need help with 274 mule

how do i take off the top to overhaul engine?
pita? looks like....have to, no?
is there a manual on how-to do this without dying?

i kind of hesitate ...... put er up for sale.....in central mass....reluctantly though....

help!

fred

Fred, give me a call @ 512-559-0308 I can help you. Semper Fi David

will do, david! when's a good time for you?

fred

413 477 8724 when i'm not out on my tractor 7am-9pm....otherwise answering svc.

looking fwd to your wisdom!

as you can sense i am ambivalent....worth it?

love to take it out into my woods. original features i dont care....as long as it works on a few clix....but to go through an overhaul...phew. i have a hobomechanic who can fix everything and i have the barn for that but few tools....one portal gasket leaks, i can tell by the streak down. one mag wheel stood in cowmanure and is curiously eaten up in places...will need replcmt. but stuff like the spring hooks on the airfilter buckett etc...where would i get those?
daunting.
then all these fuel lines in and out...
now the elec starter torques down my battery.....seized engine? just cranked it a few seconds and blam. depressed. oil is like new. full.

ckd out how pltfrm is atttached, quite e few bolts! but looks like its made to come off gastank incl. if thats feasible, motor access is easy seems to me....but wont function unless some stuff hooked up again, right?

regards

fred ****immigrant major CAP retired doc etc

no need to take of the bed, remove engine from rear like VW car. Do you have source for engine parts? Do you need any or just think you need over haul? im at bill45colt@yahoo.com or 256 585 4600

Hopefully he figured it out in the last year.

Thanks for the info on removing it like a VW.

You pull engine and drop with out taking off bed.

ok I took engine out, big time cleaning, new magneto and wires, put it back together, and she starts up but still same trbl: only fires on one cylinder, compression gud on both, swapped wires: same ****. now what? timing wrong?

Might sound stupid but check your spark plugs if you have not done so already. I have had on more then one occasion installed a new plug in a piece
of equipment and it failed. Hope it might help you nice to know there's at least one more mule in the Northeast!

Don't forget the possibility of a vacuum leak on the dead cylinder, spray carb cleaner around the intake connections between the carb and cyl heads on a running engine and note any change in RPM. Other than a compression test and fire at the spark plugs, pull the valve cover and verify the rocker arms are rocking about the same distance and the valve lash is correct, they are pretty simple. Just throwing a few ideas your way to check, best of luck.

What is this thing?

Never heard a thing about them before. Late, but subscribed anyhow so I can find out what I've been missing.

M274 Mule , 1/4 ton 4WD utility vehicle used in Vietnam a lot , sort of a early Military version of a ATV .
2 cyl Hercules air cooled , nifty unit , with out the dog though ! LOL

Oh, the Mule; sure I know the Mule. Little dicey in roll-over conditions, but one great item.

I thought we were talking about the contraption in k1hb's avatar. What is THAT?

I had never seen a mule until my first year in 08 @ Knob Creek, there were 3 or 4 hauling stuff to folks trucks. Guys in gillie suits or gals in camo as drivers, fit the mood then. There was a guy with a flatbed selling them for $5K in running condition, but very few takers due to the ammo sales & the elections then.

Every year there after, (they were always there before I showed up) the mules were there; sporting a .50cal, or just carrying folks back to the parking lot for a $5 tip with all their loot to the truck to take home.

For the last few years, no mules are offered for sale; but they are still there to carry the folks & their heavy loot, back to the vehicles to go home.

Really cool vehicles, but too much for my limited budget~!

Ammo carrier ? maybe WWII or earlier .

rtk said:

Ammo carrier ? maybe WWII or earlier .

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Motorized? Can't tell. Or like a rickshaw kind of thing?

Looks like the Swiss munitions cart. Designed to be pulled by animals or men.

sigo said:

Looks like the Swiss munitions cart. Designed to be pulled by animals or men.

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Neat. Thanks. Back to the OP of course:

- k1hb, did you get firing from the second cylinder yet?

And do Mules have a reverse gear?

Yes , Mules have a 3 speed + reverse trans and a 2 speed HI/LO transfer case . Pretty sophisticated for a 1950's MV . Braking is a drive line brake drum .

We had them in early 1960`s carried 106 recoiless rifles and supplies. Ours were hand start at that time, before electric start. Pain in the ---. Figured that is why they called them "mules". Pretty handy vehicle at the time. Constant repair, shop always dropping engines I remember.

RodUSMC1962 said:

We had them in early 1960`s carried 106 recoiless rifles and supplies. Ours were hand start at that time, before electric start. Pain in the ---. Figured that is why they called them "mules". Pretty handy vehicle at the time. Constant repair, shop always dropping engines I remember.

Click to expand...

Looks like a handy little machine. Beats the heck out of a wheelbarrow. I'd take one in a heartbeat if you could pick them up for $500-$1500, but $5K is a pinch steep.