MedicineMan4040

Thanks for commenting and the suggestion of smaller bites will be taken to heart. I can see setting the alarm to get up mid-morning to get another swipe against the snow before it builds up again or too much.

Brent what did you decide to do? Like you I have a long driveway (1 mile gravel) to get to where the country maintains the road (they do a good job and are quick to start post snow storm). I'm waiting on a Mule to arrive at the dealer (promised this month or next). First thing I will buy for the Mule since it is intended as a taxi from our house to the gate are four of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017AHMCWO/?coliid=I7N58TVUG5Z2D&colid=2UAFGTQ7WPXRT&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1 We do get big snows (2 foot plus) but those are rare. What is common is ice, ice so bad, so thick, so long lasting (only 3 days in the last 3 weeks above freezing here) that there have been two times in the last 3 weeks where I didn't even risk the 4Runner and it has studded snow tires. So the dealer is pushing me towards a snow plow. He says the Mule SX is powerful enough but slow. He also said to start early in the snow storm, to knock off 2-4 inches at a time and not wait until 12 inches have piled up. From what I've read about those chains the Mule SX shouldn't have a problem at all on ice. I'm still mulling over the snow plowing with the Mule thinking like you've been mulling over that the SX is a bit small, that the blade size needed to get both tire tracks when angled is too big for the SX. I know with gravel we can't get the road perfectly clean, but when it does melt (and thank God that snow and ice can evaporate even from a solid form/sublimation point) it does slowly dissapear even when we have (frequent) long periods below freezing. Right now, having just taken the plunge into Mule SX world, I'm more worried about the plug fouling I've read about here in cold temps. Can we not put an oil pan heater on the SX? On my 4Runner I have heater in the block and an oil pan heater.....for when it doesn't get above 10F for days on end.

Retired last February to the Roan Mountain TN area. Elevation 4000 feet. Coldest ever (1982 I think, -30F), deepest snow I've personally measured with a yardstick was 30 inches. Put a deposit down on a Mule SX a couple of weeks ago. Will I ever see one? The dealer said he's getting one in this month and one in next month. Didn't know color and I told him color didn't matter. Intended use. We live in a 'gated' community. Our house is a mile from the nearest country road. The county does a stellar job in scraping/chatting/salting the road, but from our house to the gate we're on our own. It does snow here. We've had 2 big ones so far and this time of year it never melts before the next snow piles on top. But snow is rarely the problem. It is ice. It warms up and the snow melts/refreezes at night. Several of us drive in and out compressing the snow into ice. It compounds itself until the gravel road is just flat out slick. The wife is still working and it is my job to get here from the house to the gate where we leave her Subaru. I shuttle here to the gate and pick her up in the evening via a 4Runner with studded Cooper Snow Claws. But a couple of times the ice was so thick and wide across the road I didn't even risk the 4Runner. There are 3 climbs on the 1 mile from the house and that means downhills each with a gnarly turn. So I was thinking a Mule SX plus U-Grip Pattern Diamond chains on all four tires will make a good taxi from the house to the gate. Also the little Mule can pull a cart full of chat that I can spread in the gnaliest of places. Glad I found this forum. Seems to be the most active on Mule SX's I could find. Already found the thread on fouling spark plugs, important here because in the last 3 weeks we've only had 3 days above freezing. I'm sure lots to learn!