I have found most have slop in the big end bearing, I have seen one let go but that was from a lot of abuse.
When the main bearing gets wear you will have sealing problems, as it will chew out the seal quickly.
You can fairly easily make a grass chute for the powertorque utilitys from a hinge, some c perlon (cant remember the size) and a few rivets. I saw photos of a similar home made job on here but it may take a while to find the thread.
