I just learned an interesting lesson about bandsaws and what can happen
when the blade binds.

I obtained about 20 feet of 10"x10" pine beams from a rennovation site
(100 years old beams with very tight growth rings). I had the beam cut
into 4 foot sections and then proceeded to resaw them into more
manageable planks 2-3" thick. Anyway, as I was cutting through the
second one, the blade bound up. I waited a few seconds, turned off
the saw; readjusted the beam; turned on the saw, etc., I repeated this
process about four times and only then decided that I needed to drive
some wedges into the kerf to open the kerf up. So I did this, turned
on the saw; waited a second; when the blade remained frozen I turned
off the saw, wedged the kerf more; and repeated. After about the fifth
try wedging the kerf open, my saw was free and I managed to cut the
rest of the beam. Unfortunately, the tracking on the saw was now
terrible and the blade didn't cut well at all.

It turns out that while the blade didn't move, the 2HP motor and belt
did, and the wheels spun free under the blade. I probably would have
heard something except for the fact that I had hearing protection on at
the time. It also turns out the melting point of urethane tires is
somewhat lower than the the heat you can generate from rubbing urethane
against steel at several thousand RPMs. My tires melted. Lesson
learned. I don't recall this lesson in "The Bandsaw Book," but perhaps
it was too obvious to print.

At least Rockler has free shipping for the month of March so I was able
to get a new set of tires ordered and shipped for about $25.