Not sure what to check. If I mow at the highest position, it seems to work fine. Lower it two notches and it wears out the belt in a matter of minutes? Obviously something's out of whack, but I'm not sure what. The wear is on the bottom of the belt. I did whack a forgotten stump hard enough to bend the original blade last summer, but I don't remember the problem surfacing then. I remember being surprised it didn't also break the spindle on the deck when I figured out the blade was bent.