, NH TDD series, Zetor Proxima, Same Argon which have a way better customer support, parts availability, resale value.

Thank you! Your posting is absolutely right!

The true is that the factory in Bulgaria / near the city of Karlovo/ , has huge properties - producing facilities and store-houses, but the managment is continuing to try to survive with the old Belarus MTZ engines and transmissions.

I will be next week on EIMA agriculture exhibition in Bolognia, Italy, so I'll try to contact the producers of Carraro and ZF ...

P.S. I'm not working in the "Bolgar" factory, I'm doing consulting in the area of machinery trading in our country

 

[LBrown59]

Thank you! Your posting is absolutely right!

The true is that the factory in Bulgaria / near the city of Karlovo/ , has huge properties - producing facilities and store-houses, but the managment is continuing to try to survive with the old Belarus MTZ engines and transmissions.

I will be next week on EIMA agriculture exhibition in Bolognia, Italy, so I'll try to contact the producers of Carraro and ZF ...

P.S. I'm not working in the "Bolgar" factory, I'm doing consulting in the area of machinery trading in our country

This is all it took to turn me off on it.

 

[john_bud]

This is all it took to turn me off on it.

Exactly!

And why would I want to invest in a poorly run out of date factory producing overpriced unreliable tractors that compete against tractors from new communist state supported factories using near slave labor, in a foreign country when I can invest in those here?

jb

 

[Renze]

I will be next week on EIMA agriculture exhibition in Bolognia, Italy, so I'll try to contact the producers of Carraro and ZF ...

P.S. I'm not working in the "Bolgar" factory, I'm doing consulting in the area of machinery trading in our country

I spoke a gentleman in Holland, who used to have a new Belarus. He said, they are cheap in purchase, but when something breaks down, its cheaper to buy a new tractor because parts are VERY expensive and you have to wait months before the ordered parts arrive.

When Bolgar tractors is using components from ZF or Carraro, (which will be about the same price as when they produce them in Bulgaria despite the wages being lower, just because of economy of scale) they will be able to deliver parts much quicker and at better prices.

The price difference between ZF and Carraro components, and MTZ components is getting smaller, because Carraro and ZF are also outsourcing to low cost countries. However they have the financial backup to do large scale investments in the latest production technology, and they do the quality checks in house.

I work as an engineer in a small wheel loader factory in Holland. 20 years ago, everything was built in-house, even axles and hydraulic manifolds. Right now we only do the engineering, assembly, and quality inspection. all welding is done in Slovakia to our standards, ZF delivers drivelines according to our specifications, and John Deere delivers engines with a power band adjusted to wheel loader use.

If Bolgar starts to build with outsourced components, maybe they can use the released production capacity to produce rough material for major brands. Thats how the world works these days.