Hello gentlemen, this is my first post, but I've often read the forum. I joined in hope's that this might help somebody who has been through this same problem. My b2601 had the same horrible reverse pedal issue and after much research I was going to replace the 2 vertical springs when I found a simple solution. Just remove the horizontal spring located near the switch below and behind the 2 vertical springs. It takes less than a minute. Costs nothing. And has dropped the force needed to reverse by about 50%. The pedal still quickly returns to middle stop position. And it now feels like every other kubota I've operated. No pedal mods or other things are necessary. This linkage has 3 springs but works much much better with 2. I hope this helps somebody who is searching the net like I was. Have a good evening.Terry
Terry, thank you! I also found the reverse pedal very hard to push but got used to it. My wife, however, could barely push it and was quite disappointed. Your spring removal idea is elegantly simple. I removed the horizontal spring and it really reduced the force required for reverse. At first, I found it difficult to stretch and remove due to restricted access in that area. I had no luck using screwdrivers to pry or vice grip to grab. My approach was to use a triangle file that had been ground to a point on the three sides and pound it between the spring end loop and the bracket. This easily extended the spring and it came right off. Removal of that horizontal spring fixed the difficult reverse problem. Thanks again!
FWIW to get springs on/off I use a section of 'pull cord' (recoil starter, chainsaw, etc. ).
Loop it through the eye, grab both ends, pull. EASY, slow ,controlled and NO bandaids needed.