Marathon 30326 Flat-Free 13x5.00-6 Tire and Wheel Assembly, Centered Hub, Contractor-Grade Bushings, Replacement Riding Lawn Mower Front Tire, Easy Install Assembly

First off I'll tell you what tires I replaced with these flat free models and hopefully give you some insight if you want to do the same. I replaced the factory tires on my Cub Cadet RZT-S 42" mowing deck. The reason I replaced them was, you guessed it, they kept going flat. Its no fun mowing with a zero turn when you have flat or low filled tires. One caveat of the tire that was a benefit to me but may not be to you is the firmness of the tire. This tire is much harder than the stock air filled tires with the proper air pressure. You feel every bump, divot, imperfection in the lawn much more so with these flat free models. The benefit of the harder tire is the sheer ease of turning the machine. It wasn't hard to turn before but it feels like I have power steering with these new tires. I was concerned the tread pattern would be too aggressive in comparison to the stock tire with the ribbed design but the concern was for nothing. I did not notice any additional wear on the lawn from these tires. The tire size by the numbers is a direct replacement, however in real life, the size of these tires is a bit taller and a bit narrower than the stock tires as indicated by another reviewer. It was no problem in my application but could be if the clearances are tight in your application. The rim/hub size is what needed some work. This was not just a slap on the new tire/rim and away we go routine. The old rim had about a 4" hub with two equal length spacers to take up the slack. The new rim has a 3" hub which means I had to either find different length spacers or go the easy way out and shim the difference with some 3/4" i.d. (inside diameter) washers. I went with the easy way and ended up using 7 washers for each hub, 14 washers total. I ended up putting 4 washers one side of the hub and 3 on the other. Ideally I would have loved putting the equal amount of washer on each side but 8 was too many and 6 was too few. The wheel looks centered, doesn't bind or touch anything, and turns the way it should. I'll tell a little side story to any other Cub Cadet owners out there. First off I use my mower allot, and the conditions are quite aggressive. My lawn is uneven, sandy, rocky, stump filled, it gives the mower a real good workout. The stock rim has a metal bushing and the metal bushing rides on a 3/4" o.d. (outside diameter) metal sleeve. There is a grease zerk on the hub which allows grease to lubricated these two contact points. I lube my machine once a year in the spring including these hubs. The metal sleeve on one side was completely worn through and the other side had deep grooves. These sleeves ran 14 bucks a piece at my local dealer, not cheap but at least they were replaceable. My hope is that these sealed bearings will have a longer life span and prevent damage to those metal sleeves. This damage took place within two years so only time will tell how long these bearings will last.

I bought this to make a big wide wheel for my boat jack. I cut the small wheel off, welded up forks that would fit this and welded it to the jack. Now I have a jack that will easily move my boat by hand and when the boat ramp gets sanded in, I can drop the jack after I get boat on trailer, and pull boat out of sand with a chain, which you can't do with the small narrow wheels that come with trailer jacks. The tire works good and even when I've put it in a bind, it hasn't acted like it wanted to come off the rim. It's also very nice not having to worry about the tire being aired up or not.

SO I have a Troy Bilt 46" ZTR with 4 wheel steering. Great machine especially for mowing on side hills. Have had it for 3 years and have been constantly plagued with front flat tires. NO MORE. These tires solve that problem. My only issue was: that this wheel has a 3 inch wide hub and the original wheel had a 4" wide hub. You can go the 3/4" ID washer route as described in other reviews but I thought thats pretty clunky and not very elegant. I thought about it and came up with making spacers using 3/4" schedule 40 PVC water pipe cutoff to a little less than 1/2" wide. They fit perfectly over the 3/4" shaft insert and will last forever without becoming a rusty mess. Regarding standard wheel bushings versus ball bearings: you're much better off with bushings and greasing them annually. Ball bearing fail very quickly if they get any dirt in them and in this application they have to live in a dust and dirt filled environment.

These fit the front of a Troy Built TB30R. The hub is a hair wider than the original. I needed to keep pressure on the wheel while tapping the cotter pin back in with a small hammer. The tires are a little slicker than a regular rubber tire but that only matters if I'm trying to corner faster than I should. The tires can slip a bit along the grass if I'm doing that. Overall, the mower handles like it's new now and I don't have to worry about flats anymore which is great. When I turn completely one way or the other the tires will rub the plastic on the lower part of the foot rest on the mower but it's just a bit and not a huge deal. I would suggest replacing both front wheels/tires at the same time if you can afford it because they do feel completely different than the originals and are a slightly different size.

Update! Found that the problem was not with the tire. It was rubbing on the mower edge. No issues with this tire! I was not able to delete this review or change from the one star.Tire used twice. Big chunks breaking off already. Junk tire!

I was nervous as no one really seems to have the airless 13x5-6 specifically listed for use with the Troy Bilt Tb30r, so I took a chance. Very happy with what arrived and they fit to spec. They might be a 1/2" taller, but hey they don't squish because they are a solid tire. The cauter pins were a bit tight when putting these on but a rubber mallet and a metal punch as an extension helped fix that. (bte the Troy Bilt cauter pins suck. They break very easily.)I'll update again after I get them out for a few hours on handling.

The tires fit our mower perfect. The last ones dry rotted and went flat. These will never go flat. I’ve only had them a few weeks but so far they are perfect and exactly what I needed.