OK - here's our
little African Hippo, well maybe not so little - over 20 inches long and when
laying on it's side is about 12" high. Oh, and should mention it
weighs 45-50 pounds (YES-I weighed it)!! The tape line is the approximate cut line so when
the top of Mr Hippo is laying flat, he'll look like he's in water (or
whatever)... And in case you're wondering, he lost his legs in preparation
for this operation... So let's begin.
First - build a sled and make it strong. So I used 3/4 plywood and added runners for both slots in the bandsaw table. The runners had to be long enough to allow the Hippo to rest on the infeed side in the slots and still have slot support as it hung out the outfeed side. And we're gonna need infeed and outfeed support. Did I mention how heavy it is!?!
Need good stout
sides on the sled because I'll need to brace and attach the Hippo to it to
keep him from rocking or moving at all during the sawing operation. 
Here's our little buddy getting fitted in his cradle. The sides now have some braces and I've lined up 2 clamps on the cut line (front and back) to see how the best position will be.
Excuse the rear-end shot of Mr
Hippo, but I need to line up the 2 clamps again from the back to see if
this cut line is what I want. Looks pretty good. Still may
tweak it a bit. 
Ok - this shot is just to show you the
two clamps that I was lining up. 
Now our Hippo friend is
being braced in his cradle. There are blocks and shims all held in
place by hot glue. But for the heavy cut-off section, I figured the
best thing is to use a 1/4" plywood brace screwed in with short
screws. I didn't want to use long screws as the waste piece is
destined for other uses. 
Here's the "dry-run"
of the cut. As long as I had to change blades I figured I'd do a
complete pretend cut, with NO blade in the saw, to insure the infeed and outfeed will do their jobs -
not to mention the operator!! For this cut, it's a one-shot
deal. So I'm using a new 3/4" blade and the runners, bottom
of the cradle, and the band saw table all have a fresh coat of wax. 
The "dry-run" went
very well. The new blade is on and the cradle has been partly
cut. Time to do a last look at the cut line and insure it's
right. Nothing left to do now but a nice slow cut. 
SUCCESS! The cradle went
smoothly over the table and the outfeed supported perfectly. This is the
off-cut piece still left attached in the cradle. 
There was a minor bump right in
the middle of Mr Hippo's surgery line. Short work with a scraper and
he lays pretty flat even without any sanding. Here he is
swimming on a mat on the top of my work bench. Looks
contented! I wonder if I should save the sled, just in case another
. . . Nah!