Hi Jason, I would be very interested to see a pic of the stainless steel roller with bearing end caps; are they made locally? I have not seen one for sale before.
My Scotty is 20+ years old and still has the plastic end caps, but what I have done, is to drill an 1/8" hole diagonally through the centre part of the cap to facilitate oiling of the roller shaft and the load bearing part (and wearing) portion of the cap and shaft, with an oil can.
Obviously, a S/S roller with dedicated roller bearings would be the ticket, but also considerable expense I would imagine.
If the machine was for use on a croquet court, golf green or bowling green because of the tolerances required it would be mandatory, but for general domestic use, I find the original set-up quite satisfactory, providing routine maintenance is carried out.
