M274 Mechanical Mule

atavuss

Adventurer
My son and I went to a Military Vehicle get together and show at Tower Park Marina near Lodi, California over the weekend. one of the vendors had a clean 1969 M274a5 military mechanical mule for sale so I jokingly emailed my wife a picture of it and asked her if I could buy it. when she replied if I wanted it to get it I did not need to be told twice! early versions of the Mule had a magnesium alloy deck and portal axle housings. later versions were all aluminum. early versions were 4 WD and 4 wheel steering. mine is 4WD with a two speed transfer case for 6 foward and 2 rear speeds, and 2 wheel steering. I have always wanted a Mule, we will take it when we go camping and use it to run around off road. I tried to get it stuck in a marshy area of the Marina and was not successful. after a few minutes of instruction on how to shift a manual trans my 14 y.o. son was off and running (I sat on the canvas pad shown in the picture). these Mules are not fast but what a blast to drive! the engine is a 2 cyl. 14! HP Hercules generator engine. early versions used a Willys opposed 4 cyl. parts are readily available as NOS.
DSC01102(Small).JPG
 

justfred

Adventurer
atavuss said:
My son and I went to a Military Vehicle get together and show at Tower Park Marina near Lodi, California over the weekend. one of the vendors had a clean 1969 M274a5 military mechanical mule for sale so I jokingly emailed my wife a picture of it and asked her if I could buy it. when she replied if I wanted it to get it I did not need to be told twice! early versions of the Mule had a magnesium alloy deck and portal axle housings. later versions were all aluminum. early versions were 4 WD and 4 wheel steering. mine is 4WD with a two speed transfer case for 6 foward and 2 rear speeds, and 2 wheel steering. I have always wanted a Mule, we will take it when we go camping and use it to run around off road. I tried to get it stuck in a marshy area of the Marina and was not successful. after a few minutes of instruction on how to shift a manual trans my 14 y.o. son was off and running (I sat on the canvas pad shown in the picture). these Mules are not fast but what a blast to drive! the engine is a 2 cyl. 14! HP Hercules generator engine. early versions used a Willys opposed 4 cyl. parts are readily available as NOS.

Awesome!!! Congrats!

I'm hoping someday to go off-roading with one of these and my Haflinger, to see how they stack up.

Suggestion: have the son wear a helmet.
 

atavuss

Adventurer
justfred said:
Awesome!!! Congrats!

I'm hoping someday to go off-roading with one of these and my Haflinger, to see how they stack up.

Suggestion: have the son wear a helmet.

I plan on it, the pic was just putting around on the paved road to see how it ran.
 

atavuss

Adventurer
not yet, we went from the MV show home and ran it around a wee bit. I want to go through everything and inspect/service anything that needs attention before we go anywhere, plus still way too much snow in the Sierras to really try it out yet. I was going to fab up a passenger side foot basket but after looking at the driver's side decided to order a ready made unit from Mechanical Mules of America along with a passenger side seat.
 

justfred

Adventurer
atavuss said:
not yet, we went from the MV show home and ran it around a wee bit. I want to go through everything and inspect/service anything that needs attention before we go anywhere, plus still way too much snow in the Sierras to really try it out yet. I was going to fab up a passenger side foot basket but after looking at the driver's side decided to order a ready made unit from Mechanical Mules of America along with a passenger side seat.

No matter how long you plan to keep it, you should try to keep it as "stock" as possible - at least so it can be returned to stock without too much work. Minimal new bolt holes, and no welding! There are so few Mules left in good condition, yours looks from the one picture to be pretty cherry stock, it'd be a shame to "ruin" it.

And..."too much snow to really try it out"? No comprende. I'd be out there trying to get stuck in the white stuff! Have to wear your ski gear of course...
 

atavuss

Adventurer
justfred said:
No matter how long you plan to keep it, you should try to keep it as "stock" as possible - at least so it can be returned to stock without too much work. Minimal new bolt holes, and no welding! There are so few Mules left in good condition, yours looks from the one picture to be pretty cherry stock, it'd be a shame to "ruin" it.

And..."too much snow to really try it out"? No comprende. I'd be out there trying to get stuck in the white stuff! Have to wear your ski gear of course...

the passenger side foot basket will bolt up using existing holes, no new holes will be added anywhere, also I will fab up some type of mount for the passenger seat without having to drill the 1" holes like on the driver's side. I do realize that this mule is just about bone stock from the military and I want to keep it that way. the hour gauge only shows 122 hours (not known if it is the original hour meter gauge or not). about the only non stock item on the mule that I can find so far are the tires and the front light along with the light switch.
 

OverlandZJ

Expedition Leader
Good score...prices on these things have gone up signifigantly in the past few years.

Glad to hear you'll be keeping her as close to original as possible, many were butchered for hunting vehicles.
 

atavuss

Adventurer
John B said:
Good score...prices on these things have gone up signifigantly in the past few years.

Glad to hear you'll be keeping her as close to original as possible, many were butchered for hunting vehicles.

I too had noticed the prices were creeping up so I figured I am not getting any younger and they are not going to go down in price so when there were 3 of them to pick from at about the same price at the MV show I snagged one of them. I found pictures on the M274 Mule yahoo site where someone had mounted a passenger side seat without drilling any holes anywhere and I will modify his mounting system somewhat to my Mule. I have since found out that since my Mule was from 29 Palms/Barstow then it was most likely a USMC unit and I will repaint it in the correct color once I get done checking over the Mule for any repairs needed. my son wants to get some reproduction C-Ration wooden crates to use during parades.
 
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flywgn

Explorer
Hey, that's a "kewl mule". Good find. A rancher-friend of ours in WY has (or had--haven't seen him for years) one. I remember that he thought it was most useful and "worked" for him faithfully without biting or kicking.
 

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