Name/Title
'The Leschasin Cricket' LawnmowerEntry/Object ID
2025.7.2Description
The family of Peter Leschasin (1919 - 1994) hoped that this lawnmower would be placed in the 'Austin' museum.
Peter Leschasin, born in 1919, was raised on the family farm 13 miles northeast from the town of Rossburn, Manitoba. Peter displayed an early interest in mechanics, where he spent many winter evenings working in the lantern lit top floor of a 2-story granary. No hydro power at the time.
It was Peter's desire to challenge the snow. Peter's first experimental snowmobile was manufactured during the winter of 1957 - 58 in a 12 x 18' lean-to shop supplied with electric power but lacking in insulation.
He constructed a larger shop and using his own design, he built open motor toboggans during the later 50s and 60s and sold them as far away east as Battle Harbor, Labrador and as far west as Revelstoke, British Columbia. In all he sold 9 motor toboggans under the name Leschasin Motor Toboggan. The Challenger model was featured in the American Snowmobiler magazine along with the enclosed model, the Snug Bogg. Many of the Challenger motor toboggans are held in private collections and a Snug Bogg is on display in the Rossburn museum.
Peter also manufactured and sold over 50 bale boat stookers. For his own use, he built a heavy-duty reel type stone picker, a rotary cultivator, a farm sprayer and numerous other items to help him in farming.