Vicon RS410 Tedder - tire/rim help (specific)

Hi there all.  This one is a bit of a yarn, but a technical dive, so hoping someone has some ideas!

 

I have a Vicon RS410T tedder (4 head/star/basket (I always say "head", but I know everyone has their preferences)).  Bought it used 4 years ago for $750.  Only thing with it was that 3 of the the 4 original rims were pretty corroded/jagged around the valve stems.  I didn't research replacements well enough before I bought it (lesson learned)

 

 

These tires/rims are 15x6.0-6 with a 1" bore.  They have a specific flange that is designed to go *around* the guard on the spindle, resulting in a paper-thin gap to keep hay out of the bearings (as seen in the picture below)

 

 

The spindles on my model are 1" bore (NOT 25 mm, as found out the hard way, see below), and 3.5" long or thereabouts (I believe the original rims have a bore length of 3.18").  (Picture below is of outer head in transport position, so spindle is pointing down with no wheel on it - just for reference:)

 

 

I tried like mad to find replacements on e-bay in 2018, even finding some rims that had everything but the flange (couldn't find any specifically for this model on eBay).  Trouble is, on the two center wheels, hay gets in the gap (since there is no flange) and wrecks the bearing almost immediately (See the gap in this picture - it looks minimal, but boy does hay get in there):

 

 

I even broke down and ordered a new rim & Tire from Vicon to try it.  $250.  Went through *extra* thoroughly with them to make sure it was the right part number, but it came with a 25mm bore (0.983", and my spindles are apparently 1", as it wouldn't fit.).  I imagine mine is an older model, and they switched to a 25mm bore at some point and all new parts sub to that (??).  The parts guy was stumped.  Returned, luckily.

 

SO - in short, does anyone have any ideas on where I can find either used or new 15x6.0-6 rims that will fit my RS410T AND have the flange AND a 1" bore?  Vicon quoted me $430 *apiece* to replace the spindle (to have a 25mm bore) and rim together - so I'd be out $860 for just the center two wheels, which is more than I paid for the tedder.  It works well otherwise, with only a couple of minor things I'm watching, but I'm not ready to replace it, yet not willing to dump that sort of money into it either.

 

(I've gotten by the past two years by taking apart the original flanged rims, wire brushing, painting, and padding the heck out of the valve stem hole with washers and heavy rubber.  Lasted 1.5 seasons that way, then started blowing through tires like crazy last August, and had to resort to some of the non-flanged rims out of necessity to get 2020 done with.)

 

(Here is a picture of the re-done old rims so you can see the flange better, albeit a little beat up looking):

 

 

Would love to hear any insight or creative solutions anyone has, even on a piece of this puzzle.  Thanks so much!

 

 

Vicon RS410 Tedder - tire/rim help (specific)