"King of invention" did not finish 5th grade, made hundreds of types of machines and exported them to 4 countries ( Video : Thanh Binh - Hung Anh).
The workshop of about 100 square meters in Yen Mac commune, Yen Mo district, Ninh Binh province is the result of the calloused hands covered with gasoline of Mr. Vu Van Dung (born in 1964).
From the workshop, the village craftsman himself has researched and created hundreds of types of machines, from agricultural machines to household appliances, helping people in the countryside with everything from farming to cooking.
Even though he is in his twilight years, his hands are shaking and his eyes are getting dimmer with age, Mr. Dung still regularly takes wrenches and pliers to the yard to install machines that are due for delivery to customers all over the country.
“I find this job very enjoyable, like being free, when I feel tired I just close the door. Wherever I go, people welcome me, jokingly calling me the king of invention, I feel very proud,” he laughed.
Once, seeing people working so hard to make green rice flakes, he struggled for a long time. So he made his own porridge.
Without drawings or looking at sample machines, he thought for himself and installed it himself at the workshop. Not long after, the first rice flake making machine was born, it worked smoothly, and now almost the whole village uses his machine.
During more than 20 years of tireless invention, Mr. Vu Van Dung has created more than 100 types of machines of all sizes.
“I never let anyone take a machine that I am not satisfied with. I usually leave my “brainchild” right in front of the coffee table or dining table so I can look at it and think. When I have an idea, I immediately take out my welding rod and hammer to fix it.
I don’t need any drawings, everything is in my head. That’s how I decipher difficult machines. Failure is possible but I don’t give up. If it doesn’t work this way, I’ll switch to making it using another principle,” he shared.
The workshop where Mr. Dung is now diligently inventing was once just a temporary shack, built to have a place to stay during the day. About 50 years ago, during difficult times, the young Vu Van Dung was forced to drop out of school early, leaving his hometown to travel everywhere to find a living.
“There was nothing to eat, my family was in dire need, I was forced to drop out of school to earn my own living. At the age of 13, I went to Na Hang, Tuyen Quang to stay with relatives.
Life at that time revolved around firewood, water, digging ditches and hoeing fields," the man with two-toned hair recalled the difficult times.
But it was also those years of hard work that trained me to be persistent, observant, and to always think of ways to make work easier.
The first inventions in the life of the "king of inventions" probably started when no one thought a child would use buffalo or cow to carry water.
“I carved a horizontal bar to put across the back of the buffalo or cow, then nailed four pieces of wood together, wrapped them in canvas to make a water container, which made my work much easier,” he said.
When he was old enough to join the army, he returned to his hometown with the young men in the village and was later stationed in Thanh Hoa. Seeing that carpentry seemed suitable for him, he decided to pursue the chiseling profession.
“At that time, I didn’t know what carpentry was, I just saw people doing it and it looked interesting. Luckily, the unit had a policy to encourage talented people to develop their strengths. I boldly signed up to be a carpenter, even though I couldn’t saw a piece of wood yet,” he laughed.
He added that the division's traditional house was built by him and 12 other brothers.
After leaving the army, he returned to his hometown with nothing. Poverty covered the whole village: no fields and no work, all they had to do was eat potatoes and cassava.
To make a living, I had to go back to Ha Giang, bringing with me a few tools left from my time in the army: chisel, plane, cupboard... to work as a carpenter, specializing in sawing wood, making cabinets, tables and chairs for rent.
After a few months in Ha Giang, I went back to Tuyen Quang to do this job for another two years.
In 1989, I returned to my hometown, got married and decided to stay and start a business. At that time, the countryside was starting to show signs of development, I thought “here’s the opportunity!” so I continued to work as a carpenter.
But in reality, this job in the countryside is not enough to make a living. Without hesitation, I switched to lime burning.
“I spent all my money to buy a 10 million VND tractor - an amount of money that could buy 4 plots of land at that time. I did all the work, so one day I earned up to 1 tael of gold. Thanks to this job, I was able to build a house and buy an early generation Enzo Sym motorbike, which was worth 7 plots of land at that time,” he said.
“But then the job became hard and dangerous, my wife advised me to quit. At the age of 40, I went to driving school. After 3 months of apprenticeship and a year of working at 4 different places, I decided to open a car repair shop at home,” he confided.
At first, it was just a workshop of a few square meters, enough to make a living. Then, this man gradually expanded it to the whole yard. When vehicles became more popular, the number of customers also increased significantly.
“Then one day, while I was repairing my car, I saw people sowing rice in the fields, but had to pull the rice with a foreign D8 locomotive, which was heavy, cumbersome, and hard. I thought, ‘Why do we have to suffer like this?’, so I started to experiment with making the machine,” he shared.
In his spare time, Mr. Dung collects old motorbike parts, takes the engine, sprockets, welds and reassembles them according to his imagination.
“When I finished, I took it to the field to try it out. It pulled well and ran smoothly. A neighbor came to see it and asked to buy it.
I'm kidding, 3 million!
Unexpectedly, they nodded and bought it. Seeing that it worked well, they started promoting it to others. In the first month, I made 20 to 30 machines, each costing 2.5 to 3 million VND,” he said.
Later, he stopped repairing cars and switched to manufacturing agricultural machines. At first, it was just tractors, then he added a water pump to make it a 2-in-1 machine.
“People order pumps, sprayers, tillers, grinders… whatever they need, I find a way to make. There are days when dozens of people come to order, sometimes they have to wait a month for their turn. At peak times, I can complete one machine a day.
People use my machine and then bring foreign machines to exchange for them, because my machine is only 30kg, much lighter than imported machines (more than 100kg), durable, less broken, fuel efficient and easy to use.
There are machines I made that people have used for up to 10 years without having to repair them. When there is a request, the image of the machine appears in my mind, and I just do it. I have not studied any mechanical engineering, I only rely on observation, experience and… imagination,” he said proudly.
From soldiers, to carpenters, lime burners, auto mechanics, they became "village engineers" with hundreds of types of agricultural machinery exported to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and China.
For more than two decades, from the small workshop built on the old land to the times he had the honor of stepping on stage to receive certificates of merit from the Party and the State, Mr. Dung has maintained a simple lifestyle and a spirit of constant creativity.
The certificates, medals, and awards neatly hung on the rough brick wall are not only a testament to the intelligence of a farmer who has not finished 5th grade, but also an affirmation of the value of perseverance, self-study, and dedication.
“I don’t dream of getting rich from these machines. As long as people use them well and don’t have to work hard, I’m happy. I don’t have any certificates of merit for studying, but I have many certificates of merit for working. Looking back at my achievements, I feel like my life is quite complete,” he said, his eyes shining with pride behind his old, foggy glasses.
He added that he himself did not register for intellectual property, so anyone who wanted to learn or ask anything, he would show them everything.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/khoa-hoc/vua-sang-che-chua-hoc-het-lop-5-lam-tram-loai-may-moc-xuat-di-4-nuoc-20250613110314189.htm
Comment (0)