I have to say that while I can sympathize with the "parts hunting" end of this, some of us are actually a lot better off today than 10-15 years back. These days I can get on line and get parts for, for instance, David Brown tractors from all over the world in just a few days, or less if I want to pay higher shipping costs. 20 years back you went to dealer and got to listen to how no parts were available and how you needed to buy one of his brand tractors or you'd pretty much die. Even better was trying to get chainsaw parts back in the early 80's. You get a nice enough fella bring in an "off brand" saw, something there were no dealers for in our area- a Poulan (they used to make pro saws), Jonsered, Sachs Dolmar. Or it would be a catalog saw- Sears, Wards, Speigel, Western Auto, etc. You'd find out what was wrong, find a company address, write a letter to the company asking for a wholesalers name, wait, get a reply and write a letter to the wholesaler asking for a dealer list, wait, get a reply that may or may not help, write a letter to a dealer or maybe 3 dealers outlining the issue, wait, get a response...or not, write more letters to other dealers, wait, get a reply from a guy 2300 miles away that had what he claimed was that one part you needed left in America for 10X what the saw originally sold for, check with the saw owner and then send off a check if he wanted it, wait and then get the wrong part in the mail!
If nothing else, the ease of getting on line and ordering parts makes life a lot easier, to say nothing of being able to compare prices immediately. It ain't all bad!