Germany

Büssing KZW 1800 Heavy Artillery Tractor

The work on the KZW 1800 started already before the war, as a result of a cooperation project between the Truck firm of Büssing and the German High Command, with the aim of constructing a heavy tractor, that could be used to tow the heavier and heavier guns that had started to appear. The result of this cooperation was the big KZW 1800 (KZW = Kraftzugwagen). Like the pre-war trucks of the same company, it too was powered by a 6-cylinder Otto 90 Horsepower engine. The tractor was produced during the years of 1916-17. It had a straight frame with a front winch. The big rear wheels had retractable wheel spuds. The gun crew had a special bench seat at the rear of the big cab. Some tractors had a small rear body for ammunition. Others, like the one above, were produced with wheels of equal size. The need for motor transport had at last been acknowledged by the German Army: at the end of 1915 it was decided that all Fussartillerie, like the 21cm Mörser, and not just the super-heavy guns, should be pulled by motor vehicles. The guns were either pulled just in the standard manner, or using a special method, which menat that the gun was suspended in the air, between the tractor and a special trolley, a so called Lastenvertailergerät (Cargo Distributor Apparatus). For slightly more info on this vehicle, click here! My model has been made from Matador Models white-metal kit, built pretty much out of the box. Click on the thumbnails, to see more views of this model:

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