Nice find.
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Good find. I ordered one. The brackets are already under the bed for the actuator. Lots less jack that the 800 Kubota wants for the bed lift.
I've found 2 faults with the RTV that needs addressed. One I can address myself, the other will be a dealer addressed issue.
First is the accelerator pedal. It's positioned way too high. You cannot rest your heel on the floor and depress the pedal. You have to keep your foot suspended off the floor. Consequently, it's difficult to control the speed and your foot cramps up after a time... I believe I'll remove the pedal and linkage, remove the pedal from the linkage rod and reweld it lower or extend the rod to place the fuel pedal closer to the floor.
Secondly, the drive mechanism is 'jerky'. Only way to explain it. Low speed in either low range or high range is an exercise in futility. It's very hard to modulate the movement. When I put the vehicle in the shop, space is tight and I have to be very careful not to run into anything. I have to shut ot off, put it in neutral and physically push it into it's parking place.
I discussed that with my dealer and he's discussing it with Kubota. Hopefully they come up with a fix.
On another note, I sold the quad for what I asked for it, 3K. Sold it in 2 days to a good friend. I had no qualms about selling it to him as there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. Will make a good addition to his family. They have no kids, just him and his wife. I asked him how he liked it and his reply was, I haven't rode it. Wife rides it all the time....lol
The Sidekick fits nicely in the shop. It's tight but doable so it will reside in a heated and air conditioned enviroment.
Finally, I added a 5000 pound winch from Harbor Freight, 5K Badland ATV winch. I put one on the quad a couple years ago (2500 pound) and it worked flawlessly. I expect the 5K winch to be the same.
The 5K Harbor Freight winch install was 'plug and play'. The winch plate lined up perfectly with the already punched holes in the front winch mount base in the Sidekick. I did have to modify the Kubota brush guard a little to clear the roller fairlead, just a bit of grinding and a repaint (it's flat black factory) to clear.
Difficult part was routing the winch cables from the control (solenoid) box to the battery. I used stranded welding cable, neoprene sheathed with crimp on Tweco copper lugs to supply the winch power. I had the remove the belly pan (skid plate) as well as the right hand front wheel to access the underside to route the cables and lots of zip ties the keep them tucked in and out of the way of existing components. Kind of a difficult task. The 5K winch is a lanyard controlled winch so I mounted the access plug under the hood as well. The lanyard is 10 feet long, plenty long to work standing by the Sidekick or seated inside if necessary. Nice winch. Quiet and power in, power out plus it freewheels if necessary.
Kubota wanted 600 for their winch (Superwinch) branded Kubota. Got mine for $133 bucks with a 25% off coupon and $110 for the welding cable and the copper lugs. The Kubota winch don't come with cables, just the winch, roller fairlead, lanyard and mount plate. Labor for install would be the same procedure and if done at the dealer, at their shop rate.
I still want to add mudflaps. The rear tires really toss the mud up and it goes everywhere. Mudflaps would mitigate that to some degree.
