Have been doing more R&D with the mule, mostly to gauge traction. The tracks are better than tires... but in the snow, it's gonna be proceed with caution. Pretty sure, at this stage, it'll be fine pulling loads on a well packed trail. (Not a lot of clearance underneath so it hangs up easily in deeper snow) Anywho... carried more loads from the shed to the Bilco yesterday. Our snow pack has dropped from about 10-12" to 6" now. Photo proof...
Forgive my ignorance but what exactly is a mule? Who makes it? It sure looks cool!!! What kind of motor? Horsepower? Whats it weigh?
Ha... that's what I call it cuz it's so slow... ... it's a Yardmax trackbarrow. Mostly used on construction sites. I'm attempting to turn it into a hauler on snow (they don't come with rear hitches), along with it already being able to carry loads. 6.5 hp B&S engine. Max carry cap is 650 lbs, but I've watched vids of a guy luggin 1000 lbs + of concrete bags. It weighs 400 lbs. 3 forward, 1 rev... powered steering. It has all of the power and cap I need. Remains to be seen if it's traction on packed snow, pulling logs on skis, will be enough. I'm betting it will... and you know... I'm never wrong on this stuff... ... ... I'll whip up a re-build thread soon.
mock up a small v plow for the snow? load with snow/ice or something heavy you can dump at the wood site, and weight of wood on return? Looks like fun!!!!
Log mule R&D continues... just before we got that hot water rain (snow is gone)... ... I put the lift arm & tongs on front, finished the coupler on the front log sled and hooked on the rear skis... and headed down into the woods just to see how things were gonna go. Had a big ash down already (thanks Scotty Overkill ) and I'd cut to length (to haul out) ... wanted to see if the lift arm was going to work OK, etc. Well... the arm worked OK but, when I tried to lever the log up, the machine did a nose dive downward... so I only lifted the log an inch or 2. No where near the 12" plus I need to clear the rear ski sled. I'll try a plywood support under the lever pivot point, and see if that'll do the trick without being too much of a pita. I dint have my cam with me down in the woods, but my honey snapped a couple pics... kinda sorta proof... Waiting fer snow... It's been a very long time since I used the sleds with the ATV. I realized then that logs didn't need much of a tug to slide them along. Our woods has just a slight slope, so I'm betting the mule will be enough... I like the speed btw...
