An orbital tensioner comprising an annular base, a ring journalled to the annular base on a ball bearing, said ring having a ring axis of rotation (A-A), a first pulley journalled to the ring, a first pulley axis of rotation (B-B) offset from the ring axis of rotation (A-A), a pivot arm pivotally mounted to the ring, a pivot arm pivot axis (C-C) offset from the ring axis of rotation (A-A), a second pulley journalled to the pivot arm, a torsion spring biasing the pivot arm in a first direction, the ball bearing having a first race and a second race, the ring fixed to the first race, the annular base fixed to the second race, and a damping mechanism frictionally disposed between the ring and the base.