Thread: Destroyed motor bearings

So I got my grinder built and I was happily grinding away when my motor seized. a quick disassembly & inspection revealed that the sleeve bearings in this motor are completely trashed. That's what I get for buying an ancient motor for $10 I suppose.

Is there any source of bearings for very old Craftsman tool motors? I couldn't find anything on line. My next stop will be emotorstore to replace the motor.

Question: I used the old trick of mounting the motor on a hinged base & using the weight of the motor (around 12 lbs) to tension the belt. Is there any chance that this resulted in an excessive side load? It's hard to imagine the answer would be yes, since the Marathon manuals for similarly sized motors specify 25 lbs radial load, but they say the only stupid question is an unasked question.