Nut on mower deck pulley

[Rifleman85]

I have a 1998 Simplicity Legacy 60in deck with the Kawasaki motor. So a center nut on my corner v-idler pulley on my mower deck is problematic. A few weeks ago while mowing I noticed smoking coming from the deck. I parked the mower and when I got off I noticed the center nut of said pulley was bright red/orange hot. I obviously left it as it was so it’d cool down.

Today I finally had a chance to take a look at things. I removed the top plates to fully see my belt and pulleys. Slightly pulling on the belt causes everything to spin as normal, including the problematic nut. I even for about 30 seconds turned on the mower and noticed nothing unusual, at least to my eye. I shut the mower off and looked over all again. The only thing I notice is that the center but I’m talking about, does NOT spin with the pulley when the belt spins all. All other pulleys I’ve their center but spin with them.

Is this my problem? I need a new pulley and/or bearing? And and all info would be appreciated.

 

[Bertrrr]

The nut on the pully should be spinning with the Shaft - if it is not, then you're getting friction there and causing the heat issue. I'd pull the whole assembly , the shaft / bearings and pully will need to be replaced. This probably has a lock nut on it