I did what this fellow did except that instead of using safety treads, I picked up some free to-be-discarded mountain bike tires from a local bike shop. The tires had blown the sidewall but the tread was good. In my case, the mower is a John Deere and Deere exited the walk behind business years ago so parts are getting hard to find and pricey. Over a year later, the retread is holding fine and the job was fun to do. I would do it again on my HRX217 if that mower needed new tires but it doesn't yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDVMY2tJAyg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDVMY2tJAyg