Why is the manufacturer not addressing this for you for free. I would honestly expect free updated machine and with a sincere apology and shipping paid to return your broken machine and a partial refind on the entire splitter. It is not like you spent $600 at Menards for mass produced Chinese stuff. I have watched threads on these where the splitting wedge falls off and the welds looked like thay were put in my a 3rd grader with a $69 Harbor Freight welder. I hope the Koolaid does not wear off for most of you as it appears that. . . well it appears for the money spent you should have received a better built product.
I am sorry to just be so blunt, but it is what it is.
Well.... I appreciate your candor. I do agree with you on most of your post. One would think that for the price paid, a $12 bearing that could be replaced with a $3 sealed bearing would be a nice improvement. If I started breaking welds... I would get more aggressive with them.
Some of this failure does fall on my shoulders.... I did not sufficiently take care of it as instructed to by the manufacturer and via tips and advice from other users. I thought I was.... But apparently not enough.
I have some sealed bearings here that I'm going to stick in there.