Needle Bearing / Clutch Drum Bearing Lubrication ??

[greenlongbar]

The bearing cage also fails when the clip is improperly applied by your service tech and falls off during operation. Don't keep that clutch assembly together during high RPM's and you quickly learn how to remove plastic form your internal parts. It only took about 1 minute to smoke the plastic cage on my MS880. That's a lot of power. Maintaining myself for proper operation now that I studied my saw and parts for two months. Learning a lot on this forum, thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Bobby Kirbos]

I pack the bearing with automotive grease whenever I have the clutch/drum off - mainly because I hit the drum with break cleaner and wash the bearing in mineral spirits. In reality, the only time the bearing is actually being "used" is when the saw is idling. It never "sees" full RPMs nor does it bear any great amount of force during the cut while under rotation (during idle) beyond holding the drum in the proper position on the shaft **.

** Sure, the bearing "sees" SOME force during the cut, but there is no rotational element to the force; it's purely linear compression (squeezing the needle between the drum and the shaft).