Vintage tractor runs and displays will often celebrate the history of the major Anglo-American makes, such as Ford, John Deere and Massey Ferguson.

Yet, the case can be made that there was a brand which had an equal or even greater influence on the Irish market than any of these, and that is Zetor – the unsung hero of farming that probably deserves far greater recognition for its role than is granted today.

Zetor 8011 — The 8011 first appeared in 1969 and was an advanced tractor for its time, appearing two years ahead of the Ford 7000

In the years I have spent covering both the classic and contemporary machinery scene, the name keeps cropping up when talking to the less youthful farmers and contractors about their earlier experiences with machinery.

If there was one model in particular which is spoken of with guarded affection it is the Crystal, a tractor range which brought big horse power and four wheel drive to farming at a price which boarded on the affordable.

Present day Zetor — The Zetor HS120 continues with the tradition of being a budget friendly all-rounder

These attributes were important at the time, for big tractors often meant more timely field operations, and four wheel drive brought the ability to apply it to the ground in less than optimal conditions.

It is also probably true to say that 4WD also helped reduce compaction, as there wasn’t the need to hang huge weights over the back axle – although this aspect was probably not appreciated quite so much at the time.

Birth of Zetor

It was in the summer of 1945 that a farsighted factory engineer by the name of Frantisek Musil was asked by the Brno Zbrojovka gun factory, to design a tractor to keep the works going in the newly established peace.

He knew nothing about tractors but sat down anyway and drew up some plans for two models that were to be thoroughly modern in design, refusing to be influenced by the Fordsons, Deeres and Internationals that were arriving in the country at the time.

The Zetor 25A was an updated version of the original 25 and displaced production of the Zetor 15

The most important feature of his tractor, was that it would be diesel powered, not petrol, paraffin or TVO, which he considered old fashioned even at that time – which is hardly surprising, as the company had been producing diesel aero engines before the war.

Progress was rapid, and by the end of the year, the twin cylinder T25 was already in production to go on sale early in 1946, while the smaller T15 had to wait to the following January before rolling down the line.

Rapid progress

It took just six months from conception to the first prototype rolling out of the factory doors, an impressive performance especially as the tractors appeared to be well designed, having being received enthusiastically at home and abroad.

The Zetor 15 was the smaller of the company’s first two tractors

They were immediately exported and the models started arriving in Ireland in the first year of production. There were two models, the bigger 25hp tractor being brought out first.

This had a twin cylinder 2,100cc engine of 25hp as its name implies, while the smaller had a single – yet it was not the twin cut in half, but a different engine altogether, offering 15hp from its 1,600cc motor.

The T15 offered a cheaper alternative to the T25, and not only had a smaller engine, but a less sophisticated gearbox that still managed to provide five forward speeds, plus reverse.

The Zetor 2011 produced 25hp and was part of the first unified range

Both tractors did well, although it soon became clear that the 25 was more popular than the 25, which was discontinued in 1949 to allow the factory to focus on the updated 25A and 25k models.

Zetors get bigger

The next big change came with the Super 35, a 42hp model and so on, until Zetor got its act together to produce a range of tractors based on common components – known as the unified range in the early sixties.

Zetor crawler tractor — Zetor had produced a crawler version of the Super 35 and continued with a 2023 crawler within the Unified Range

Again, the company enjoyed great success with these machines but the demand for ever bigger tractors kept growing, resulting in the design and production of a second series of unified tractors, starting in 1969.

The first machine of this new range of heavy duty tractors was the 8011 and its 4WD brother, the 8045, otherwise known as the Zetor Crystal.

The Zetor 8045 was different from the 8011 in that it had four wheel drive

It was the Crystal that really scored a success in Ireland, with an untold number arriving in the country throughout its production run from 1969, until the early nineties. It formed the basis of many contracting fleets as owners were often able to afford a new crystal rather than a used Ford or Massey Ferguson of similar power.

Also in the Crystal’s favour, was its safety cab that had a built in passenger seat, a two speed PTO and an air compressor as standard. The front suspension was also novel, but rarely enjoyed rave reviews.

ZTS tractors were Zetors produced at Martin, an ex cold war tank factory that required a new product line

All these features, along with four wheel drive as a factory option placed the Crystal well ahead of its competitors, although it always carried the stigma of being a ‘Soviet’ tractor of doubtful quality, despite it being built in Czechoslovakia at a factory with a fine engineering heritage.

It’s competitors took full advantage of its eastern European origins and certainly encouraged it to be thought of as a lesser product to the western tractor, telling anyone who would listen that four wheel drive was simply unnecessary on anything less that 100hp, but try and buy a two wheel drive agricultural tractor today.

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