A DETAILED LOOK INSIDE A T-72 

WARNING! If the air pressure is above 16 MPa in the air system, close valves at bottles and open valve for air release. - This is needed probably due to maximum pressure at the starting air bottles. So it should be 16 Mpa, there have been couple of accidents when drivers somehow managed to kick off the intake pipes and it ripped their legs a bit. If you are refilling the cooling system with antifreeze liquid set the VODA = switch to ANTIFRIZ (yeah its antifreeze) and if you wanna fill the system with water switch it to VODA (water). Start driving at lower transmission ratio. Driving at all of the transmission ratios is allowed if the temperature of engine cooling liquid and engine oil is above 55°C. Do not exceed engine oile temperature above 120°C, cooling water temperature above 115°C and antifreeze coolant above 105°C. Stop the engine only if the engine coolant liquid temperature is lower than 90°C. In the winter season, when environment temperatures are below 0°C, if the the tank was stationary for a longer while (means if the whole vehicle got cooled down to environment temperature), double pump refill according to KP (??) needs to be done according to instructions for use while running the vehicle on gasoline. Before starting the engine start the pump BCN (label ?) and hold the button for air release valve (TLACIDLO VYPUSTANIA VZDUCHU should be the label). Shut down the BCN pump immediately after stopping the vehicle. If the selector of transmission gears is not blocking shifts to 6th gear at 1900RPM or to 5th at 2000RPM and the indicator is off (there should be an indicator light for it labeled "VOLIC PREVODOVYCH STUPNOV" or "BLOKOVANIE RADICA/PREVODOVKY" or something like that) drive only up to 4th gear. Tried my best, if you need more help with translating labels etc either shoot me a message or it is Slovak language. I have worked around these tanks in musuem a bit only refilling fluids and rotten hoses but might be able to help a bit. Good luck :) Edit: My reply to this comment seems to got deleted because of links so... So the model you have seems to got produced by ZTS Martin in Slovakia, they made around 235 of these vehicles and I if I recall correctly they were mostly for export (dont take this as a fact plz). But that might explain the missing smoke cover launchers etc... for further customization possibly with era plates etc. You were very correct about anybody letting near the tank, its honestly more dangerous for it's operators than it might be on todays battlefield. Also turret armour behind gunner and commander is about 2/3 inch-ish (might vary), 50. cal goes through and I woud even count on some 7,62x54R or .308 pen rounds making a mess inside the turret possibly. The spring loaded hatches on engine were usually open when driving around, not sure if it was so due to engine cooling issues but every time I was around this tank actually driving, they had them opened just so that the springs held them open. Fluid leaks are common the oil below engine might not even be a issue, it's just like it is. Before starting the tank even after couple of days, always check the fluid levels and run the engine oil pump even couple of times before starting, as it mentioned in that manual plaque :) The driver hatch is the reason why you often see soviet tanks parked with barrels facing off center and raised up while being parked :) Also this concrete piece you have is most likely "ulozenka" which was manufactured, then stored for trade or replacement, because of the oiled paper covers on tankers helmets and barrel filled with cosmoline (conserving vaseline). This might explain also some issues with vehicle if somebody who was using it for the first time didnt completely remove all this stuff before starting it up for the first time. I am really exicted and looking forward for series with this tank :) Good luck again guys :)

That is a Czech T-72M or as its known in NATO a T-72G. It features a 125mm 2A46 Smoothbore cannon with a 23 round auto-loader (with a reload speed of around 6 seconds per shot (Depending on the where the shell is located in the autoloader. Also features a PKT coaxial machine gun (~2000 round carried in one link) and sometime features a 12.7mm DSHk or 14.5mm NSV for the commanders hatch (intended for anti-helicopter use). Houses a crew of 3 (Driver, Comander, Gunner). These were originally produced in Slovakia (all of which have now been modernised into the T-72M4CZ variant)

Translation of panel: Warning! 1. If is pressure of air system grater than 16MPa close air tanks valves and open air consumption ventile. 2. When filling coolant into system, set switch “VODA-ANTIFRIZ” to “ANTIFRIZ” position, if filling with water to “VODA” position 3. Start driving vehicle on lower gears if coolant and oil temperature is min +30C , driving on all gears is allowed only when temperature of coolant and oil temperature is min +55C. 4. Do not allow oil temperature to rise above +120C, water above +115C, and antifreeze above +105C. 5. Stop the engine only when coolant temperature is no higher than 90C. 6. In winter (in temperature lower than 0C) before longer stop is necessary to do double fill of oil from “KP” according the instructions on (unreadable) 7. If using gas as fuel, two minutes before starting engine start “BCN” pump and press and hold “VENTILY” (valves) push button. 8. When driving on 6 and 7th gear on 1800 rpm of engine, and on 5th gear on 2000 rpm, and the gear selector is not yet blocked (warning light is not lit) - drive only till 4th gear.

Im czech. My Grandpa used to be a commander in t-72m. I asked him about it. But he is very old now and does not remeber a lot about the tank anymore+ he is partially deaf because of his Compulsory military service. But he was so excited to see that some people are interested in this tank

"H" is neutral because it's the Russian "N" letter. "3X" is "задний ход" abbreviated, which is, you guessed it, "reverse gear".

The Hardbass quietly playing in the background was a nice touch.

All soviet tanks had two-axis stabilizers starting from T-55. As well as commanders ability to turn the gut towards the target. Also you showed a footage of T-64 - T-80 autoloader which is different from T-72 - T-90.

The pipe you found on the back of the turret- you screw the pieces together to make a suction pipe to reach the bottom of a fuel barrel, they fit the electric fuel pump you found. The first pipe you picked up has a non return flap in it to prevent back flow.

I can’t believe how incredibly cramped and tight it is inside… I can’t imagine having to live and fight inside that vehicle.. much respect to everyone who has experience operating this vehicle.. either in combat or not.

Bugger health and safety...no BV! ps - you were fine on the livestream, and you approach and sense of humour is spot on.

Watch Australian Armour (workshop Wednesday) for the restoration stuff but watch you guys because I love the fact that I have absolutely “ no f@#$&g clue what you nutters are gonna do next” genuinely love watching a bunch of mates enjoy themselves, don’t change anything, there’s a reason your channel is growing 🇦🇺🙂👍

29:08 it does have a stabilizer but due to the low depression of the gun at higher speeds if you are traversing rough terrain the gun might get thrown off by a small bump

That giant metal plate you pick up at around 28:00 is part of the shoulder shield, it's supposed to be connected I think so you cannot accidently loose your shoulder to the Autoloader

Your commitment to the Gopnik hardbass music makes this vid an 11 out of 10!

7:50 - The T-72 actually has a different turning mechanism - instead of the side clutches like on a T-34 , this one has two gearboxes - when you pull the steering lever (lets say the left one) into 1st position it actually shifts the left gearbox into a lower gear and thus - the tank turns. Because of this - every gear has a fixed turning radius. the more you know ;) . Keep it up man - you have a great channel

It's no exaggeration when I've read of how crew comfort goes completely out of the window in T-72 tanks. Damn that is a tight squeeze. Fascinating stuff at the same time though.

I didn't expect the t72's interior to be any good, but holy heck...That's a downright nightmare.

Superb episode Joe. Watching you struggle to even move around inside that was so insightful. I guess I’m about 8 to 9 stone heavier than you and I don’t think I could even get in it. When you see a tank like that you are in awe of it BUT once inside you realise (in a combat situation) how vulnerable and blind you really are. Well done, loved it 👍

Huge amount of respect for the mechanics that have to work on these!

I was declined entry into the NZAC during my compulsory military training in the early 1970s because I was deemed "too tall to fit inside an M41" - and I was then just touching on 1.79m (6'). Joe looks taller than I was (then), so he should wear the title of 'tank maintenance & repair' and stay right out of the machine's inner spaces! 😄

Love your sense of humour and fascinated by what you get your hands on, vehicle-wise. Please keep on keeping on!

Hi guys! Love your videos. Its hard to judge the t-72. There is so much false information out about it. Just to correct you, it does have a 2 plain stabiliser system. It allso has a laser range finder. You need to judge this vehicle, knowing that this acual modell was intended and designed for conscripted mass armies. They needed it simple, because they needed a lot. Dont forget, there was tens of thousends produced. I have to agree, it is very small inside. But again, you need to know, there was a limit in the army of how tall you can be to become a tanker. I think here in Hungary it was maybe 170 or 175cm. Something like that. So it is small, it isnt very comfortable, but it was never made to be. It was made to be fast, small, simple to operate and cheap to produce. And it packs a big punch too. Now there are many myths about this tank. Like the autoloader ripping arms off. Now I have watched, read everything I can about this tank and I have never heard of this happening. Of course it can, but you have to be very stupid. You literally have a "wall" up to your shoulder, why would you want to reach over it? Of course I understand you, but basicly you people are spoiled. You could create a tank which does everything and is pretty comfortable. In the soviet union, there was no nead for that, it would have taken too much effort and money. So this is what we got, here in the ex socialist block too. And if conscripts could operate it without killing them selves, I think its not that bad. Oh, and about the autoloader! Yes, they are extremely reliable. I never understood the part when people went on about sitting on top of ammo. Allmoast all tanks today, and fpdefinetely all tanks of those times had ammo all over the tank. Whats the differencenof sitting on or beside it? I think its harder to hit it when its on the floor basicly, than if it was on the turret wall or hull side. I am a big fan of the t72, but I do really like the Chieftain too. Keep up the good work!

One aspect that was universally well received by Chieftain crews was its inclusion of a Boiling Vessel. This device boiled water for the purpose of brewing tea, though it was also often used for heating field rations. I never had any trouble Parking the Mk3!

Production and editing are on point! Fantastic job gentlemen.

i just love the design. we recently almost seen t-72s in action nearby with the essequibo conundrum because venezuela still uses the 72B1 (i live in brazil), but thankfully didn't come to it. still love their slick shape

I think you mentioned somewhere that the tank is unstabilized, however I'm quite sure that every version of the t72 (and even it's predecessor, the t64s) are indeed stabilized. Would be awesome if you could get that to work, but seeing how it's demilitarized or whatever, that seems unlikely. Anyways, good luck with fixing this. Do you own it, by the way? Or are you just repairing it for someone?

Enjoying your videos, thanks! I had the opportunity to go and work with tanks about a decade ago and a weekend of heaving great heavy components around in confined spaces was plenty enough to put me off for life... went to work on old military aircraft instead... so I have great respect for those who actually enjoy working with these things!

I appreciate how well organized the tools are

Sounds like that tank is more dangerous to the operators then the enemy. Oh, and I can can hear that hard bass in the background, lol!

I can't believe you got your hands on the top of the line modern Russian MBT, absolute madlads 🤣

Your humor is spot on! Keep up the great work on your videos and don’t change a thing, that’s why I love your channel.

Nice toolboard. Glad to see you are exercising some tool control....... like us Aircraft guys!!!

Nice tour, and the shops looking great

Love to watch your videos and I truly like your humour, thanks for the many entertaining hours and keep the videos coming!

Superb! looking forward to seeing you work on this engine. So interesting.

WARNING That language is SLOVAK or SLOVAKIAN(Slovenčina) 1.When air pressure is above 16MPa in air system, close valves on bottles and open intake valves. 2. when filling cooling system with anti-freeze, switch, water anti-freeze set to anti freeze, when filling with water set to water. 3. Start driving at lower gears at cooling system temp. below 30 celsius. Driving at all gears is allowed at +55 celsius. 4. Don´t let oil be over 120 ceslius, water above +115 and anti freeze above +105 celsius. 5. Engine stop only at cooling system above 90 celsius. 6.when starting in winter after long time is necessary to double pump oil from KP according to instructions on exp o tacid(i dont know what that is) 7.when driving on gasoline from MIN. before starting engine tur on the pump BCN and hold hold the deflation valve button. Turn of BCN pum immediately after stopping. 8. when driving on 6 and 7 gear at 1900rpm and on 5 gear at 2000rpm gear selector isn´t blocking(warning light isn´t lit) use gearbox only to 5 gear. Thats pretty much all i could translate. some thing , i dont know if could be even translated. And that one thing in no.6 the plate was too damaged in that place. And as mechanic myself, I love to see just random bit and pieces scatter all over.

Very jealous of the CVC helmet you got with your tank. Great show, was on Abrams, M60A1,, M48A5, M113A1 & M577A1 back in the 80's in the US Army.

The pipe you found on the back of the turret- you screw the pieces together to make a reach pipe for a fuel barrel I think, there was probably a hand cranked pump to go with the flexible fuel filling pipe and solid barrel reach pipe. The first pipe you picked up has a non return flap in it to prevent back flow.

I look forward to your videos. Not everyone will get the humor, true enough, but they'll just have to cope. I envy the fact that you get to have fun and games with armor. I also follow the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum.

The Czech and Polish T-72Ms didn't get smoke mortars until the mid-late 80s. They never got around to upgrading this one.

A great interview down at the tank museum,well done. Very professional

Arse, I got so involved in watching, my tea got cold. Few people can express their enthusiasm and knowledge as well as Joe.

Seb's camera work is absolutely immaculate.

A great video Joe. Keep it handy, as I suspect you may forget some of the compliments you've given it once you start on it. - I'm ready for the next video !

I love your vids man, you guys keep up the great work👌👌

wow switch on RU-vid and this video pops up - bliss :) BTW great seeing you Joe at the Tankmas event :)

The stuff you lot do is brilliant!!! And the sense of humour is👌

Keep doing what you're doing mate. Cheers from Australia.👍

I’m a Yank from New Jersey (don’t hold that against me) and I just found your site!! I’m having a hard time with your accent and slang but it’s all good. You guys are really informative and funny as hell. I’ve seen video from the war at Ukraine and when these Russian tanks get hit just right those turrets can definitely get blown straight up out of the tank! I don’t think there would be much left of the crew. Keep up the great work! Be safe

Luv this vid guys , I was I the RAF during the 90's , and this type of tank was still quite common , I've never seen one in person , but your. Video on the fact that it's lighter , faster and shorter than a. Cheiften, makes me wonder, if we would have fared as well as our bosses believed in open. Combat on the flat plains of Europe. I think we would have struggled agInst these tanks

i found your channel through this video.The T72 is such a good looking tank, never knew it was such a death trap though! Can't wait to see more videos of it!

No, there's like zero known cases of someone getting their arms ripped off by the auto loader. If you somehow manage to get your arm behind the breach block, the recoil of any tank will make short work of it.

In fact, the T-72 has a gun stabilizer in two planes. When the system starts, the gunner activates the gyroscope. Which spins for two minutes, and then the gun is unlocked.

Great Video! I don't think that it would be on fire for long, before the turret ejection system kicks in.

i cant unsee Janek from four tankers and a dog when i see you in that tankers helmet, what a great show, oh and cool vid too, will be looking out for the next episodes

Now I'm mega stoked to see the video of you driving it about!

I admire your ability to go in confined spaces. I’m myself and slightly claustrophobic and this is the first time I’ve ever had slight anxiety watching a RU-vid video. I could never even have got in the drivers compartment and I don’t think I’d ever tried to crawl between there and the turret You get 12 out of 10 for bravery tank looks amazing

I’m here for tanks and humor. You deliver both and I thoroughly enjoy it! Keep up the good work and what’s going on with concrete chieftain?

That hat is spectacular, I bet it's really warm too and keeps your noggin safe from bumps while driving around

You upload videos just in time for my lunch break so I have something great to watch 👌

Ah yes, the T-72. A world renowned tank, known for having a 120mm gun. Amazing work you guys do, it’s great that you are able to show us what you do. Thank you :)

the text you found in the box is in Slovak so I assume this T-72 was manufactured in czechoslovakia. the translation is something like : Attention! 1. if the pressure of the air is above 16MPo in the air system, close vemtils of the bottles and open the ventils for the air outtake(dunno how to translate it) 2. While filling the cooling system with antifreeze, switchthe gauge water=antifreeze unto antifreeze, while filing the water switch it to water. 3.Start driving on lower gears with the water and oil temperature min +30 degrees, driving in all gears is allowed with temperature of cooling liquid and oil at min +55 degrees celsius. 4.Don't let the oil temperature above +120 degrees, water above +115 degrees and antiffreeze above +185 degrees. 5. Turn the engine off only with the cooling liquid temperature not higher than 50 degrees. 6. I'm struggling to translate it but it's essentially that it's important to take the double oil pump out of the engine before longer standing for expontation (whatever that means) 7.Two minutes before starting the engine on gasoline, turn the pump bcn and hold the button of the air discarge ventil. turn the pump off right after stopping 8.if you're driving on the 6th and 7th gear with engine RPM 1800 and on 5th gear with 200 RPM, the gear selector is not blocking (the control is not lit up) - drive only up ti 4th gear Hopefully this somewhat helped, some words are hard to read and some just hard to translaate so I understand if it's kinda useless but it's essentially a what to do and not do list but hey Slovak tank yippee

Very well edited Fantastic use of varying volume/presence of that meme track 👌🏼

AMAZING job on the shed!

I love the simple yet effective engineering on these (hull side). The russians were very clever and understood the majority of crewmen in these were going to be conscripted guys with low technical education with little time to get them sufficiently trained. Nothing has been over engineered on these. A lot of more modern western tanks had some very innovative pieces of engineering but were prone to braking and required a lot of maintenance. These things, although not comfortable, and not particularly well protected inside and out, will work and give the crew very few problems 99% of the time.

Great video as usual!

Seriously one of my favourite channels on RU-vid!

Very entertaining! Like Aus Armour too. Your humour is great. Keep those blue eyes sparkling!

The autoloader feeding arms into the chamber is a myth. The VERY early T-62 had that issue, but they were modified VERY quickly to eliminate that problem.

It would be nice to see a detailed view of all the nooks and crannies inside the fighting compartment.

Loved your video guys. Fun and informative. Already subscribed. Much respect from Angola, Africa ❤

I still can’t believe you owned that tank with all the good in the fuel tank! That’s just mind blowing! I love your vids! Cheers have a good Christmas mate

That refuelling hose is known as a refuel/defuel hose, you can plug it in somewhere in the pack bay, flick a switch and you can refuel or defuel dependant on switch position. Or it connects to that electric pump you found, just insert into a fuel tank and away you go.

Been once inside of a polish T-72 and it was cramped. I couldn't even take out my phone. But anyways amazing video!

Excellent video lads, and for someone who knows nowt about Tanks, I find them interesting and very amusing. Keep em coming.👍

Quick line just to say Fantastic video I very much enjoyed it! very many thanks.

I imagine it would be even more claustrophobic if the commanders cupola was facing the right way and you had that great big massive sight right in your face lol.

Very very jealous I’d love a t72!! Thank you for the mention! :)

I think it's one of the most beautiful tanks in the world...from the outside :) Its condition is impressive.

More please! Thanks for the video!

i love the content! keep it up!!!

yknow it would be really cool if you guys could get a 360 camera that u can put in the turret or driver areas as i feel it would give the viewer a really good sense of scale. With the camera its pretty hard to see how cramped it really is

Great video, the banter, humour and no BS attitude of you guys is why I subscribed in the first place, everyone gets stuck in and gets the job done. As for health and safety in a MBT, it's a bit like a chocolate fireguard really considering what the vehicle is designed for and it's likely demise will be. I'd imagine the tankies trained in these will have been told the various possible ways of losing limbs and how best to avoid it and they will have learned from their mistakes and not done it twice.

You got a good shout out from Warren in a recent video on his channel (Western Truck and Tractor Repair). If you’ve mechanically impressed that man, you are doing alright. love your content.

T-72 definitely has a gun stabilizer

It does have a stabilizer tho

Very good. Very witty and enjoyable; even with Seb falling asleep at 22:20 LOL

Always up to see more of a tank.

You guys are doing a great job with your channel!! The f*ckery is what's missing with the other armor channels! Keep up uploading the great content!!

“Three times” on gearbox select lever it’s acronym from Russian «ЗХ - Задний Ход».

Most beautiful tank ever made!

Thank you for teaching me how to a drive a T-72M.

More Tank videos. doesnt matter which tank from any nation

Welcome to the tank crew blender. More commonly known as the T72M. There's not room even to swing half a cat (used to be the commanders arm). Good to see Ted asserting his dominance over the unruly staff. "Good boy Ted!"

I enjoy watching you and the boys but I also enjoy what Bruce puts out and for the resto side every one should watch oz armor

Got to love the unguarded fan by your legs, sums it up. Looks in lovely condition.

When it runs, I would like to see the maximum reverse speed too 😅 By the way, these padded caps (dont call it helmet) will only protect ones head when all is calm. Blunt head trauma is guaranteed when going quick cross country and projectiles are flying around. These pads will do exactly nothing when you get thrown about in the tank.

I saw Chieftain (‘The Chieftain’) had a video commenting on the flying turret autoloader problem, that a lot of the internal explosions are due to loose rounds stored wherever around the turret, which you’d get in any vehicle if you had live rounds everywhere I suppose. Which sounds plausible.

Look in the sump and the fuel tanks for the gold! Great vid as always, Nuff said. 🙂

Love this video guys!! Love your long videos with the humour. I laugh my butt off!!