Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
troy

Broken Fork Of Treeless Stock Saddle

Recommended Posts

Not had to repair any saddles for awhile it was a shock come pleasent surprise for advise from a friend. Must admit uptil seeing this saddle I had not even handles a treeless saddle and the problem they had intrigued me and as with most repairs, I ended up taking the offending piece off to find the cause of the problem.

I idea of treeless to me before this was like a native american saddle of basically two blankets sewn together with the straps running through them, but this stock saddle had a fork like on a wester saddle made out of moulded hollow fibreglas and a high seat made out of the same stuff I presume.

Anyway onto the problem - they were complaining that there was a loud squeaking noise being made around the fork area when ridden which spooked the horse - initially I thought it could be from friction of the leather and had thought that the fork mould was solid, but obviuosly found it hollow and had cracked along from constant movement I presume (the thickness of the fibreglas where cracked was only 2mm).

My method to treat this, and perhaps not the best so any better ideas would be welcome for future use - afixed temporay straps around the fork (to help prevent the two pieces coming apart) then drilled hole on the underside on half way mark and filled with glue (construction type from tubes)waited a few days for it to set, then filled either side of the fork with expanding foam to fill up empty space, then lined outside with strips of fibreglas tape to help hopfully prevent it from cracking again.

It has seemed to work but I wonder if it was worth it and that in the end it may crack again after a few hours of use - time will tell I guess.

cheers

troy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ignoring the staggering design flaws of a treeless saddle with fibreglass parts, to properly stop a crack in fibreglass you really need to drill a small hole at each end of the crack. That reduces the stress concentration at the end of the crack, and prevents it from spreading.

Then, you sand the length of the crack on both sides so you're down to the bottom of the crack in the mddle (essentially create a v-gouge).

Finally, build up the thickness again using strips of fibreglass and resin, layering strips that get wider and wider.

Your idea of filling the fork with expanding foam should help to prvent cracks again, since the fibreglass isn't as likely to flex and buckle. You can use epoxy over polyester or epoxy, but you can't use polyester over epoxy. The odds of this cheap saddle being made from epoxy resin are basically zero, however, since poly is much cheaper.

This is overkill for a fundamentally flawed saddle, but there you go.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...