I know a little about the techniques used to manufacture a Tiger as opposed to a T-34 and have seen the differences closeup. It is very true that the Russians did not pay much attention to the "dress up" of their creations. The edges of the armored slabs used on the hulls for example had no touchup done on them, they were simply welded together and sent out the door. I can see what the Russians mean when the say "quantity has a quality all it's own". This excessive engineering can even be seen in Mercedes cars to this day. I have a friend that owns one and he says every time he opens the hood it costs him $500.

I don't think that manpower would be a problem considering the troops in them had an iterest in their up keep also, the logistics is another thing though. I bet there was a lot of treads worn out because of the lack of grease.