[john hall]

I'm guessing an 1872 has the same front end as a 2072? I'm pretty certain the ones in my 2072 and my 982 are original. That said, you can jack up the front end, spin the wheels and hear them make a bunch of racket. Been meaning to replace them but they aren't cheap, need to source them from a bearing supplier I suppose. Having said all that, I kind of get the feeling 2 sets of bearings should last the life of the machine. What's the plan for the felt? Couldn't you just drill an angled hole, tap it 1/4-28 or use a drive in style fitting, remove the inner grease seals on each bearing and grease until it blows out each side? Would certainly be a mess if you ever had to pull the rim off though.