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

[duffer]

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

You are correct on the engineering aspect. But finish mowers can vary widely on the actual components used. Strength of steel, types of bearings, spindles, etc.

 

[workinonit]

Look at AgriSupply. They have replacement forks and wheels.

 

[rv7charlie]

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

You'd think that, but it's not been my experience that basic engineering is a factor with this particular mower. The BH engineer doesn't understand the most basic principles of trigonometry. I'm not exaggerating; the mast & diagonal lift arms for the rear of the mower (slots in the top end of the lift arms) are *supposed* to pivot to allow the rear of the mower to rise on its own while going over uneven terrain. But it can't, because the mast has two pin points at its lower attach point. Even after sending him drawings showing why it can't work, he still didn't get it. That's far from the only thing; it's probably the most minor thing.

 

[Smokeydog]

This may not apply in your situation. I use a 6’ Woods finish mower for 23 years. Had high wear and bending problems with caster wheel stems no matter how much grease. Just a little bent or worn the wheels drag especially with a sharp turning scut in 4 wheel drive on a hillside. First attempt to fix was to replace stems with 4140 steel. Helped for decade but they to were failing and sleeve arms worn$$$. Had bought some BH casters that had 1.25” hex stems and turned down to 1”. They didn’t work long either. Finally replaced stems with 3500# trailer axles for $200. Going strong without any more problems almost another 10 years.

 

[rv7charlie]

Brilliant! That's going in my Plan B/Plan C file, for sure. So far the pivots are actually ok, but the mower hasn't been in use for two full seasons yet. If I decide to keep it, I'll need to modify the caster setup anyway. I hate to start cutting and welding unless I'm fully committed to keeping it.

This is just one shot of what the BH mower is doing. My really cheap King Kutter 7' mower that I'd been repairing/modifying for about 20 years has never done this, because the wheels are out less than a foot from the sides of the mower; about like your Woods. The BH will also scalp 'Pac Man' spots anywhere there's a low spot on otherwise level ground.

The big selling point for the BH (for me) was the large diameter spindle shafts and really big ball bearings; I've spent 20 years finding ways to make the KK spindles survive longer than a season of cutting without bearing replacement. Noise levels from the BH mower are already increasing suspiciously, though. I also thought that the extra 150 lbs of weight vs the Woods would mean it was stronger/tougher. Reality is that it just makes it drag the tractor sideways when I'm mowing along the dam on the property (didn't happen with the KK).

 

[Smokeydog]

Center anti-scalping front roller?

 

[rv7charlie]

Not the problem. The actual blade scalping is happening with the outside blade, on the affected side. The 'motor grader' effect is created by the side flange of the mower frame itself. Any trip along a shallow drainage path, mowing one side, results in the mower frame digging into the slope of the other side of the drainage path, when you try to turn away/out of the drainage path.

 

[Engineer42]

Look up a woods pull type finish mower. Then look at the parts diagram. They show rollers that bolt to the front on each side for anti scalping. Might have to fab or maybe just drill holes to mount. But that would solve your problem with scalping I think.

 

[Smokeydog]

The wheel spacing across on the deck adjustable? I have the front casters to the outside of the deck and the rear ones as pictured more inward. Woods allowed for multiple positions.

Never have yet had to replace the spindle blade bearings on the Woods finish mower. They sure have survived lots hours, rock, root, limb and ground strikes. Only weak point was the caster wheel shafts. So severe I wondered why more people didn’t have the same problems? Was it my ignorance or design deficiency?

Your wheel damage looks like from side force. Wife does most of the mowing and trimming requires lots of back and forth and tight turns. Direction change requires 180 degree rotation of caster. Is your mower free floating behind your tractor?

We mow at 4”

When I bought four BH casters and wheels off eBay, two were solid tires, two pneumatic. Contacted the seller and they sent two more solid tire casters. So there are different kinds of wheels. Used the BH yokes for the trailer bearing conversion.

My tires are getting worn especially the rear ones. Thread long gone. One has significant crack around the tire. Mixture of Woods and BH tires. Still have some used and new ones for replacements. Use washers on the trailer hubs to maintain a slight tilt forward of mower deck on a solid surface. When new even with same number of height spaces on all wheels it was not right. After adjusting the front 1/2” lower than the back the cut improved and required less pto Hp. Improvement in travel speed and performance was significant.

 

[rv7charlie]

Unfortunately, width spacing isn't adjustable, unless I do some 'surgery'. The whole reason I spent the $4500 (almost 3 times what the old one cost) was to get away from having to constantly repair/modify my old mower, and until I'm fully committed to keeping it (not trading it in on something else), I hate to start drilling holes and welding on it. That means adding 'outriggers' isn't going to work, either.
edit: Meant to include a link to show how far inboard the casters are. Looking at images of various BH models, it appears that they may have used the same 'spine' spacing for everything from 5' cut to at least the 7', which is what I have. Front wheels are about 16" in; back is probably closer to 20".
Bush Hog HDTH7 images

I was supposed to receive the new casters from High Grade Mfg today, but UPS has yet again had a 'delivery exception'. As soon as they arrive, I'll let everyone know how they work out.