You kind of have to know where I'm coming from when I say this, so basically my Mule is taking the place of a lawn tractor, i.e., I use it to run around the yard with a trailer to do chores. In that respect it is OK. I don't use it for "trail riding" or any kind of "four wheeling" type activities, so not really sure how it would be in those kind of situations.
Again, I haven't really tried doing anything too radical with it, just driving around the yard, but it doesn't feel terribly stable laterally, so for trail riding or operation on steep hills, a wider unit might be better.
I will say that it seems to get good traction, especially with dif lock and 4WD engaged. I like the fact that it is small and can fit in tight spaces. It is supposed to have an 1100 lb tow rating and it seems to tow my utility trailer (full of trees/logs) just fine. It seems silly to me that they tell you the tow rating, but there is no tow hitch from the factory and they don't even offer a receiver hitch as an option, you have to get one on Amazon. They do offer a kind of cheesy looking ball mount as an accessory.
Some things I don't really like about it:
CVT transmission - is clunky to shift and freewheels going down hills so you have to ride the brakes. I assume this would make it a pain in the neck for trail riding.
The bed is too small to be of any real use. If I need to haul anything more than a few tools, I have to use the trailer.
Non-power steering. It's not horribly heavy, but once you get used to a tractor with hydraulic steering, it's kind of a let down...
Noisy - I heard people say this about the Mule before I bought one, but never thought it would bother me. It's not so much the noise, but the thing feels like it's revving it's guts out all the time just to get and keep moving.
If I were buying another UTV, I would be looking closely at the Kubota RTV models with hydrostatic drive. I've never driven one, but I really think it would be a better fit for my use. Also, I think the Kubota RTV's are all liquid cooled so would be a little quieter and more refined.
I will say one other thing, in my state, any UTV less that 50 inches wide has to be registered and you have to pay property taxes on it. The Mule is 48 inches wide (track) so it will fit in a pickup (which I don't care about). I think this is really stupid and I can't for the life of my figure out why this is so, but it is. Units over 50 inches wide don't have to be registered or pay tax. It's not that there is much tax on it, but it is the priniciple of it that pizzes me off the more I think about it.
