Wednesday, February 2, 2011

A Mule?

This may surprise some people.  We bought a mule.
  Not THAT kind of mule, one like this:

We had 2 ATV's.  Dad bought a Kawasaki Bayou 220 back in 1995.  It was a good, reliable machine.  A little small statured and a bit underpowered. When we put the spot sprayer on it it was overloaded. A full sized man was cramped up driving it.  Last year I got a Polaris 330 through a promotion at Beck's Seed Company. It was better than the Bayou.  Bigger engine, larger frame, an OK bike.  But still not a real good work machine.  When we first got it we had trouble with the battery not holding a charge.  We took it back to the dealer who suplied it for beck's and they warrantied it.  Last Fall I had couple times it would not start.  If it was cold weather it would crank but until you put a charger on the battery to "top it off".  I got on it to use it last week and it wouldn't start.  We put the charger on it and once it was fully charged it started right up.  I said to myself "I bet I can fix that."

That's how I ended up at Sparks last week.  I stopped by and asked if they had any good used 4 wheel drive ATV's, and if they'd be interested in a 2 for 1 trade.  Leroy showed me very nice year old 650 Rubicon.

Great bike with a new set of tires on it.  I put down a deposit to hold it until next week when I could bring down both bikes for them to look at.

Monday Aman and I loaded up and went to Oblong.  We looked at the Rubicon while they lookedover our trade-ins  While we were looking at the Rubicon we also discussed how we would use it.  I finally came to the realization that while it was a good machine and would be nice, it really wasn't what we needed.  We needed to be able to carry 2 people and tools and supplies.  They had a basic Mule,
but for just a little more had an XC which has taller, more aggressive tires, and  a little heavier suspension.
and it is a little prettier.  I declined the opportunity to buy the $900 wheels they had on it.

That's how we ended up with a Mule.  It's not as sexy as a big red Rubicon ... that is like the Cadillac of ATV's.  It's a UTV, a Utility Vehicle. I guess this means I'm getting old?

The first thing I did with it was load the generator in the back and bring it home and park it in the chicken house.
I really hope it isn't needed.

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