I figured it out. When I said I checked all the wiring in the handle I meant continuity and that the switches and pot worked ok. I didn't check for any grounds. One of the wires to the emergency switch had a ground. I don't think it was reaching the chassis of the machine because of the wear in the handle pivot pin and bushings until the machine started to move and the handle giggled a bit then it would make the machine stop and go.

Luckily I had another machine there so I checked the Curtis controler and that was fine. Then I took the handle off the bad jack and just plugged it to the good jack to check it. It worked fine but I didn't have it grounded to the good jack, it was laying on the painted battery cover so I thought everything was ok with the handle. Then I hooked it back up to the bad jack and had it laying on the battery cover, loosened the brake up, and tried creeping a bit. Everything seemed fine. That's when it dawned on me there must be a ground in the handle.

It sure acted strange. If I held the throttle steady to creep it would creep a inch, stop, go, stop, and sit there and pulsate. Sometimes would not go at all, sometimes throttle up ok then pulsate but kept traveling.

6 hours of labor and now my head hurts a little bit. **** thing. Live and learn. :-)