Dolmar Crank Bearings

[highmark1]

I'd love to have one of these 7900's but I talked to a builder and he told me that all the Dolmars that come in all have the mag side bearing out of them. I'm in a location where it would be hard to get to a dealer to fix it(because there aren't any for 4 states) and I don't want to have to do it myself or fool with shipping it out to a dealer who can. Minor stuff I can handle but I don't want to have to tear apart the whole saw to fix something that wasn't right to begin with. Any comments?

 

[highmark1]

I'm not trying to dog this saw because I would really like to have a couple of them , If anybody has run them for a while and don't have any problems please let me know because i am dying to have one or two. I'm just askin around, thats all.

 

[bwalker]

Who told you this?

 

[highmark1]

It was actually a dealer back in the midwest. Said it was a great saw but he was holding off on pushing them due to the bearings being wobbly. He has been in business of saws since the early 70's and sounds like he knows what he is talking about.

 

[bwalker]

I dont know, but they have been out for several years and there have been only a few problems regarding minor things like AV mounts,etc.

 

[highmark1]

If nobody has experienced this problem thats great because I would like to have a couple of them. I am a little hesitant though because I am 1500 miles from the closest dealer and I don't want to go through the hassle of having to send it back and forth to fix a warranty problem.

 

[dozerdan]

highmark1
A lot of things on your above post really don’t make any sense.
If a saw is going to be sent out to a builder, it is usually done while the saw is relatively new. Dolmar saws have a one-year warrant unless you try to repair it yourself.
If the saws in question did have a bad bearing, it would be replaced under warranty before the mods are done on the saw.
Do all Dolmar saws have bad bearings? Not likely.
Have that builder send me one with a bad bearing; I would like to see what happened to it.
Most of the time the clutch side bearing will fail before the mag side.
Later
Dan

 

[highmark1]

The man said that the bearing just slipped on the end of the crank, Instead of being a close tolerance fit. Said it didnt require the crank to be cooled and the bearing to be heated to get the bearing on the crank. So it really isn't a bearing failure so much as being a crank machined too small oe not the correct bearing size for the crank.

 

[highmark1]

Dozerdan, If you can dispute this with your experience and knowledge of these saws, thats great because I WANT one or two to add to my stable of huskys. Anything you findout would be much appreciated

 

[bwalker]

The man said that the bearing just slipped on the end of the crank, Instead of being a close tolerance fit

I think your guy is a bs'er. This type of thing would be very easy to pick up at the factory by the person doing the install.

 

[jsikkema1]

Problem...

I haven't heard of one
now getting to the mag side bearing on a Husky is fun...

This picture originally posted by D. Babcock

 

[bwalker]

Jeff, I am reasonably certain that with a few more hydraulic sandwiches and a crowbasr yuo could get it off.

 

[Saw Man]

Cars are similar, but not everyone is serviced the same way.

The info you rec'd from the unamed dealer is incorrect regarding Dolmar , and many others. Perhaps he's not uptodate on some repair techniques.

The 'slip fit' ( Side Thrust Load Design-Ball Bearing) takes extreme consistant precision, reduces ball loading between the inner/outer races, allows for longer service life of the bearing, especially at higher speeds AND torque loads.

STLD is used buy some assemblies on commercial lawn mowers due to the high blade speeds (18,000-19,000FPM) and load factors.

The bearing is fitted into the crancase halves, crankshaft journals are lubed, then crankcase halves are pressed/drawn together.
Crankcase sides must be extremely held to close tolerances.

Flywheel side bearings rarely go out alone. PTO (clutch)side is the main one due to the work load.

Dolmar Dan is correct, but ,.....Jsikkemal's technique leaves something to be desired.
He didn't match the color on the sledge handle to the 'inclined plane splitting' tool color.