Wheel Bearings

I am getting closer to finishing all the mechanical repairs and about to get it water blasted for painting on our David Brown Cropmaster tractor. So I had a look at the front wheel bearings and found that 3 of the four bearings were good and one totally stuffed with 2 of the tapered rollers missing completely. So I cleaned up the stuffed bearing and took it to the local bearing place for a fresh one.
The looks on all their faces were amazing when they saw the letter "X" on the bearing and the boss claimed it was from a David Brown tractor long before he confirmed it with me. Apparently David Brown were the only ones to use this system. So the only comment was 'bloody expensive these things'. So I took a chair and waited. The bearing has a different number to the cone and as it was explained to me it is because bearings and cones can be mis-matched to suit different applications. Larger cone to smaller bearing and visa versa. One guy finally did find the cone and claimed it alone to be $50.00. So I grabbed the chair tighter. Then boss man Ces said hang on, we are all looking at this the wrong way. He grabbed his callipers and meaqsured the OD and ID and width and said a number and went out to get it. Plonked it on the desk and said $27.00 please.
By simply taking the measurements he cross referenced it to being a common size bearing and readily available. This can be a good tip for all of us who have toys and are restoring or saving them for play time. Hope this helps other Forum members who come across simialr issues.