[Swampdude]

Seems like it should work with a 4:1 reduction. But a little efficiency loss will go a long way in this arrangement. I'll bet your 1/2" shaft mod is dragging. Hopefully your bridging the shaft with bearings and not catelevering it out. Those FP's do not like stall load at all. If you saw smoke once from them, they're probably toast and need replacing. Adding the globe should solve your problem. Probably power your first 2:1 reduction point. But I'd first look for something rubbing/binding etc. and bridge your shafts.