Replacing top bearing in a 56 foot portable auger

The top bearing on the auger shaft gave way on my Westfield 8 inch auger which is about 56 feet long. Have it all apart and the new bearing bought. This is a traditional auger, PTO driven, with a drive shaft to the top and the two traditional sprockets with a roller chain. I am trying to set the bearing/locking collar and maybe put some bushings in at the bottom. My question is does the top ball bearing support the auger flighting from dropping in the tube? Or, does the bottom bronze bearing assist in holding the flighting up? My thought is the top roller bearing does the most work. The bottom bearing would be a friction bearing and that linear downward force would seem to cause fairly rapid wear causing the top bearing to carry the load anyway. I think the bronze bearing at the bottom is just driven in anyway and would not support a linear load. It probably just keeps the auger shaft centered. Am I thinking right? Thanks.

Bushins that form cylinders, not washers, do not carry thrust load.there could be a thrust lower bearing, but it would be flat plates, or a bearing similar to a throwout bearing. The upper bearing with adeep groove design will accept substantial thrust. Jim

It's the auger shaft bearing that's shot, not the drive shaft bearing, correct?
Yes that ball bearing is what takes all the grief on the auger shaft. Some could hold oil in that upper housing, which really helped everything there. Then the brass bushing on the lower end was greaseable on some.

YOu are correct. That top bearing carries the load... and ball bearings aren't really made for the side thrust they get in an auger. Grease frequently. We di rebuild one once with a tapered roller bearing. It lasted the life of the auger.

I have used augers that had a washer welded on the shaft and another on the bottom bushing and a grease nipple there. That helps a lot with keeping the pressure off the top bearing.

The top ball bearing carries all the end thrust on it. Yes the bottom bushing just holds the shaft from thrashing around down there when running empty. That's the reason I like the Hutchinson augers. The ones before Westfield bought them. If they have the aluminum housing on top it has the chain and bearings running in oil. They are also tapered roller bearings for that. I don't know if the new owners kept the oil case or not. Then on the other hand the old New Idea auger probably made by /Snowco has never needed the bearings at the top changed though it gets greased fairly often. I have had to change the bronze 2 piece bearings going up the drive shaft over the auger tube. Some need it again. It has had one new chain since new and that was just a year or so ago. I like the balance of Hutchinson augers better for handling by hand light enough you can pick them up and carry the end if need be. At least the 6oFT 8inch and the 40 FT 10 inch is. My 30Ft 12inch is not to bad though probably would not be handy to carry the end by hand. An FYI if the top or bottom shields are bad or missing there is a program for replacement for free under some government deal that they will just send them to you if you contact an auger dealer for that brand or that handles that brand. I got 2 bottom guards and the top cover for 2 augers I bought a couple years ago. I got mine through Tim At Zook's in MI He was the one telling me about it. they are considered a safety thing so are covered under this arrangement.