"MikeT" wrote in message
...

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 08:49:39 -0400, MikeT penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

In my humble opinion, bearing buddies are useless in the fact that people
that have them figure all they have to do is put a couple pumps of grease
in
them once in a while, so any moisture in the bearings ends up staying
there

The theory of operation of bearing buddies is that they always
maintain a 3# positive pressure. This should keep out any water to a
depth of about 6 feet. Therefore, if there is any water ingress it
should be from improper lubrication or maintenance.



The key word here is "Theory".

Like I said, I would never buy them, other than a dust cap, but you are
right, if they are fully maintained and used properly, they should work
fine. But so is pulling the bearings out once a season and repacking.


My main reason for avoiding that task is disposing of the kerosene
afterward. If I have to drive across the city to the county's disposal
center, it's 90 minutes of my business hours spent. Then, it becomes
worthwhile to have a mechanic do the work. As I mentioned earlier, he
offered to clean the bearings, but again, once I'm there, I may as well have
him do it, if I can persuade him to stop trying to save me money on
something I don't mind paying for.