Nghe An farmers invent "3 in 1" mini plow

Homemade plow of Mr. Phan Ba ​​Toan in village 2, Duc Son, Anh Son. Photo: Thai Hien

We met Mr. Phan Ba ​​Toan when he was using a homemade plow to prepare the land for sowing winter corn. Mr. Toan shared: His family has 9 sao of land dedicated to sowing corn. During the production process, every year, when the crop season comes, the land preparation stage always makes him have a headache calculating. Because if he hires a high-capacity plow, the cost is high, the family's 9 sao of land also costs more than 1 million VND, plowing with buffaloes and cows takes a lot of effort.

Since then, he has always wondered how to introduce machines to free up labor, helping to save time and costs. After many nights of thinking, he came up with the idea of ​​making a mini plow based on the engine and components from an old motorbike in the house. Thinking is doing, he began to research and draw out designs for his ideas on paper.

Mr. Toan's invention is made from the engine and components of an old motorbike. Photo: Thai Hien

When he started working, Mr. Phan Ba ​​Toan also encountered many difficulties because he had to think and do everything himself, from finding raw materials to assembling and welding. There were times when after welding many unsuitable parts, he had to disassemble and start over. While working and fixing, after more than 4 months, he successfully created a mini plow that both plowed the land and sowed corn, beans, peanuts, etc., to the admiration of the people in the area.

Mr. Toan said: This plow is made from the engine and components of an old motorbike, attached to a stand that he designed himself, welded together with iron, steel, and recycled scrap. The machine consists of: a motorbike engine; a handle; a plow blade that can be easily removed, one blade for grassy land and one blade for grassy land; two wheels that he designed like gears to prevent the ground from sinking during movement. In particular, he made his own brake system, gear lever to increase or decrease the wheel rotation, increasing the pulling force of the plow blade when necessary. The plow has a gas tank, a water tank to cool the machine system. Currently, in addition to plowing and splitting, Mr. Toan has designed an additional part that combines fertilization and automatic seeding.

Mr. Toan calculated that if before, he and his wife had to spend 150,000 VND to rent a plow for one sao of land, with this machine, he only needed 15,000 VND for gasoline, increasing labor efficiency by more than 10 times compared to normal labor and saving costs. In particular, with the structure of this machine, it is very suitable for plowing furrows and hilling during the corn development stage, which is something that existing plows cannot do, while the capital to invest in manufacturing a machine is only 3-4 million VND.

Mr. Tran Quang Trung - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Duc Son commune said: The invention of Mr. Phan Ba ​​Toan in village 2 may not have an eye-catching design but is extremely effective and useful. It is very compact, easy to transport, contributing to reducing labor, helping farmers to be less tired, and the cost is very low. Currently, Mr. Toan's technical improvement has changed the farming practices of farmers. Contributing to bringing mechanization into agricultural production according to the local new rural construction roadmap.