laporte tuff tree vs. rawhide wood tree

[checkers78]

I am looking to start building my first saddle. And am trying to decide between a molded tree or a wood tree. I was wondering if anyone had any advice?

[steve mason]

I have a customer who now has a saddle on order (with a top quality wood tree) who owns a saddle with a laport tree in it, it does fit horses OK, as long as you don't ride for to long, or rope anything!! The bars on these trees are very short and shallow, therefore there is not much of a weight bearing surface, after long hours in this saddle they have problems and when roping the saddle will not sit on any horses back, even when cinched up real tight. they will use this saddle only for the first saddling on colts, as they feel that is all it is good for.

IMO if you build even your first saddle on a poor quality tree, it won't matter how well you make the saddle it will be poor quality since the foundation is junk. Save your pennys and buy a top shelf tree, it will only cost you a couple hundred more, a saddle is a large invesment of money for materials and of your time, so start with the best materials you can find and this will help you make a better quality saddle.

I am looking to start building my first saddle. And am trying to decide between a molded tree or a wood tree. I was wondering if anyone had any advice?

[checkers78]

I have a customer who now has a saddle on order (with a top quality wood tree) who owns a saddle with a laport tree in it, it does fit horses OK, as long as you don't ride for to long, or rope anything!! The bars on these trees are very short and shallow, therefore there is not much of a weight bearing surface, after long hours in this saddle they have problems and when roping the saddle will not sit on any horses back, even when cinched up real tight. they will use this saddle only for the first saddling on colts, as they feel that is all it is good for.

IMO if you build even your first saddle on a poor quality tree, it won't matter how well you make the saddle it will be poor quality since the foundation is junk. Save your pennys and buy a top shelf tree, it will only cost you a couple hundred more, a saddle is a large invesment of money for materials and of your time, so start with the best materials you can find and this will help you make a better quality saddle.

Thanks for the info. I definitely don't want a junk saddle. I was leanin towards a rawhide tree. Any suggestions on a tree maker?

[RWB]

There are several custom tree makers out there. All who do a good job, Bill Bean, Swanke Trees, and Quality Trees are all a pretty good tree. Personally I prefer Bill Bean's trees. His work is super clean when he puts them together. But he's also one of the highest priced tree makers out there. Personally I think that Quality Trees would be a great beginner tree. Lower cost, but also not bottom of the barrel for quality. I think they make a pretty good tree. Rod and Denise Nikkels, who are on this site, make trees, and they could chime in and give you the low down on their trees because I've never used one.

My advice for you would be to get with an experienced saddle maker, and have them help you with the measurements. That way you don't order a tree that is to narrow or wide or something else you don't want. What Steve said is spot on, just save you money until you can get what you want. A nice custom tree is going to be far easier to learn on than a tree that isn't put together very well.

Ross Brunk

Edited November 22, 2009 by RWB

[Chi Stockyrd Saddle Tree]

Steve Mason, (I have a customer who now has a saddle on order (with a top quality wood tree) who owns a saddle with a laport tree in it, it does fit horses OK, as long as you don't ride for to long, or rope anything!!)

We are sorry your customer was unsatisfied. Perhaps they did not realize we would help them with the fit of the saddle( if it actually is one of my brother's trees). There are a lot of fakes out there and there is a lot of miss-information. Please, give me the name of your customer so that I may help them, or please tell you customer that we stand by our product and they can call us for help. The truth is that our trees can be roped out of all day; since cowboys and hands who actually work for a living use saddles built on our trees, for all day use. If the tree is ours we will replace it with a tree of ours that works. If the problem, is one where the horse breed they are riding does not ft the type the saddle was built for -- as is the case for any saddle any saddle maker produces. If you customer did not buy the saddle from our shop but bought it from someone else as a used saddle, who had a different breed of horses this is often a second scenario; This would also be the reason for improper fit. But again, we do stand by our product, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Heath Howes,

Chicago Stockyard/ Laporte Saddle Tree

[steve mason]

Steve Mason, (I have a customer who now has a saddle on order (with a top quality wood tree) who owns a saddle with a laport tree in it, it does fit horses OK, as long as you don't ride for to long, or rope anything!!)

We are sorry your customer was unsatisfied. Perhaps they did not realize we would help them with the fit of the saddle( if it actually is one of my brother's trees). There are a lot of fakes out there and there is a lot of miss-information. Please, give me the name of your customer so that I may help them, or please tell you customer that we stand by our product and they can call us for help. The truth is that our trees can be roped out of all day; since cowboys and hands who actually work for a living use saddles built on our trees, for all day use. If the tree is ours we will replace it with a tree of ours that works. If the problem, is one where the horse breed they are riding does not ft the type the saddle was built for -- as is the case for any saddle any saddle maker produces. If you customer did not buy the saddle from our shop but bought it from someone else as a used saddle, who had a different breed of horses this is often a second scenario; This would also be the reason for improper fit. But again, we do stand by our product, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Heath Howes,

Chicago Stockyard/ Laporte Saddle Tree

they have sold the saddle, it came from double h

[jwwright]

I have built only a few saddles on the LaPorte trees so far.........most of my orders are still for saddles on handmade wood trees. I do however, have a couple more orders for the cable rigged on my books. Below is a saddle I built on a LaPorte tree about 90 days ago. The man that owns it makes his living horseback all day, every day, and rides quite a few different horses. I heard from him yesterday................he loves the saddle, and gets along good roping out of it as well. JW

[steve mason]

I have built only a few saddles on the LaPorte trees so far.........most of my orders are still for saddles on handmade wood trees. I do however, have a couple more orders for the cable rigged on my books. Below is a saddle I built on a LaPorte tree about 90 days ago. The man that owns it makes his living horseback all day, every day, and rides quite a few different horses. I heard from him yesterday................he loves the saddle, and gets along good roping out of it as well. JW

glad to hear the saddle has worked well for your customer JW, thanks for the update.

Steve

[NewLeather]

If the bars are short and shallow, wouldn't this be a good tree for those short backed, stocky cow type horses?

What is the average cost of one of these LaPorte trees?

[Chi Stockyrd Saddle Tree]

Laporte Saddle tree has many options to choose from for bar patterns. They can make their bars shorter for the short Arabs and gaited horses and walkers. They usually round the front and the back of the bars to help the shorter backed horses. These trees are guaranteed for life against breakage. As all of their trees are. The Cost of one without cable rigging is $300, and with cable rigging is $350. If you have a problem with a tree give us or Shawn Howes a call. We will try to help out with correcting the problem. Many Saddle makers are unfamiliar with modifying saddle trees like ours. We try to talk them through how to do this or you can get us to help you directly with modifying the tree. Usually, we ask for pictures of the backs of horses to correctly modify a tree for the breed of horses a rider uses. However, there are instances were the rider changes breeds or a horse dies, and the saddle doesn't fit as well. This is easily remedied by adjusting the bars off the same tree (when applicable) to the new breed, or changing the Saddle tree for the new breed for a cost.

[secondcrk]

Glad to hear someone from The Howe clan speak up! This sounds like a lot of bull, Mark has a made a living with these trees, and does a good job at it. Know plenty of people who use and swear by them. Too many uninformed people out there and a lot on this website with nothing to do but try and know it all!!