Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Slinger, sorry if what I wrote express that.  Those bearings last but are a wear point I see all the time in older machines.  They do last and don't crapout quickly.   But roller bearings over nylon would be an advantage in a machine.  If you have a machine for a long time you'll probalby replace them once. 

Another point:  MTD uses nylong inserts on the rake ends (not talking about the support bearings), inserts on the ends of the rake.  Other manf's do not have them.  It could be to take up any chatter or slop between the rake and the axle.  It could be to get lift off the axle so it does not rust freeze to the axle.  They turn with the axle and rake unlike the support bearings which are fixed but do wear probalby from small vibrations.  I can't remember an MTD rake rust frozen to it's axle.  They don't have zerks but it may be due to the fit between the rake and the axle with using these bearings.

What is a 'rake'?

I think the easy answer is to just find a bronze flanged sleeve bearing and replace it.  There should be one available in the exact same size.  If I really wanted to I could probably find a Flange mount ball bearing block that fits the outside of the auger shaft.  I would have to drill new mounting holes in the side of the bucket for mounting, but that wouldn't be a big deal. 

These are fairly modestly priced machines. This is apparently not a performance issue; as a wear issue, does it justify the effort and expense?

I like bronze for peple that don't take care of things .... Bronze doesn't rust and tear up the shaft...   For myself,  I like good sealed or with a grease zerk..

friiy

The bronze bearings are a drop-in $5 part.  I'm not sure of the labor, but it  doesn't appear to be ridiculous.

Not sure what Ariens uses for these "plastic bushings" but bronze is not always better than "plastic" for bearings.  The company I work for uses composite bearings in many places where bronze bushings and roller element bearings were traditionally used.  You can read about some of the benefits of composite bearings here.  http://polygoncomposites.com/division/products/bushings/compare/   In applications where rotational speeds are slow (like a snow thrower rake, suspension pivot, etc) roller element bearings are overkill.  Good composite bearings need no service, are lighter, have better impact resistance, and have a better load rating than similar sized roller or bronze bearings.  They are also not affected by corrosion like steel roller bearings.  Given proper maintenance and correct sizing in the original design, a bronze or roller bearing would likely last about the same amount of time as a good composite bearing in slow moving applications, but if the customer doesn't do proper maintenance, which is often the case, the composite bearing will likely outlast bronze or roller bearings. 

bdresch wrote:

Which is Arien's point. Most people do minimum maintenance. Oil changes, maybe. Belts when they break or slip. Cables and springs when they break. Similar to a washing machine or oven.

I sure don't miss pumping grease into car suspensions so sealed or no maintenance components are great.

Ariens part list as well as part supply warehouses list the part as "Nylon".   Regular Nylon has about 400 psi load capacity in this application.  Other high performance plastic bearings (Delrin, Rulon, PEEK, UMHW, Vespel) have from double to 20 times the load capacity as Nylon.  Bronze bearings have 5 to 12 times the load capacity of nylon.  All of these mentioned are available in a flanged sleeve bearing and I'll bet in the same size as the Ariens part.  There are also oil impregnated bronze bearings as well as graphite filled bronze bearings with 4000psi ratings.  In short, it would have been very easy to design a much more durable part here for a couple of bucks.  Is the load on the Auger really that low that the cheapest solution possible is sufficient?  Frankly I agree with another prominent poster on this forum who said "shame on Ariens and Toro" with respect to this design.