The Choremaster: A One-wheeled Wonder

According to Grimme, the contract called for Weber to produce a specified number of the tillers for Sears to stock. Additionally, he was to keep a sufficient quantity of tillers and tiller parts in his own warehouse for shipment as needed to Sears

At year's end, Sears returned all leftover tillers and parts to Weber. By the close of 1956, Weber had more than $200,000 in returned parts and machines, and no way to sell them.

Attempting to regain financial stability in 1957, Weber offered 17 models of walk-behind lawn mowers and tillers, but the effort failed and the company folded.

According to Van Ausdall's correspondence with Morgan, when his licensing agreement came up for renewal, also in 1957, he chose not to renew. He continued working on different inventions, including a riding mower that mulched weeds while it cut, but only a prototype and possibly one other was ever built.

Early in 1958, Van Ausdall sold all manufacturing rights and patents for the one-wheeled tractor to Richard Wyman of Framingham, Mass. Wyman redesigned the Choremaster and continued selling it under the name Wyman's Little Brute Power Hoe. Choremaster one-wheel tractors were made through 1957, but after that, the name was used on lawn mowers and tillers produced by subsequent owners of the Weber firm. By 1964, it was completely gone from the marketplace. Today, many of the original Choremasters have been converted into home made 'vehicles' for carrying folks here and there at tractor shows.

- Jim Cunzenheim is president of the Vintage Garden Tractor Club of America and writes frequently about garden tractors for hobbyist publications. Contact him at (608) 429-4520, or by e-mail at towr-powr27@yahoo. com.