Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment

   / Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment #1  

WinterDeere

Elite Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
3,286
Location
Philadelphia
Tractor
John Deere 3033R; JD 855 MFWD
So, I have this Little Wonder LB-270S blower, that I use frequently as a walk-behind unit for clearing the driveway, etc. I find it's difficult to use in the lawn for clearing leaves, since my lawn is a big hill, and it's not self-propelled. I should've bought the self-propelled model, or so I thought at one time.

I've since seen one or two guys pull the wheels off one of these machines to mount on a platform behind their garden tractor. It got me thinking, maybe I could come up with a way to mount this thing on the 3-point of my CUT. Primary challenge is the length of the handle on the Little Wonder, which I don't want to remove, as I would still like to use it as a walk-behind.

I did experiment with mounting the blower in the bucket of my FEL, but I need to keep it close to the ground to work, and I kept inadvertently digging into my turf with the bucket. Again, I think the 3-point is the way to go, but I need a way to extend the lower arms of the 3-point, to clear the long handle on the little wonder.

Blower: http://littlewonder.com/global/assets/optimax-self-propelled/LW_Optimax LB270H SS.pdf
Tractor: TractorData.com John Deere 855 tractor information

I have a few ideas of my own, but would like to hear from anyone else who has experimented with a similar concept.

Thanks!
 
   / Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment #2  
put it on a pallet and use forks.
 
   / Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I should be clear that the property has a golf-course quality lawn, and many very abrupt hills / changes in slope. A pallet on forks is going to tear up just as much turf as a bucket, kept low enough to be effective. Was hoping to do something with a pair of swivel casters, so it can ride the contours.
 
   / Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment #4  
Do you have a 2" receiver that will mount to your 3 point? If so, I can draw something up tonight based on one I did to run on a golf cart a while back.

Aaron Z
 
   / Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Do you have a 2" receiver that will mount to your 3 point? If so, I can draw something up tonight based on one I did to run on a golf cart a while back.

Aaron Z

I can buy one! Been looking for an excuse for one of those, anyway. My concern is that, with the blower chute facing out one side, the best mode of use is to just drive forward/reverse along the line of leaves you're blowing. So, towing is much less convenient than picking up with the 3-point, when going in reverse, unless it's fixed to the tractor (not a ball hitch).
 
   / Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment #6  
I should be clear that the property has a golf-course quality lawn, and many very abrupt hills / changes in slope. A pallet on forks is going to tear up just as much turf as a bucket, kept low enough to be effective. Was hoping to do something with a pair of swivel casters, so it can ride the contours.

Put casters on the pallet and put your FEL on float
 
   / Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment #7  
The short of it is:
1. Replace the nuts in the middle of the handle with wing nuts so that you can fold it out of the way
2. Take a 8" long piece of 2" square stock (hereafter called part1) and cut a slot into one side big enough that the rear axle will fit onto it
3. Drill 2 holes near the top of part1 and fit pins into them
4. Weld part1 to another piece of 2" square stock to make a T (I used a 2' piece, but your size may vary)
5. Drill a hole in the assembly from step 4 so that you can pin it into the receiver
Then the assembly from step 4 goes into the receiver and you run a strap from the top link mount on the receiver to the blower handle. That keeps the machine from tipping forward too much

This way you have the throttle/chute control at hand, can adjust the height as needed and the blower is completely off the ground.

The one I made up mounted to the 2" receiver on the front of a golf cart and kept the blower ~8" off the ground and the shape of the handle let it come over the hood and put the controls right at hand.

Aaron Z
 
   / Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Cool! This is not far from my own concept, in which I had planned to connect the lower links of the 3-point to the rear axle of the blower, and use the top link to connect to the handle bar assembly. Of course, the handle bar on the blower is too long, and would hit the back of the seat on the tractor, so I had planned to mount 3-point link extensions on the blower. The lower link extensions would tie into the rear axle of the blower, and the upper link to the cross bar between the two halves of the handlebar assembly (roughly top of engine height).

Like you, my interest was keeping the controls accessible from the driver's seat. If I can do that without folding the handle, so much better, as the control cables are dressed pretty tight.
 
   / Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment #9  
Here is a drawing of the bracket I built:
Blower Bracket.png
If needed, you could probbaly put an upright piece on it to tie the handles to, but if using a 3 point receiver (such as: 3 Point trailer hitch for tractors ) you could just as easily tie off to to the top part.

Aaron Z
 
   / Little Wonder Blower 3-point attachment #10  
If your lawn is that immaculate and/or delicate and that is important, maybe a powered sweeper is a better option....

Good luck
 
 
 
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