F. H. HOLLAR Single Wheel Cultivator

Although demand for these cultivators was high, production during the early years was limited due to steel and engine shortages. He was always trying to find and purchase enough steel to make a production run of several cultivators. After the war, materials became more readily available, resulting in increased production. Over the years, only minor changes were made to the original design. Dust shields were added at various locations to protect bearings, and front counterweights added to improve maneuverability and balance. All cultivators have the year of manufacture and its production identification number stamped on the frame. The cultivators had two belts and uniquely, the proper belt lengths for each cultivator are also stamped on the frame. Some cultivators may also be identified by a brass metal tag riveted to the crossbar between the handles reading 'F. H. Hollar, Singers Glen.' During operation of the business, several family members worked in the shop. Leonard began working in the shop at an early age and remembers all aspects of the original manufacturing processes. Most parts, including handles, frames, cultivator drive wheel, cleats, bearing supports, and pulleys were handmade and assembled in the shop. Leonard has inventoried the shop and now retains the original jigs and fixtures used to bend, weld, align, and assemble the cultivators. Even today, Leonard recalls how through experience he learned that when pouring bearings it was necessary to heat the bearing mold before pouring the bearing material to ensure the bearing surface would form properly.

In the early 1950s, several new single-wheel cultivators with balloon tires, such as Choremaster, and Bolens, were introduced, and Leonard recalls this as the beginning of the demise of the business. At this time, cultivators were taking on a new look in that they were being engineered and manufactured utilizing compact designs, lightweight materials, balloon tires, and modern, larger engines. Additionally, manufacturers moved into national marketing programs with authorized dealers while cultivators were being mass produced at low costs. Recognizing this trend, Hollar responded By manufacturing several small cultivators with a rubber cap attached to the flat steel cultivator wheel. In practice this type wheel worked especially well for covering planted seeds, and especially potatoes, because it would ride on the top of the soil instead of sliding into the furrow.

However, local manufacturers fell on hard times and often faced going out of business. This was the fate of the Hollar cultivator, and the last unit was produced in 1955.

The old shop was dormant for many years, however, in 1975, a family friend in Winchester, Virginia, asked Leonard Hollar to build an original cultivator for a gift to his son. His friend wanted to demonstrate to his son the creative spirit, desire for self-sufficiency, and pride of 'a job well done' typically exemplified by craftsmen of an era past. Leonard went down to the old shop and found and made enough parts to build perhaps a last one.