Porch Posts - Have one or two bad ones?

Our largest lathe has a 12 foot bed and is capable of turning single piece porch posts up to 9 and one half feet long.

In this picture the lathe is set up to drill a 1 7/8 inch hole in a 9 1/2 foot long 6 X 6 treated beam

The double banjo (support) tool rest is 5 feet long.  Since lathes this big are not made, we had to make it ourselves.

The beam, shown on the lathe above, is in the middle.  It has been lengthened to 12 feet.