The effectiveness of the sugarcane winch made from an old motorbike engine

From an old motorbike engine, Mr. Pham Duc Tan tinkered to create a sugarcane winch. Photo by Quang Huy 1

With his industrious, hard-working nature and especially his love of discovery, Mr. Pham Duc Tan took advantage of some old motorbike engines to create a sugarcane winch.

His idea came from a time when he went with a group of people to pick sugarcane for hire. It was a hard job so it was hard to find workers during the harvest season.

According to Mr. Tan, about 2 months before the 2016 sugarcane crop, he focused on researching and assembling each part from the ladder, winch chain and engine. Initially, when he put it into test run, he immediately encountered failure.

Mr. Tan's sugarcane winch works very effectively. Photo: Quang Huy

“When I first brought the machine to the field, the sugarcane was tied in opposite directions and not in the right order, so it got tangled together and I couldn’t winch it up. At that time, many people laughed and said how could it be done. I thought that if that was the case, I had to be determined to do it,” said Pham Duc Tan.

Mr. Tan's sugarcane winch consists of 2 support ladders, winch chain and engine. However, it was a whole process of disassembly and assembly for Mr. Tan.

The winch's efficiency is very high. Before, when he didn't have the machine, he needed 5-6 people to be able to lift 20 tons of sugarcane in 4 hours. Since having the machine, the group only needs about 3 people and the time has also been shortened to 3 hours.In particular, the winch can lift up to more than 5m, making it convenient to transport sugarcane onto the vehicle.

Mr. Tan's sugarcane winch can winch sugarcane from the sugarcane field to a vehicle over 5m high. Photo: Quang Huy

According to Mr. Vu Van Binh in U hamlet, Nghia Thang commune, a member of Mr. Tan's sugarcane loading group, tSince we have the winch, we are much healthier and more relaxed. Before, the sugarcane was heavy and the cart was high, so it was very difficult for old people like me...

With this winch, farmers only need to carry the sugarcane onto the machine, the machine will handle the transportation to the truck. Up to now, this is the second sugarcane crop, the sugarcane winch has followed Mr. Tan from one field to another.

Up to now, this is the second sugarcane crop, the sugarcane winch has followed Mr. Tan through many fields. Photo: Quang Huy

A creation with a total cost of more than one million VND but great efficiency of Mr. Tan has shown the intelligence and acumen of farmers.Currently, he is continuing to research to produce grass hoes and soil compactors.