The time doesn’t matter

For decades, it had been meeting freshmen who came at the faculty of agricultural mechanization. For decades it watched after happy young people who had just received diplomas. He saw off generation after generation, looking thoughtfully at the fuss around him. As if it was an old man, wise with his experience, who had already seen everything in his life, and did not expect anything new.

Tractor "Universal-2" on a pedestal near the training building No. 8

It seemed that it would stand on its pedestal, as a sign of memory of its old work. The generation of tractor drivers that laid a furrow behind the furrow on it has already gone. How can it struggle with modern energy-saturated equipment? Nothing to do but stand on the pedestal, meeting and seeing young guys off who will work on modern tractors. "IT" - it's about our "Universal-2",1954, standing in front of the training building No. 8 at the Faculty of Agricultural Mechanization.

But it was a mistake to think that it would end his life standing at the entrance of the educational building. Young guys did not just pass by. They came up, and almost everyone had a thought: "What if we try to start the engine? What is it like to drive it?" And on September 7, a loader appeared next to our tractor with a group of enthusiasts…

“Universal-2” is being removed from its pedestal

And there they started! Everyone made himself useful. Even at nights, our "Universal" was not left alone. Our old-timer did not expect such attention to itself. It was dismantled in parts by skillful hands in two buildings of the Faculty of Agricultural Mechanization. The engine was disassembled in the educational building No. 2 under the guidance of the assistant of the department of technical service and general engineering disciplines Vitaly Mironov and the head of the laboratory Alexander Safonov.

What a hard work it was! The engine that had not been started for more than 60 years, didn’t want to give in. Bolts and nuts were turned away with great difficulty. And what is worse, when the cylinder block head was removed, the hope of starting a motor began to melt: there was so much rust in the cylinders, сast iron pistons were tightly rusted to the sleeves, and it was not possible to move them.

Rust in cylinder sleeves.

At first, we were going to give up and not even try to disassemble the engine further, as it appeared that this was a pile of useless metal. But then a graduate of 2011 of the Faculty of Agricultural Mechanization, director of LLC "PROMOTOR" Vasily Kotov came to the rescue. After looking at the photos he said: "I don't see anything critical, bring it - let's start it!"

And the work continued. It took almost a week to soak the rusty parts and disassemble the engine, and then transfer it to Mogilev in "PROMOTOR". So, on September 16, the engine went to Mogilev.

At the same time, the restoration of the tractor's chassis was carried out in educational building No. 8 under the supervision of senior lecturers Vladimir Petrusenko and Ivan Gusarov. At first, the tractor was dismantled by students Pavel Romanov, Roman Zinovenko and many other guys who took part in these works.

All parts were thoroughly cleaned, lubricated, put into operation. Some missing parts were searched throughout the country. So, the magneto turned out to be in Smorgon in a single copy. Other details we had to make by themselves, and the rich experience and engineering skills of Vladimir Petrusenko came in handy here.

When the undercarriage was technically serviceable, the time came for painting. The students of the 3d year Mikhail Zabelo, Artem Dyadyulya, Dmitry Kugach, Vladislav Mikhalkin, Andrei Murashko, Maxim Samuta and others joined the work. These guys had an almost impossible task. On the wheels, on the frame there were more than one layer of paint. For 10 days the paint was cleaned, metal brushes became unsuitable one after another.

Cleaning tractor elements from paint.

Brushes gave up, but not the guys, they showed patience and tenacity. These guys did titanic work, layer by layer they cleaned all the paint from our "Universal".

Cleaned tractor chassis.

It is impossible to restore the tractor without spending a ruble. Especially if it's so old, and require large investments. And here another graduate of our faculty, the director of "VasLes" company Sergey Kokits offered his help. He selflessly paid the bills. It was thanks to him that paint and missing technical parts for the tractor were acquired. It is necessary to be fanatically devoted to his faculty and love the technique very much in to help so unselfishly in the restoration of agricultural machines. And the idea of organazing an exhibition of retro technology also belongs to him.

On September 26, master of industrial training Igor Gavrilenko and senior lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Machines Ivan Gusarov, in the company of the faculty dean, began painting. If someone thinks that painting a tractor is easy, it's absolutely wrong, especially if the tractor must be painted in three different colors, which were chosen by Marina Isachenko.

Colours for painting the tractor “Universal-2”.

Painting was started at 11 o'clock in the morning, and finished only by 4 o'clock of the next morning. But it was worth it, the result pleased the eyes..

The painted tractor.

Now our tractor is shining. But outer beauty means nothing without the beauty underneath. It was necessary to start the heart of our hero - the motor.

While in Gorki the tractor was given external beauty, in Mogilev Vasily Kotov together with the company's employees Dmitry Nesterov, Evgeny Krasnov, Alexander Tsygankov, Dmitry Kovalev, Maxim Tsarenok, and Sergey Baradulkin were working with the engine details.  They wiped the liners, selected the valves, polished the cylinder head and the block itself. And this was all done for the 1954 engine! When all the parts were ready, Vitaly Mironov with the dean of the faculty went to Mogilev to assemble the engine.

It's so nice to work with professionals! It will not be a secret that problems arose during the assembly process, the engine was 66 years old, and time did not spare it. But the employees of "PROMOTOR" did not leave their jobs after the shift, along with the director, who himself changed into working clothes after 9 p.m. By one o'clock in the morning, the engine was assembled. And there came another problem: the engine didn't have a starter on, it was started by a handle, which remained in the town of Gorki. But when you almost see the result of your work nothing can be an obstacle. The new handle was made right on the spot, thanks to team's rich engineering experience. For half an hour, the engine gave no signs that it wanted to come to life, but no one gave up. At two in the morning the engine sneezed once or twice and finally started. Even on the faces of those who had already started thousands of engines, there were surprise and pride of their work, because at LLC "PROMOTOR" they hadn't yet repaired such an old engine.

Memory photo after motor assembly.

By morning, the engine had been delivered to the training workshops of the academy. And then the work started again. Skillful hands of teachers and students assembled one mechanism after another.

Painted tractor’s engine.

A lot of people were coming, someone did not believe in success, doubted, and others turned into active assistants and no longer left the workshops. Deep at night of the 2nd of October 2020, when all the details were in their places, the most responsible and most tense moment came: were these restless days and sleepless nights in vain? As in the operating room in the surgical department of the hospital, everyone had their own task: one was responsible for the motor, the other for the supply of fuel, Ruslan Dargel filmed this crucial moment on video. The handle twisted, the motor set in motion - and our old man-tractor moved away. He was moving! There’re no words to express the delight of everyone who was in the workshop. Two weeks of hard work weren't in vain. We did it! We managed to beat the time, bring the 66-year-old tractor back to life. After weeks of hard work, there were no more teachers or students among those who worked to restore it. There was just a united team of like-minded people who enthusiastically applauded their own victory over time.

Assembled tractor Universal-2 (October 2, 1 a.m.)

The next day, our veteran tractor appeared on the site near the Cultural Center of the Academy. And not just appeared, but headed the exhibition of agricultural equipment during the celebrations of the 180th anniversary of the academy.

Proudly it stood in front of the column, gathering spectators around, its motor was rumbling, causing surprise among those present and pride in those who brought him back to life. And next to him there were two more restored veteran tractors: Т-40 and ДТ-75.

Tractors restored by the students of Agricultural Mechanization Faculty.

Today, the tractor can be called a symbol of the Faculty of Agricultural Mechanization. Thousands of students and graduates of our academy took their memory photographs near it. And it is ALIVE!!!

In the first row from left to right: Maxim Samuta, Dmitry Kugach; in the second row from,
left to right: Assistant of the President of the Republic of Belarus Valery Belsky, Andrei Murashko,
Vladimir Gusarov - Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Mechanization, Mikhail Zabello,
Vitaly Velikanov - Rector of BSAA, Vladislav Mikhalkin.

In total, about 100 people took part in the restoration work. It was not even restoration work, it was the creation of a small miracle in which very few people believed in the beginning. Having given the new life to the tractor-legend, the students, employees and teachers of the faculty of agricultural mechanization showed that nothing is impossible, but only when you work in a team and do not give up.

We would like to thank all those who kept their hands on the "Universal" and did everything to make it live again.

We would like to express special words of gratitude to:

 Vasily Kotov - Director of LLC "PROMOTOR";

 Sergey Kokits  - the director of "VasLes" company;

Ivan Gusarov   - senior lecturer of the Department of Agricultural Machinery;

Vladimir Petrusenko - senior lecturer of the Department of Agricultural Machinery;

Viktor Kotsuba  - Head of the Department of Technical Service and General Engineering Disciplines;

Vitaly Mironov - assistant of the Department of Technical Service and General Engineering Disciplines;

Alexander Safonov - head of the laboratory of the Department of Technical Service and General Engineering Disciplines;

Igor Gavrilenko - master of industrial training;

Ruslan Dargel  - assistant of the Department of Technical Service and General Engineering Disciplines.

Students: Mikhail Zabelo, Artem Dyadyulya, Dmitry Kugach , Vladislav Mikhalkin, Andrei Murashko, and Maxim Samuta.

Employees of the specialized "Avtomir" store Stepan Kolos and Maxim Nedoseko.

Alexei Deryuzhkov - the BSAA chief accountant.

And to everybody who believed in us and our work as well. Your support and faith helped us greatly.

Dean of Agricultural Mechanization Faculty

Vladimir Gusarov