stirrup bars

[barra]

The following quote is from Rod & Denise's side saddle topic.

This was the longest English stirrup hanger we could get. For a true Western saddle the fender would need to be wider so something else would need to be used in place of the English stirrup hanger.

Attached is a pic of a stirrup bar on an Australian stock saddle tree (Fouright tree). One would be fairly easy to make if you decided on attempting another. This way you don't need to source another English bar and can dispense with the one with the spring loaded catch.

I hope the following link works.

http://www.westernfolklife.org/weblogs/artists/watt/the_art_of_saddlemaking_with_jeremiah/

I believe Jeremiah used an inverted rigging dee. Also from that blog it should show a tree made by Dennis lane. He has a similar bar to the Fouright one.

P.S Pic one is a stuff up and was added by mistake but it is the same tree as the bar pic.

Barra

Edited October 3, 2009 by barra

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Barra,

Thanks for the pictures and links. We have never done the hanger like J. Watt has, but have built some other variations based on customers' ideas. The tree that was initially brought to show us had a section of a straight metal rod welded to the leaping horn plate to act as a stirrup bar. We figured this would be nicer and the stirrup leather would have less chance of slipping off and still be safe. Lillian pointed out to us that the wider stirrup leathers on a Western style (the tree we built is going into an English looking saddle) would need a longer bar. The Aussie design looks like it could be fairly easily made, though getting a non-rusting metal would be the difficult part. Do you know the widest stirrup leather these are built for and are they available commercially?

[barra]

R&D. The stirrup bar is 1 3/4 to the point where it curves up at the end. Depending on how the flap is attached, some of this measurement may be taken up by the thickness of the flap leather. 1 1/4 " leathers are a common size tho 1 1/2 would fit ok. Maybe get on to Dennis and find out where he obtains his..

Barra

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Thanks for the info, Barra. They were talking about using 3" stirrup leathers for a western style saddle so we would need to make them up somehow. We like the style better than just the rod they had on the other tree though. Safe enough to stay on when you want but come off when you need - at least most of the time!

[DennisLane]

Hi All

The hanger that I use, I designed and it is cast in manganese bronze. It will accommodate 2” leathers, I utilized one of the features of the Hamley hanger. That is, where the stirrup leather hangs, that part of the hanger is convex in shape. This puts the pressure in the middle of the stirrup leather, relieving the edges of excess pressure, when the stirrup is position either in front or behind the perpendicular for what ever reason (going up or down hills). This helps to prevent the stirrup leather from breaking or tearing where it goes around the hanger. The wider the stirrup leather the more likely hood that this will happen because, the pressure on the edges is greater the wider you go.

Dennis