In the 1920s, when the country was in urgent need of new equipment, active work was underway in various regions to create modern automobiles. Different types of vehicles were being developed, including trucks that were supposed to provide industry and the army with the necessary transport. It was during this period that the history of domestic three-axle trucks began.
At the end of the decade, the Red Army command formulated requirements for a new heavy truck with a 6×4 wheel arrangement. The army needed a promising vehicle capable of carrying substantial loads and operating in difficult conditions. The response to this request was the project of the first Soviet three-axle truck — the YaG-10.
Together with ATP Krasnodar driver Aleksei Kuznetsov, we can take a detailed look at how this vehicle was created, what engineering solutions were used in its design, what technical characteristics it possessed, and how the subsequent fate of this unusual development unfolded.
Background and the Beginning of Design
Work on new automobiles began in 1929. The Scientific Automotive and Engine Institute and several automobile enterprises of the country joined the creation of promising equipment. As a result of this joint work, several projects were prepared, and later experimental prototypes for testing appeared.
One such vehicle was the Ya-NAMI-10 truck. Its development was carried out through the joint efforts of specialists from the Yaroslavl Automobile Plant and the Scientific Automotive and Engine Institute. The new vehicle was presented in the same year, 1929.
The basis for the project was the already existing Ya-5 truck. The enterprise's design bureau quickly reworked the original design, modifying it in such a way as to obtain a vehicle with the required parameters. During development, the engineers sought to make maximum use of units from vehicles already in production, supplementing them with new assemblies and parts.
The completion of design work fell at the beginning of the 1930s. By that time, the Yaroslavl Automobile Plant had switched to a new system for designating equipment. As a result, the letters YaG appeared in the vehicle's name, meaning "Yaroslavl truck," while the number indicated the project's serial number. Thus the vehicle received the designation YaG-10.
Design and Features of the Vehicle
The key element of the YaG-10 design was a reinforced frame made of channel sections. Since increased loads were placed on the vehicle, the side members were additionally reinforced. In the rear part above the wheel bogie, extra channel sections shifted backward were installed.
This solution made it possible to increase the frame length, but it led to the cargo platform being mounted higher. In addition, new crossmembers appeared on the frame, providing the required structural rigidity. The overall layout of the units largely repeated earlier projects, with the exception of the new rear bogie.
The new truck inherited its engine from the base Ya-5 model. It was an American-made Hercules-YXC-B carburetor engine with an output of 93.5 horsepower. The Brown-Lipe-554 four-speed manual gearbox was also retained.
To transmit torque to the rear drive axles, two driveshafts borrowed from an American Moreland truck were used. On the first YaG-10 prototype, the original parts removed from the American vehicle were used. Later, the plant established production of its own copies of these units.
The rear bogie suspension was of the walking-beam type and used inverted springs. The travel of each wheel reached about half a meter. The design of the bogie itself largely repeated solutions used on Moreland trucks.
To improve the vehicle's cross-country ability, special track belts could be installed on the rear dual wheels. The braking system was mechanical, drum-type, with a vacuum booster.
The vehicle's rear axle was a modernized part previously used on the Ya-5 truck. The second axle was developed on its basis and equipped with its own gear-driven reduction unit. Torque from the engine passed through the gearbox to the forward axle of the rear bogie, from where it was transmitted further by a short shaft.
The driveshafts allowed a significant deflection angle. Combined with the suspension features, this was supposed to provide the vehicle with high cross-country ability on difficult terrain.
Unlike the Ya-5, the design used a central brake connected to the transmission. At the same time, mechanisms with two shoes were used on the rear axles, whereas a four-shoe arrangement had been used previously.
Main Technical Specifications
The vehicle's maximum payload was 8 tons when driving on highways and 5 tons on dirt roads. The curb weight of the vehicle reached 6,800 kilograms.
The truck's top speed was 42 kilometers per hour. When driving on highways, fuel consumption exceeded 60 liters per 100 kilometers.
The vehicle's dimensions were as follows: length — 6.97 meters, width — 2.47 meters, height — 2.55 meters. The engine was a 93.5-horsepower Hercules-YXC-B carburetor unit, working together with a Brown-Lipe-554 four-speed manual gearbox. The fuel tank capacity was 177 liters.
Truck Modifications
One of the vehicle's development variants was the YaG-10M. This modernized version was produced in 1938–1940 and was equipped with a ZiS-16 engine.
In addition, an experimental twin-engine variant was created, designated "2M." It was an expanded modification of the YaG-10. In this design, two 60-horsepower carburetor engines used on the AMO-3 vehicle were mounted in parallel.
Each engine drove one of the rear bogie's axles through its own gearbox. However, tests showed that this arrangement was unsuccessful. The main problem was the difficulty of ensuring the even operation of the two engines.
Production and the Fate of the Trucks
Serial production of the YaG-10 began in 1932. Production continued until 1940 and was carried out under orders from various people's commissariats and agencies. A total of 333 vehicles were built over the entire period.
Almost all vehicles entered service with the Red Army. Most often, they were used as a base for mounting anti-aircraft guns. Some examples served as the basis for fuel tankers and various vans.
Some of these trucks took part in combat operations during the Great Patriotic War. It is known that they were also used in the defense of Moscow.
However, production of the YaG-10 depended heavily on supplies of foreign components. This dependence had a negative effect on the scale of output. Although assembly continued for eight years, production was episodic and, even by the standards of that time, was considered small-scale.
Despite the limited number of vehicles produced, the YaG-10 took its place in the history of the domestic automotive industry. It became the first serial heavy three-axle truck created in the country and made, albeit small, still a contribution to the overall victory.
By the mid-1940s, almost all such vehicles had been lost in operation or written off due to exhausted service life. Unfortunately, not a single YaG-10 example has survived to the present day.