Not sure. It scared me to death at first, so I am trying to just figure out how that particular thing operates! I should have bought a shop manual when I bought the tractor.
The forward and reverse pedals started sticking half way back up after depressing. If you put your foot under them and pull them, or tap the other one, the tractor stops moving. Otherwise it slowly moves in the direction of the last pedal pressed.
I did check for foreign objects underneath...