jbird Report post Posted April 1, 2009 Howdy my friends how are you. I am wondering the quality of Bowden wood trees there pretty well priced what's thought on these. Josh Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted April 1, 2009 Josh, There will never be a consensus on this. They are OK on the whole, they are not the greatest and not the worst. Some of them are good and and some aren't. They fit a niche for the guy selling on price. When you figure the price of everything else, the tree gets way too much attention as a place to evaluate cost to me. Figure 2-1/2 sides of leather for a saddle and 3 if you haven't done one before. Add in a sheepskin, decent stirrups, thread, oil, riggings, and time, and the cost difference between trees is smaller part of the equation. The advantage of Bowdens is that anyone can call them up and order one. They have a short list and some in stock. The disadvantage is you may be getting one someone else sent back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kseidel Report post Posted April 2, 2009 Josh, Sometimes I think that factory made trees are underestimated. I have made hundreds of saddles on factory made trees and worked on hundreds more, most of which served well for their use. Even the best treemakers have a reject or something fails. Percentage wise, the factory trees are ahead of the curve. With the increasing numbers of handmade trees and makers, I am experiencing an increase in tree related problems with the fit tolerances in these "better made" trees. Many of them are not better and some are not as good as factory made. Factories have many different bar patterns and when one of their trees does not fit, the company gets blamed, when it may only be the bar shape that was requested by the saddlemaker. There is a long learning curve requiring much trial and error to develop bars that fit a wide range of horses well. It also takes experience shaping the wood consistently. Novice handmade tree makers have to go thru this learning process, and many of their early trees are little better than firewood covered with rawhide. For most beginner saddlemakers, a factory made tree will do just fine. Some factories have a better track record than others. Bowden and Timberline both make reasonable trees for the price. Both will have some rejects. Bowden uses new CNC machines to cut their parts, which has improved their consistency. Inconsistency in rawhide plagues all treemakers. All saddlemakers, whether novice or expert, need to be able to judge the symmetry and acceptability of each tree that they use. I carefully spec and inspect each tree I use, even though they are among the best handmades. Keith Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
colttrainer Report post Posted April 2, 2009 It was suggested to me by a friend of mine who is a saddle maker that you should stay away from their in stock trees as bowden told him they where trees that had been returned for what ever reason. With that said bowden builds all his trees to his specs and have for some time& he is very pleased. Like he says beats waiting for long periods of time for a hand built tree & he is able to stock a few of his more commonly used trees. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jbird Report post Posted April 2, 2009 Thanks for the input guys I will think on it. Josh Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrooperChuck Report post Posted April 2, 2009 I've used a number of Bowden trees and haven't been disappointed yet. The ones I've seen are certainly better than a whole bunch of trees I've seen in saddles I've repaired. Now, I'll admit there are better trees. When you see a side-by-side comparison of a Bowden tree and a custom made tree, the difference in workmanship is obvious. The rawhide on the custom trees is smoother, and the rawhide lacing is super smooth. I want to build a saddle with a custom made tree someday, but until then, it won't bother me to keep using Bowdens. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites