M274

[Bryan45]

Only took me 19 years after buying my first military vehicle (a M151a1) to get another.

M274a4 Mule. And a custom built M116 trailer with sides to mimic a M101. Perfect size for hauling the Mule.

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I took both of them to a local show last weekend.

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[rickf]

Make damn sure you tie those ramps to the trailer when using them!! I found out the hard way when one of mine slipped of the tailgate of my truck when backing out the lawn tractor and dropped tree feet to the ground!! Landed flat on my back followed by the tractor on top of me. Not a good day.

[Bryan45]

Thanks for a good reminder. If you zoom in you can see the nylon strap attached to the trailer gate. I tighten it down, then jerk around on the ramp to make sure it’s not going anywhere. I got the longest ramps I could find and it’s still a little steep!

[rickf]

It looked like you had them attached but i just wanted to point it out to anyone else using them. I got away with some bad bruising but it could have been worse. At 70 years old you can't take the abuse you did at 25!!!

[csmith]

At Graves Mt, when we left our cabin I left the ramps out on the UHaul trailer carrying my jeep and took off! Loud noise coming from the back, stopped about 100 yards down the gravel road and saw what I had done and one ramp was gone, had dropped off just as we pulled onto the road about 50 yards from where we stopped. Damn thing weighed about 100 lbs!! Fortunately a local and his son came by and loving the jeep put the ramp in their truck and brought it to me and slid it back into the trailer. Probably should not be telling about such a DA move but that WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN !!

[rickf]

I have seen many things worse than that. Like flat towing cars that were left in first gear. Ever see a VW dune buggy going down the highway on a tow bar at 60 mph in first gear? It was spectacular for a short time before it blew up and splattered the entire lane with oil and shattered engine parts. I have seen the same results done with cars that were brought to me for repair.

And the guy with the VW............ He did not even know what happened until someone chased him down and practically ran him off the road to get him to stop. I had stopped to divert traffic away from the oil to prevent an accident.

[Hambone]

Those mules are bringing crazy money, there was a nice one at our last show, he said he had just paid $13K for it, but if I ever find one I can afford, I might buy it.

[rickf]

I stopped looking when they went over 5500.00! They are neat but parts are hard to finds. Tires are very hard to find and very, very expensive when you do find them. So that relegates it to a garage queen status, I refuse to own a garage queen. If I can't drive it and use it then it is worth nothing to me. I guess if I had more money and a large garage to store vehicles in with a few drive on lifts where I could store vehicle on top of each other than I might look at it differently but if I own a vehicle and I want to drive it I want to be able to do so without worrying about something breaking that is irreplaceable. I can buy a quad or side by side for a lot less than a mule nowadays and use it for a lot more practical things. One of my M37's has a winch on it and I have another winch setup that will be going on the one I am picking up next week. If There is ever a disaster where there are vehicles needed with winches these will be used. If they get scratched that is what buzz bombs are for.

[Bryan45]

I got lucky and found this one at a "buy it now" price. I knew I'd have no issue getting my money back out of it later if I didn't like it.

But, so far, the kids have had a great time driving it around the yard, and I've taken it to two 3-gun matches to use as my "gun buggy". I'm a little concerned about future parts availability, but it doesn't keep my from enjoying it.

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Rick- please share pics of your new M37 when it's home. I've always liked those trucks.

[Bryan45]

Weather is improving- and I used the Mule to bribe my teenager into helping with yard work.

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[m3a1]

For work, AND for play. What's not to love?

[rickf]

If you have antique insurance on it, which you should, then do not let them know you use it for work or that will likely cancel your policy. Hagerty is the only one that will let you drive your vehicle anywhere, within reason. But they will not insure it if you are using it for work.