M274 Mechanical Mule finished

Gunner · Post by **Gunner** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:36 pm

I bought a couple of these on eBay probably a year ago or more. Of course, the move put it, and all my other projects on hold.

However, they emerged from one of the moving boxes recently and I was able to finish one. I decided to go with a TOW carrier, based on a picture I saw.

Gunner · Post by **Gunner** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:22 pm

More about the Mule...

It's the Glencoe plastic model kit. It says it's 1/15, but someone on the board said it really measured out almost exactly at 1/18, so I decided to give it a shot.

The kit comes with a recoiless rifle, but that part of the kit is pretty poor, IMHO. I actually bought the BBI Super Humvee just for the recoiless rifle, but ended up using it on one of my M113s.

krieglok · Post by **krieglok** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 7:34 pm

That is a neat model. It is a good VietNam piece to do too. Well done. The cool thing is that you can still buy real ones. You cant register them as a motor vehicle, so you get to use them like an ATV/quad. They are considered a 1/2 ton truck by the Army, I believe. Nice work.

TJ

Threetoughtrucks · Post by **Threetoughtrucks** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:05 pm

The Glencoe Mule looks very close to the 1/18 scale.

Mule is 118.5" long and 46" wide.

Don't know about licensing a Mule. It could be a real problem with no driver protection at all. In all my years attending MV shows I have never seen one licensed. The Mule will never compare to a quad, much too slow, although being capable of going up a 60 degree slope with a good sized load can be handy.

Very nice job.

TTT

Gunner · Post by **Gunner** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:09 pm

Actually, there's a company that sells them...

http://www.mechanicalmulesofamerica.com

Threetoughtrucks · Post by **Threetoughtrucks** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:45 pm

There is more than one outfit selling Mules. They are easy to buy and you can get one in good shape for around $2,000.

I am almost certain that a Mule cannot be licensed as a motor vehicle. Quite a few states require ATV's to carry insurance and in limited areas they can be operated on roads for limited areas. A Mule would be considered an ATV.

My son has a garage full of quads, trikes and motorbikes. In PA, where he does most of his riding he carries insurance, riding in NJ, he doesn't and in NYC he can't ride the things legally at all. Go figure.

BTW, there are a couple of really nice Mules on the East Coast shows with 106mm Recoiless Rifles (not live, of course). A TOW is a little harder to get....not impossible, just hard to get.

TTT

tankduel · Post by **tankduel** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 12:20 am

http://www.geocities.com/schmidtom/Glen ... index.html

krieglok · Post by **krieglok** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:43 am

Yes, as I stated above, they cannot be registered. They can be insured though, usually with collector`s insurance. The comparison to a quad was for use rather than performance. They would be more closely related to the John Deere Gators at this point, just not as fast though. Regardless, it still a nice project and an unusual subject to model. Again, nice work.

TJ

75th Ranger · Post by **75th Ranger** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:58 am

Outstanding JOB!
really like it!!!
"I love the smell of Nam in the morning"
HOOAH!

Quixote511 · Post by **Quixote511** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 6:11 am

Yeah, it is pretty cool.
Aaron