Have mules fallen out of favor?

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Chuck W.
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Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by Chuck W. » Thu Feb 14, 2019 5:32 pm

Seems like there is less interest in mules now than when I first started messing around with them 20 or so years ago. I always had 2-3 mules in the shop, doing repairs or restorations. This forum was very active with lots of new people joining in all the time, lots of buying and selling.
Now, I haven't had a mule in the shop for work in over two years. Even the occasional service job has dried up. This forum goes weeks at a time with no new posts, and seems like the same group of owners posting when there are new posts. I haven't talked to John Emery in some time, so I don't know how the parts business is doing. What are you seeing? I remember when we had 19 mules at the Veteran's Museum rally back years ago, now I rarely see more than 2 at any rally.
Thoughts?


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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by major519 » Thu Feb 14, 2019 5:53 pm

At Gilbert PA last fall there were several. The show at Findlay OH featured several as well.
Up here in Canada we have our own following that seems to be growing each year.
I do agree though, it seems like the Forum here has stagnated for quite some time now.
Thinking all MVs go through ebbs and eddys of popularity over time...
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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by bms07 » Thu Feb 14, 2019 6:37 pm

I was just at John Emery place last week. He said the mule parts business has been good.
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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by markrdje » Thu Feb 14, 2019 7:09 pm

I drive my mule once a week(I read that's best for the magneto?)The last 2 or 3 times had to hold my bent arm up to my face cuz of the cold wind.I see I have 1 or 2 wheels leaking again! But the mule starts up good in the below 0 weather.I been keeping the fan vent closed cuz of the cold weather, I suppose I should open it up after 15 minutes of driving but I forget to.
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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by clintm20 » Fri Feb 15, 2019 2:11 am

If there is a mule facebook group it may be pulling some traffic from the 503 this has been the case with halftracks and scoutcars, imo.
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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by Auto Shop teacher » Fri Feb 15, 2019 4:50 am

You may be right Chuck but as for me my mule keeps busy in So. Calif. On Monday this week I put a half tank of gas through my mule working it to clear brush and trees out at our museum, and this coming Monday it will be put back to work spraying all of the weeds that have sprouted thanks to all of the rain we have been getting. My mule is one of the few vehicles that is light and small enough to get into all of the places where weeds grow (everywhere) and even with all the mud I don't get stuck. With over 100 acres of land and about 2+ miles of right of way to keep clear, the mule has proven invaluable in my work. One of the old time members showed me a photo from the early 1960s where they got a half track stuck to the frame in the mud at the museum.


I have toyed with trying Muleman 7's idea of pulling an idler gear on a front and rear drop axle to save some wear and tear on my tires and to help lessen steering effort on our paved roads, but at times like now, I think I would have gotten stuck a lot without all four wheels turning.

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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by Chuck W. » Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:08 am

If there is a mule facebook group it may be pulling some traffic from the 503 this has been the case with halftracks and scoutcars, imo.
There actually is a facebook page, but only 32 members and very little activity in the past two years. I occasionally go to the mule forum on the Steel Soldiers page, but it's about the same as here, not much activity.

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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by markrdje » Fri Feb 15, 2019 11:08 am

Since I mostly drive on hard surfaces(streets) I removed the idler gear on the RF wheel, been that way almost a year.(this was after knocking out a tooth or two in the RF wheel), learning the hard way.After reading the recent post, maybe I should remove the LF idler gear too?
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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by kubotaman » Fri Feb 15, 2019 3:51 pm


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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by Grummanflyer » Fri Feb 15, 2019 8:08 pm

It does seem like it's been a little slow lately but then it's been so cold and really wet around here I'm not surprised. The technical board hasn't had anything new in quite a while also but if we aren't using them, then we probably aren't gonna need to fix um. From the prices I've seen on ebay lately, It doesn't seem like they are that much out of favor and this stuff was definitely not primo equipment. We just need to wake up Terrill. He makes more noise than a mule in a tin barn. That's all we need to get things popping around here again.

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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by Auto Shop teacher » Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:09 am

Chuck, I suspect that a lot of the slowdown in chatter is the mule technical forum which we novices can go to find the answers to problems we are having with our mules. You, Charles, and others have put up a gold mine of information of many times hard learned lessons of knowledge you have amassed over the years working on mules. For me I look at articles regularly to get help and ideas for my mules. Many thanks for everyone's work in sharing knowledge with all of us.

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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by Chuck W. » Sat Feb 16, 2019 8:45 am

Interesting comments, thank you all. I have had a bunch of health issues over the past 4 years or so, plus end of life issues with parents, so I didn't make very many of the shows around here and none of the nationals, so I don't have a real handle on what's happening, other that what's posted here. I will say that it looks like the folks here use their mules more for everyday work vs just going to MV shows! Poor Eeyore has not moved out of the shop since he tried to kill me two years ago! I do try to crank the engine every week or two and let it run for a while. I am planning to drain the gas tank and refill with fresh non-ethanol gas and change the filters in the next few days. I have been wanting to do the tie rod modification that Trent posted a while back, maybe this spring when I get over this last wrist surgery (thank you, again, Eeyore!).
I thank everybody who has helped keep this mule forum alive over the past years and hope you all will continue to do so.

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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by Auto Shop teacher » Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:37 pm

I am glad to hear you still have your mule Chuck, I am hopeful your injuries continue to improve. Please accept our thanks for your many great articles on working on mules, and I am thankful that we have a resource such as you to ask questions when we hit a wall.

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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by progun3400 » Sun Feb 17, 2019 10:27 am

What is a Mule? :D Seems I’ve been mostly preoccupied with transmission work lately? Upgraded a two door M998 equipped with TH400, installing internal parking linkage. Have another M998 waiting. I’m getting ready to reseal a Tempest Torque 2 speed automatic transmission in a 1963 Potiac Tempest. The Tempest belongs to a good friend that’s in the process of restoring it. The Tempest is equipped with a 4 cylinder (apparently half of a 389?) with 4 barrel carb. The painted up running gear/chassis in the pic isn’t it but it’s the exact trans/transaxle/differential setup in the 1963 Tempest. I’m familiar with many of the old school automatics but this one I’ve never seen until laying eyes on it. I was told it’s a very similar set up to the Corvair? Strange seeing the torque converter hanging off the very back.
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Re: Have mules fallen out of favor?

Post by charles fitton » Sun Feb 17, 2019 10:52 am

kubotaman wrote:
Fri Feb 15, 2019 3:51 pm
There are 3 Mule FB groups, one of them (346 members) generally has active discussions.


Interesting..

Bryan and I started the little one (35 members) mostly to act as a file sharing space for the manuals.

Apparently I'm a moderator on the larger one...

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