I've several power poles cut in 9" lengths.
We are trying to make 1" boards from them.
Out of 5 poles I have only 2 fairly true 1" boards.
The others are either thicker than 1" or thinner the worst one measures 1" on the stare end and 11/2 .on the other. A quarter inch difference is common and I can maybe deal with that.
I'm wanting to use them for a floor in a shop.
I've no experience with big band saws.
Its not a nail problem.

Any help is appreciated.
just

Have sawed for years, but would not touch a power pole myself . , sounds like its eating your blade set . your into some very tough stuff . they make carbide toothed blades ,but pricey my opinion its your only hope.

I have a mill with a 28 foot table and the only time I get any variation in thickness is if I use a dull blade. If the table or rail system is flat my cut is straight. Also check the band tension too but sounds like a dull blade. With the engine shut off run your thumbnail over the tooth of the blade lightly and if it dosnt scratch your nail it's toooo dull

Just -

I'm pretty much in agreement with logger coffey and Knappett. One, either your bandsaw blade is dull or the tension is too loose, or Two, your rails are not trued up or are not stable.

Jack

I will just add i have heared the older poles that are creosoted, was very abrasive.

What type of sawmill?

I've never seen a dull blade make "thick & thin" lumber before - just wavy lumber.

Yup, thats why I won't touch the stuff to cut it length ways.

9" poles are gonna make pretty short boards Bob. If I were you I'd look up the carcinogenic properties of creosote before I made use of them boards in my shop.

If it does the same thing in fresh logs, you have a problem with the saw adjustments or blades. If it cuts fresh logs (with a new blade) properly, it's the poles eating your blades.

Thats why there are planing mills.
Maybe not as extreme,but rough cut lumber is rarely uniform.

like said above poles are very rough on your blade and id never cut one, not to mention the amount of metal that could be in one. sometimes you can hit a nail and not even notice if your not looking at your boards and that wears the blade down quick. once its dull youll get wavey boards. as soon as that starts I change my blade unless i dont care at that time or willing to do a lot of planing. also as stated above rough sawn is exactly that rough. there is usually a little variations and need to be planed if your wanting a smooth perfectly flat surface(like a floor)

I'm surprised you're getting a full length cut. My experience they are usually full of metal. Hope you are running a good metal detector on them. They are blade eaters. If you are routinely getting 1/4" deviations in your normal log cut lumber either your base is not aligned, leveled and mounted properly or it is flexing. A dull blade will try to ride but if the saw is being fed at the proper speed it shouldn't make deviations like you described with a dull blade and it would have to be extremely loose.