Click here

A perfect replacement for my 1987 Dixon ZTR 501 with a bearing swap. My zero turn mower has the fork style bracket and require a 5/8" ID - 1-3/8" OD bearing. I knew this going into this purchase so I cannot fault the Marathon product. My current bearings (Dixon part number 5028) were getting a little rough so I purchased 4 New bearings from USA Bearings and Belts on EBay for under $20 for all 4 (as opposed to Amazon's current $17.26 each price ...lol). Other notes: I still need to use my outer spacers/washers just like my old wheels. These Marathon tires were 1/2" taller at the top (1" overall) and still fit with clearance. I replaced a flat tire with a tube last time and said never again (tires are old and not very pliable anymore). I'm looking forward to no more flats and will definitely sacrifice any potential ride quality to achieve this... you're mowing a lawn... you should expect bumps. If ride quality is the most important thing while mowing your lawn... then hire it done...LOL!

Perfect fit and has worked out great!

I used these as replacements for the caster wheels on a Craftsman z6000 42" cut zero turn rider. They work, but require the modification as described in other reviews. If they were a direct fit without modification I would probably give them five stars. I've listed several comments and notes below that may help you decide whether these are a good choice for you or not: - 1/4 inch (.250 inch) removed from both sides of the wheel hub worked well to fit the wheel in the caster. I removed the extra length using a pneumatic cutoff wheel, and then painted the cut edge to help prevent rust. - removal and replacement of the bearings without damaging them was more difficult than expected. I removed them using a 1/4 inch steel rod and a hammer and tapping around the inside edge (from the back side), being careful not contact the inner race. Replacement was the opposite, tapping around the outside edge with a hammer, again avoiding the inner race (which sticks out). - the wheels are significantly larger than the original wheels, both wider and taller. They fit, but there is not much room left for clearance of debris. They should be replaced in pairs as they are much taller than the original wheels and tires. - the wheels are significantly stiffer than the original air tires. Not really too noticeable in grass, but definitely stiffer when on concrete or pavement (e.g. mowing along sidewalks or driveways) and you hit a bump. Overall I feel they are a good option for replacement, and should give a long (if not permanent) service life. 1-year update: Wheels show very little wear and have worked without issue. No problems with bearings as others have reported. Ride is fairly harsh, but has been fine for my yard/residential use... you learn to slow down or avoid spots that would be jarring. Overall have worked well, but still not found a reasonably priced pneumatic wheel/tire combination so this is still be best replacement for my scenario. 2-year update: Wheels still show no significant wear. There was a center-line moulding ridge that has worn smooth, but otherwise only slight abrasion on the surface. No problems with the bearings, and the mower is stored outside (wheels not covered). The wheels are stiff and hard though... I can see where the ground is becoming compacted from consistent mowing lines. This could be from the rear wheels as well. I'm starting to make my runs more random to try to reduce ground compacting. 3yr update - Still good... and still on the original set of bearings, so no issues there even though the mower is stored outside under a fabric cover with the wheels exposed to the elements. 8yr update - Hard to believe it’s been five years since the last update…Still going strong with no significant wear on the wheels, and bearings are still good even though stored outside under fabric cover. I’m considering these a permanent replacement and should last as long as the mower. For reference, these probably have around 100+ hours of mowing time without significant wear. Other than the somewhat stiffer ride they’ve been a suitable replacement for the OEM pneumatic tires.

Replaced both front tires on my Ariens Zoom 42 zero turn mower. Exact match width wise, no need to make any adjustments. A little higher than the OEM tires, so adjusted the blade heights afterwards (pretty easy to do). I installed with the "bushings" in place first as I had to mow the lawn. The tractor had been out of action for a few weeks with the previous flat tire. Seemed to work fine, but I had ordered the precision bearing kit which came a week later. I tapped out the bushings and put in the Marathon bearings. Quite a difference in how the wheel rotated with the bearings vs. the bushings. Out of curiosity I had takend the dust boots off of the bearings and cleaned out the grease that was there when they arrived. The bearings appeared to be decent caged bearings that spun very well. I lubed them up with some park tool bike bearing grease (had it handy) and tapped them in. Pretty easy to do. The ride is a little harder and its clear that the lawn is showing wheel marks more, just from the lack of deflection of these tires and the weight bearing down more in one spot. Will have to make sure I aerate the lawn more diligently in the fall going forward.

Poor quality, grease zerks are not installed correctly and are incorrect length for greasing axle shaft. Should have short zero for wheel type use.