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

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. 

slinger wrote:

Have people had issues with them? We're throwing snow here, not drilling into the ground -- I would bet that it's sufficient and will last a long time performing its purpose.

Notice the that the Ariens is using a Y-mount and the Briggs (Deere in this case) is using a vertical shaft. I've come to think Ariens does virtually nothing by accident and just caught by surprise rarely. After this bushing discussion I'm thing the Y is to provide left/right alignment and the rod doesn't need to because of the side support.

Do you agree?

Two summers ago I fixed a 2004-2005 932105-ST8526LE which uses the blue bearing shown with it's holder.  It's the bearing for the wheel drive axle.  The bronze bearing is from an older Ariens and usually good for many years 20-30+ at least in a 724 in home service.

 

 

The repaired machine was bought second hand and he had it for two seasons clearing a 2 car wide barely 2 deep driveway.  The machine came from another homeowner so not a lot of  taxing service for a wheel bearing.  That would put the blue bearing at about 3-4 seasons of service.  

 

 

The part callout is: Bushing, Flange Split Nyliner .75”HP  Not sure what the material is and it could be more durable than the bronze but the load is riding on a much smaller area than the old bearing.  It was so worn the machine was riding the holder which was slightly worn.  

 

 

I've replaced two of these in newer home owner machines.  Not an inditement of Ariens parts but I usually replace wheel bearings on Ariens 70's and 80's machines.  I love putting a new motor on a 30-40 year old Ariens.  All that's usually needed is wheel and auger support bearings and the thing is ready for many more years of service.  Tens years from now the electric chute parts on new machines probalby won't be available.  There will probably be lots of service calls for blue bearing repairs.

 

 

The same blue bushing is used on the rake support ends.