Agreed, on the Kubota Sidekick XG850, the accelerator spring is too flimsy. Which leads to a twitchy, jerky ride especially when starting or backing up. I tried replacing with several different extension springs for $5.29 each from Tractor Supply. And finally found one that works perfectly. Smooth start stops are easy now and it is a joy to drive around. The spring that works for me is 3/4 x 3-3/4 x .105 and is also known as Century Spring C-191. This spring is quite stiff and can be difficult to install. This is what worked for me. I used channel lock pliers, engaged the bottom of the spring, then grasped the spring at the top and levered it into the slot.As I wrote on TBN a few minutes ago:
I consider it a major safety issue, personally. I was ready and - I thought prepared - for it and I was still surprised by it. It is very easy to have an out of control forward or rearward acceleration with this thing. Furthermore, doing fine work - like spraying around buildings, trees etc. or moving it to service it on the rack - is extremely difficult and frustrating.
There is simply no excuse for this condition to still exist after almost 3 years of production. There is simply no excuse for having such a sensitive throttle that it's almost impossible to have controlled and steady 1-5 mph operation.
A replacement foot pedal is $35 from Messicks (plus their outrageous shipping cost); I might just buy one to experiment with to see if I can seriously reduce the pedal sensitivity. One solution I've heard is to simply replace the return spring with a stronger spring. That's the first thing I'm going to do.
One way or another, this "twitchy" foot pedal design flaw is going to be fixed. As it is right now, there is no way I'm going to let anyone else drive this machine. While it probably isn't dangerous to a human (especially if they are seat belted) it sure as heck is dangerous to my brand new $20,000 machine!
This is ridiculous.
