Nylon Caged Bearings And WHAT happens When They Fail? 

Guess the point of this video is to dispel some of the bearing speculations. I have in 25 plus years only seen one metal bearing fail to where it came apart in the saw. Conversely I have seen dozens of the Nylons as you see here. So when folks say " metal will likely last longer but more likely to cause catastrophic damage" , I think my experiences put a lot of meat to the "last longer" there for worth the chance vs. the more likely to fail nylons. AND to say the more likely to cause catastrophic damage than nylon is categorically false. The higher failure rate along with dropping balls into a saw means the nylons are ore likely to fail AND ore likely to cause catastrophic failure. To me, the arguments is about rationalizations. The real benefit of the nylons is manufacturing cost and they do dampen vibrations some vs. the steep caged variants. To this day I think ( pure opinion on my part as they will never tell )Husqvarna was chasing a vibration issue on the xpw-s and xt's as witness to the rattle apart syndrome I was witness to on those saw in 2009-2010 time frame. the other "pure opinion" is they has a manufacturing issue in the machining or bearing installation process on the early XT's where there was an alignment issue loading the bearings and making them run hotter than normal. EVERY one i repaired by installing the steel 6202's far outlasted the OEM nylons AFTER the repair. So i see the rationalization for nylons and don't buy it. Hence the video. Also I do believe Husqvarna "fixed" a lot of the issues that generated excess heat and that is why now the 372's with nylons last as long as their predecessors. Point being nylons work if the environment/application stays within their design parameters and the saw runs smoother. Steels can handle more heat and wider design parameters. Both when the cages fail will dump bad things into the saw.

@@afleetcommand can’t really argue with someone with 25years experience - obviously (like so much in the saw world ) the conventional wisdom / repeated party line (re: the steel vs nylon crank bearing cages discussion) is incorrect. Fortunately I’ve never had a saw puke its bearings into the crankcase / firing chamber … so far. I have seen them worn / crusty though and just replaced them along with the seals. Dirt ingestion over time or high hours. Then we can get into the whole high-compression / machined “pay ME to build YOUR saw” internet world and draw parallels between bearing “life” and THAT particular build style. There is a mathematical correlation between bearing life/load applied. More /higher than stock compression is going to cause the bearings to fail sooner and if we are stuck with nylon caged crank bearings (that’s not even including the big / small end bearings which will Really take a beating with higher compression) for saws maybe it’s best to keep the compression stock or use a thinner base gasket to get what you want (lowered intake , slightly more compression efficiency ) on your saw build IF you want increase power while also maintaining fuel economy and longevity! I seem to consistently arrive around 23-28% gains in cut speed in the timber using intake / piston / flow porting and exhaust mods (piped can or better yet a rowdy pipe (loud)) and get good fuel mileage and longevity. I can definitely build them hotter/faster and get even more cut speed but it’s not worth the loss of longevity / fuel economy and the introduction of possible catastrophic failure. Seems to me like there is a “sweet spot” where you get more performance, mileage is good and longevity is there. Straying into the tall weeds by using “race saw” build techniques (high compression, excessively widened intake/exhaust ports to get more time/area “squaring” the top of exhaust port (good way to snag a ring and grenade a top end )) and a whole host of other “razors edge” type mods)) on a “work saw” isn’t going to end well if the person paying you for services receives a ticking time bomb 💣 … IF it’s YOUR saw and you wish to experiment to see how fast you can make it go then by all means knock yourself out … Just be aware that you’ve now built a “toy” NOT an everyday worksaw. AFAIK we are stuck with these proprietary nylon cage bearings - yes you can replace one side with metal cage but not both. I could be mistaken here but I cannot find a “source” that will supply metal cage vs nylon cage replacement for BOTH bearings. From my research the pto bearings are nylon caged “proprietary” and NO metal cage option exists. The only Husqvarna saws I’ve come across that DID NOT have a proprietary pto nylon caged bearing were the 372xp and the 395xp. Ok enough yappin gotta go cut up some wood 🪵

It's a 2750 and has been doing that with those bakes since 2004 :) I also have a two spike setup where I get two at a time. Just that's a little heavy so I don't use it

@@afleetcommand I started using mine to move round bales in 1993, in 2005 the bucket developed a couple cracks at the seam on the bottom at the back, I welded them up and the next season it cracked again and broke the cutting edge to the left of where the bale spear sits over it. Welded it several times after to get by until it finally gave out unloading bales one evening. Not saying it doesn't work and maybe yours will last another 20 years, just sharing my experience with it. One thing I did like about it mounted on the bucket was the reach it had over the one I use now on my loader with a quick attachment, but the visability without it on the bucket, especially for loading pickups is alot nicer without the bucket.

point is I have both. I use the dedicated twin spike arrangement when I'm set up for hay. I use the bucket mount when I do periodic "help" tasks now as I'm retired from the heavy hay production.

Most of my place is leased out. There is another 100 acres or so I have a hand in. So while mine is leased, still helping more than I planned

More sophisticated for sure. More complex. I think the original edition 372 and stihl 044/460 are high water marks. Stihl 461 & husqvarna 572 & 585 as good as anything ever built