Bearing hot on drive pulley

[beppi]

Hello everyone I have an HM126 mill that has around 30 or so hours on it.  The last time I milled a tree I decided to touch the drive pulley around the bearing after I was done and it was really hot couldn't hold my finger on it.  This was the first time I had ever touched it after milling so not sure if that is normal or am I to assume my bearings are on their way out.  Is there another way to know if the bearings are going I don't seem to have any problems with the mill, just hate to change them if its not necessary, also have no idea how to change them lol.  Thanks in advance once again.

[Cruiser_79]

You can feel the other bearing, should be the same temperature. When the bearing is good it shouldn't get hot. Take the band of and feel or you have play on the axle. When the bearing is really bad you can also hear that it's a bit 'crispy'... 
It's better to take the flywheel of and  replace the bearings anyway. Bearings aren't that expensive. At my mill the inner bushing of the bearing started turning and damaged the axle. Needed welding and machining to have it at the right diameter again. Lots of work and I could have avoided it by replacing the bearing earlier. 

[square1]

The outboard bearing will normally run hotter than the inboard bearing due to heat from belt friction on pulley being transmitted through the shaft. Typically vibration is measured to determine a bearings state. That requires expensive equipment though.
120* is uncomfortable to the touch, but an acceptable bearing temp in many applications.  Find your bearings temp operating range using a Google or similar search
A cheap infrared thermometer can be useful in analysis.  Is the pulley at about the same temp? Warmer? Cooler?A misaligned belt can generate high temps. Check for belt alignment on the pulley/ trueness with drive pulley.

[farmfromkansas]

A mechanic who rebuilt my baler told me there is no guarantee that a new bearing was greased.  He finds that occasionally a new bearing has not received grease.  They don't last a long time without it. One time I got a needle made to grease sealed bearings.  Had to drill a tiny hole in the seal, put the tip in it and give the bearing a shot of grease. Put a little silicone over the hole. None of those bearings went bad.

[beppi]

Thanks guys for the info. I guess I called it the wrong thing I think it maybe called the clutch its the pulley that comes directly off the engine.  I just assumed it was called the drive pulley anyways it was hot, not sure if there is a bearing in that or not.  I bought the spare parts kit from WM but there isn't a bearing for that pulley in the package.  Am I to assume it doesn't need to be changed then?  As you guys can see I know next to nothing when it comes to this stuff I just cut wood and build stuff with it...

[JoshNZ]

Every time you spin your band up you have shoes inside there slipping until it's going fast enough to lock up, wasting a handful of horsepower as heat for a moment. Definitely normal for it to be hot to touch after use. Belts in perfect alignment alone will make a pulley pretty warm too.

When it smells funny, it's too hot xD.