alt Hacker News> If you go to villages in developing nations, you'll see these kinds of innovative solutions all over - ...
Years ago I remember reading an article about Russians making a living in the USSR. A man in a town wanted to mow his lawn but could not afford a mower (or maybe he could not easily obtain one?) His solution was a scavenged washing machine motor mounted to an old kids tricycle spinning a home made blade.
There are many, many, many solutions like this on YouTube from all over the world. I have to admit that there do seem to be more Russian ones than anyone else, but maybe they're just better at posting video. I've seen an insane amount of homebuilt tractors and offroad vehicles coming out of russia.