Quote Originally Posted by Maurice Mcmurry View Post
Does anyone know how important it is to use a bearing heater during reassembly when replacing bearings? I have not used one. I have read and been told that to do the job properly a bearing heater is required. I have done several replacements that did not last nearly as long as OEM. I also see bearings with the same size numbers in price ranges from $10 to $100 dollars.

Today's bearings are much better than they used to be. Price doesn't always translate to quality. As an example, on daughter's Honda Civic tensioner bearing failed. Replaced it with a $17 bearing from NAPA, which lasted less than six months. Replaced that bearing with a $1.99 bearing from Fastenal, which now has over 300K miles on it. FYI, bearing is a 6203 2RS, same as in saw. The 6203 is probably the most common bearing in usage in the world.