[Tom4981]

Originally Posted by john hall

I've never encountered any shaft bearings getting real hot under normal use, that goes for mower decks, combines, hay balers, etc. Sometimes I use one of those infared thermometers to check temps on combine bearings, and they are generally about 30 degrees hotter than the rest of the machine, some get a pinch more, but you can hold your hand on any of them even after a few hours running. Either those bearings are already bad or that belt is ridiculously tight and putting tremendous side load on them, but you would think it would have broken the belt. Just realized you may have one of those old style decks with the "water pump" style bearing in it, I have probably ran some mowers with that style but can't say for certain. I still wouldn't think those would get that hot after a couple minutes running. I re-read your post, explain a little beter what "pretty hot" means---can't touch it, can't touch it more than a few seconds without getting burned, warm but not as hot as a cup of coffee.

Can't touch it....I'll look at getting a larger belt in the morning and remove that from the list if that wasn't the problem