Comparing Durability of SKF, FAG, TIMKEN, NKE Bearings in Industrial Automation

Hello,
I have questions for experienced mechanics and industrial automation specialists.
What brand bearings do you recommend SKF, FAG, TIMKEN, NKE...
Quality and durability are important.
Application in the machine industry, hard working conditions, dust and heavy loads.
Please give your opinion on this.
Regards and thanks for any replies.

There are many good quality bearings. Every producer praises his own.
I personally use FAG and SKF.

At my place, we use SKF, heavy conditions, fan operation, high temperature. They withstand more than FAG. Of course, you must remember to lubricate. The method of installation is also important.

Bearings don't like hammer blows. The press is the best.
And do not transfer the pressure force through the balls and rollers.
Always press the bearing ring to be fitted.

Exactly, my friend, holy words. Unfortunately, not everyone applies and later questions why do you have to replace again.

You would need to provide details on what machines you need to install them on, what performance characteristics, etc.
From standard applications, standard ball bearings, practically any brand "from the middle shelf and up" is suitable.
If we are talking about heavy loads, but controlled working conditions and good environmental conditions, then only the previously mentioned reputable brands.
But if there are really unfavorable working conditions (e.g. vibrations, impacts) or environmental conditions (e.g. water, dust), unfortunately even expensive branded bearings will not help, and even their use will not be economically justified. A good example is agricultural machines - there often the bearings are mounted in such a way that contact with water and sand cannot be avoided - there it is even worth taking the lowest shelf, such as the Chinese CX. Taking into account some structurally unbalanced industrial machines, it will not help to mount a 2RS or S (stainless) bearing, because e.g. the product has direct contact with the bearing, or the bearing is not protected against washing (here RS and S do not provide any protection against water and corrosion arising inside), or e.g. 2Z bearings factory-mounted on the motor shaft of the grinder (they fall from dust).
Personally, I'm happy with TVH's FAG, although I have some doubts about the current "Generation C" series.

In the company where I work, we mainly use SKF and FAG. The listed NKE was tested but did not perform well. There are much better products at this price level.

Faga bearings have a reputation like a Mercedes from the 80s-90s, but if someone recommends them today, it's as if TODAY someone still believes in a Mercedes... so as not to leave a thick pipe, I'll ask: how many bearings do you replace per month, or on some other scale? My company performs 80% of the bearing replacement service, there are ~30-40 of them a day. Mainly group 62,63, some double-breasted, less often 60 and oblique.
And FAG has proven to us in the last 3 years that it is worth nothing. SKF has proven this long ago. Until then, we stuck to FŁT - now it's worse. I'm not complaining about Koyo and Timken, but they're not available in the performances we want. We stayed with Nachi. (Japanese)
Phages and SKFs were worth something 15-20 years ago, later we happened to get a whole skimming batch of SKF before setting up, and FAG crumbles to the stage of howling and wiping the casing after 3-6 months in the case of 20% of the assortment that is just junk . And I say this bearing in mind several years of observation of the working conditions of a given device, in which the phage bearing applied with the methods of real craftsmen described above (+ heat application, without ANY force on the bearing at all) is the only piece of the puzzle of meticulous repair of the device, where the crappy bearing costs PLN 30-60 and the losses in case of failure reach many thousands. PLN for the repair of the device, not to mention the possibly calculated costs of the downtime itself as a result of the failure. I would pay for bearings 5x as much as they cost on the Polish market if only they were better. Meanwhile, every few months, another wise man calls who has never put bearings in his life - a sales representative - and offers me that it will be cheaper.
NSK - double breasted are loud right out of the box (C3 2RS, no matter what basket) but in general I will neither recommend nor criticize.

Pessimistic, but welcome.

Sorry to dig up an old topic, but why start a new one. I bought an SKF bearing, installed it without any problems with this kit (unfortunately I had to buy a new steering knuckle because in the old one, after 3 hours of agony, I let go of pulling the bearing protection - unfortunately it grew in, or rather became a fossil after 24 years).

https://allegro.pl/oferta/sciagacz-do-tulei-l...-21-el-zestaw-do-piasty-przedniej-18184027017 If anyone doesn't know how to use this, I recommend the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGkKhbk37N8

Overall it went smoothly, bearing seated hub too, everything assembled - checking the tightened wheel and zero play.

After driving 5 km to the station for a toe-in, the mechanic said and showed me that he will not do the toe-in, because the wheel has play up and down and the new bearing is defective at the factory (funny enough, the old bearing, which was 24 years old, rumbled, (instead of grease it had rust), but did not have any play). Consequently, I have lost 100 zloty to a mechanic for fitting this bearing and 30 zloty for diagnosing its defect at a car inspection centre.

I would therefore like to ask you which bearing company you would recommend in these years, has SKF gone so far downhill ?

Hello!
VARDANA's colleague is right. Thanks for sharing your opinion. Well, after 20 years I returned to the country and started to do something. Some minor repairs, where of course I recommended proven bearings, usually SKF, and what? Disappointment...
I first replaced the bearings in the GORENJE washing machine, the weak ones were Slovenian (but they got water from a faulty sealant), so I can't judge, because in this situation any bearing would have died. The washing machine is now 24 years old and despite minor corrosion spots on the housing - it works great. Next it fell to the eco-pea cooker. While the worm gearbox, slow speed, got new SKF and new oil like honey, it was no longer so good with the fan. I suspect that the gearbox in "honey" oil from the Jedlicze refinery would have survived even on bearings from China. The fan, after replacement with SKF, behaves as if they were dry, chirps and makes high-pitched noises, as if there were dry clearances. Ok - I thought maybe I had banged the hammer too hard, although I was really gentle. And so 2 years went by and nothing changed. Then there was the timing gear with pump on the 1.6HDI engine, where the mechanic when he heard SKF said he wouldn't be taking it apart in a month! It wasn't until I overhauled a ZIEHL-ABEGG fan, where a 3 kW PM motor, with integrated inverter, drives the fan up to 4000 rpm, where there were Chinese bearings and after 2 years the fan play was 3 cm - it was rubbing against the housing and the bearings had carved the mounting hole sideways and axially - that I became convinced of the quality of the bearings in those days. A lathe-miller friend made a reinforcement, in the form of steel rings on the outside and inside of the alu-housing and we seated without "run-out" 2 x 6003 ZZ SKF. After starting the fan, I was afraid to approach because there was such a strange noise, as if it was going to come apart. To me it looks like the bearings are dry.... By now it's been 2 weeks and I've set the air handling unit to a safe speed and we'll see. I am disappointed that after such overhauls it can be even worse than before! When I used native F£Ts, there were never any disappointments, only after a long time one complained that they had died - and now? We mount the fallen ones.....
Greetings !