source needed for heavy duty 10" x 4" finish mower wheel/tire

[rv7charlie]

Hi,
I'm looking for replacement wheels/tires for my Bush Hog brand 7' cut finish mower. The thing is a $4500 total piece of junk (stories for another day), but my immediate problem is the wheels/tires. Purchased new, spring of 2021. After 1 1/2 seasons of mowing (22 acres ~20 times, and my ~2 acres weekly for the past 1 1/2 seasons), both front tires have self destructed on the rims. BH wants $200 each for just the wheel assembly (cannot be disassembled) or >$400 for the wheel/fork assy. The wheels have tapered roller bearings which were kept lubed, and the vertical pivot shafts were also kept lubed.

I tried a pair of these from Amazon:
amazon tires
and they lasted for about half of the 22 acres (it's a grass runway, so not exactly a tough environment) before both tires failed on the rims. The mower is a really heavy piece of junk (>800 lbs) with most of the weight on the front wheels because of the gearbox, so maybe that's the problem. But at this point, I just need a 'fix'.

Size is: 10" overall diameter, 4" tire width, 5" hub width, and 3/4" axle bore.

Any thoughts on a source for wheels/tires?

 

[slckeys]

I used this company before, hopefully they can help you...

High Grade Manufacturing

highgrademfg.com

 

[rv7charlie]

Many thanks! They have a model that looks suitable; just sent them a message to be sure.

 

[duffer]

I suspect the amazon tires failed because they couldn't handle the weight. Those appear to be made for the front of ZT mowers, not a large finish mower.

If and when you decide to "upgrade" your finish mower (I'm assuming its a PTO mower), take a look at Phoenix. I mow 10 acres with it every week for the past 5 years, and only had to replace a bearing in one spindle last year. Mine is a 7' like yours.

Just my 2¢

 

[rv7charlie]

You're correct. I had my doubts when I purchased them, but since they were set up for 3/4" axles I took a shot. Amazon's customer support was a factor in trying them; they've already given me a return label so I just need to get them boxed up & drive to the UPS dropoff point.

I'll try to find the Phoenix; it's not a brand I've encountered before. One of these days I intend to do an extensive review of the HDTH7. I *really* wanted it to be a good mower; I spent a lot of time comparing the major, well known brands. On paper, it had the best set of features I could find. Unfortunately... I should have walked away after the 2nd defective unit, but I guess I'm a slow study. ;-) This is the 3rd HDTH7 in my possession, and I just keep finding more problems.

 

[big bubba]

not up on finish mowers...so are these tires pneumatic, soft foam fill, or solid? so the tire itself failed, not bearings, etc? strange that BH, a trusted name, would engineer tires like that. you are justified in your frustration. would be interested in your replacement attempt. best regards

 

[rv7charlie]

They are solid rubber tires, and quite heavy. I 1st tried to disassemble the wheel halves to put the tire back between them (didn't realize that the other one was about to come off, as well). I removed all the bolts holding the wheel halves, but they wouldn't separate. Strangely, there was about 3/8" of rubber at the center point between the halves (just visible in the pic, at the centerline of the wheel). I figured they'd pressed a sleeve into the hub to support the bearing races (tapered bearings), so I put the wheel in my press and tried to press it out. Well, there was a sleeve, and I got it out, but the halves still won't separate. Apparently, the rubber I saw between the halves had broken off the inner surface of the tire. It appears that the halves clamp that rubber as the bolts are tightened, and *then* they insert the tubing that forms the hub and weld it to the wheel halves. That tubing hub appears to be continuous all the way through the wheel, and is welded to each wheel half.

The other wheel/tire has sheared that rubber 'rib' (for lack of a better term) and the tire is now loose on the rim of the other wheel. Just a matter of time until it comes off the rim, as well.

If I can find decent wheels, the next step is to find a way to move the wheels outboard by about a foot on each side. Anything less than totally flat, and the outside edges of the frame plow grooves in the turf when the wheel on that side goes into a low spot. A *slightly* low spot under a wheel only results in scalping. Cut height is about 3.5", so not really close to the edge on height for a finish/grooming mower. You can see how far inboard the wheels are in BH's promo pic:
HDTH7

Oh, and if you think the engineering on the tires is bad, don't ask about the rest of the mower...

 

[ArlyA]

Have you tried the Surplus center in Lincoln NE?

Wheels & Tires | Wheels | www.surpluscenter.com

Wheels , Tires,Pneumatic Wheels,Flat Free,Tires,Semi-Pneumatic Wheels,Caster , Miscellaneous Wheels

www.surpluscenter.com

I just looked through there site and didn't see much for soild tires. Sorry I can't be more helpful.....

 

[rv7charlie]

Good find; they'll be plan B. But I'm hoping that the High Grade Mfg site will pan out; they have one that seems to check all the boxes. I'll try to follow up with results as they happen.

 

[5030]

Trailing mowers of any brand are pretty basic engineering in the first place.