kenfain

I don't have one of these, but it does seem like an excessive amount of crank time. Not to mention the extra wear on the starter.

Probably be best to go ahead and download the shop service manual. It'll easily pay for itself, if you own the kubota for any length of time. There's always lots of useful service information there.

Welcome to the forum Molly! I'd like to point out that there are limits to available amperage, with these things. If you want lots of bass, then you'll need lots of amps. That little engine probably won't generate enough 12v power for anything more than a good factory stereo. With any kind of amplifier added, you'll have to keep the engine running to keep the amp draw from draining the battery. Facing the same problem, I went with a powered speaker from Walmart that's made for tailgating. Plenty of bass, and way more volume than you'll need. The best part is there's no wiring. There's a similar problem with the lights, although not as critical since l.e.d. lights are typically lower amp draw than what we had back in the day, and certainly less than a stereo with lots of bass. You'll still need to check the amp draw on anything you plan to install.

That's a lot of stuff under that cover. Seems likely that at least a couple, and probably most of those parts would have to nest together, with one inside the other. Maybe you missed one, requiring it to be indexed, and it's not fully seated?

The Polaris can also be had in a 6×6 model. That feature isn't offered for the mule. It might be handy on a mountainside.

Maybe take the starter apart, and swap just the motor?

Club car makes a solid golf cart. And of course it probably depends on who made the diesel engine. But if the price is right, I'd say for overall light duty, that you can't go wrong with a diesel model. I'm assuming that it's one of those lifted golf cart trucks?

Why not just use a lift kit?

I don't have a Joyner, but according to member @Chieftan, it's a plastic assembly. So it's certainly a possibility. You might have to remove it for proper testing, but I believe that if you've verified that the actuator is getting the signal to shift, but it's not shifting, then that's going to be the next step.

If the switch works, then is the 4wd actuator trying to engage the 4wd? Is there a relay in that circuit?

Rocker switches are usually easy enough to test, provided you can get to the connections, either at the dash, or at the differential. Is there a relay in the 4wd circuit? If so, that'll need testing also.

Looks a bit bent too. Is that peening on the hook on the left in that first picture ?

Welcome Nypto, thank you for your service! We like pictures of artifacts here. If you find something good, let us know!

Does it start again, or is it just dead? There's gotta be a main fuse somewhere. I'd start by looking there, if it's dead. If it starts again afterwards, I'd probably start by checking the ground.

Great news! Glad you got it figured out. Although we didn't do much more than throw guesses at it. Just remember that we were with you all the way lol.