Old school vs new school on swing arm maintenance. Which side are you on?

I used to grease my swing arm bearings every three months like clockwork. That was the way my old foreman taught me back in 2011 on a job in Baton Rouge. But about two years ago I switched to a sealed bearing setup on my rig and now I barely touch them. The old method took me about two hours each time with a hand grease gun and a lot of cleanup. The new sealed ones cost me around $400 to swap in but they've held up for over 500 hours without a problem. Some guys I talk to say sealed bearings are a waste because you can't inspect them. Others swear by them for cutting downtime. Has anyone else here made the switch and seen a real difference in your maintenance schedule?

3 comments

3 Comments

park.aaron8d ago

I saw a mechanic on YouTube say sealed bearings are the way to go if you ride in wet conditions a lot. He did a test cutting one open after 1000 hours and it still looked new inside. Makes me think twice about the old way.

casey2687d ago

800 hours with no maintenance and still looking new inside? That's insane. I've been doing this stuff for 15 years and I've never seen a bearing hold up like that in wet conditions. Usually you're lucky to get 200 hours before they start feeling gritty or you find water contamination when you crack them open. Sounds like that YouTube guy might actually be onto something for once. I'd have to see it with my own eyes before I fully believed it though. That's practically unheard of in my experience.

park.aaron8d ago

Man that YouTube mechanic thing reminds me of my buddy Dave. He runs a tree service in the PNW and they're in mud and water all year round. He swapped to sealed bearings on his skid steer two winters ago. Checked them last month after like 800 hours and they were still buttery smooth inside. No rust, no grit, nothing. He's a total convert now. Saves him a whole afternoon every quarter compared to the old greasing routine.