Yes having spent time around both there’s something to be said for pushing pins out when it’s time with a hammer handle as opposed to a torch, lance or hydraulic power.
Wish I had a record of the hours on a Cat 966C that was at one of the companies quarries many moons ago. That machine had one of the very early auto-lube systems around. It used 80W-90 gear oil and the system worked off the air brake applications each fitting had a valve that regulated the amount of oil each one got.
By todays standards it was crude and the small nylon lines carrying the oil tended to be fragile. But the operator and his boss were very good about keeping the system working. If operator noticed a broken line or fitting while loading a truck he would finish that load and run to the shop and repair it before going to the next truck.
I had to rebuild a couple hydraulic cylinders on that machine when they started leaking due to age and when removing the pins the only sign of wear on the pins was a slight difference in the finish of the chrome plating. When that machine was sold off due to it's age it left the company with all the pins it left the factory with and was tight as the day it first hit the first stock pile!
But on the other side of the coin I have seen machines with much new and sophisticated auto-lube systems that were lucky to last over a year with out needing some new pins and bushings. Point is no system is better than the person maintaining it! Auto-lube can save a ton of work but it is no replacement for proper maintenance!