Newbie In Need Of Help

[horsewreck]

Well i may be wrong but it sure looks like a wood tree in the first picture with a ralide ground seat / strainer plate. The tree looks like one that was covered with that cheese cloth that was used on lots of the older saddles.

A clear picture by the orignal poster would solve that question.

Dirtclod, the photos aren't the best but to me it looks like an early ralide tree that does have a plastic ground seat strainer as the early ralide trees had. At some point they started forming the ground seat as part of the tree. That two piece ralide tree, strainer deal tells me that is a very early version of the plastic tree, and is past its useful life. If it were a canvas covered wood tree it might be able to be fixed and then glassed over. But it lookes more like ralide to me..... Jeff

[alb]

Ann, Based on what we have seen the life span is 30 years give or take. They seem to start cracking between staple, and nail holes at that age then, they get brittle all over...... Jeff

So do you repair newer ralide or just have a policy of no ralide repairs at all?

Ann

[horsewreck]

So do you repair newer ralide or just have a policy of no ralide repairs at all?

Ann

Ann, When I first started working on saddles a ralide tree cost about $35. so for a lot of years it was cheaper to replace the tree than to repair it. Given the shorter life span of a ralide tree, replacement rather than repair always seemed to be the smart thing to do. Because ralide trees are most often used in low end mass produced saddles I often suggest to the owner not to fix the saddle at all, and buy a different saddle as this course of action will cost less in the long run. Because ralide is a different animal than wood based trees I have never thought it wise to repair new or old ralide and as Denise pointed out in her post on this subject whenever we have any break in a tree the saddler should check the whole tree for problems, not spot repair. In addition I have "never" opened up a saddle with a ralide tree that has been repaired by someone a while back that the repair has held tight for a long period of time. Long story short on ralide treed saddles I say replace the tree or scrap the saddle..... Jeff

[alb]

I appreciate hearing the 'long story'. I have been doing saddle work for less than a year. I work with a gentleman who has been doing it for almost 50 years and he has a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience. That being said the more experienced, knowledgeable people I can connect with and learn from the better.

Thanks,

Ann

and yes, of course when we do fixes on trees, the entire tree is checked and repaired.

Ann, When I first started working on saddles a ralide tree cost about $35. so for a lot of years it was cheaper to replace the tree than to repair it. Given the shorter life span of a ralide tree, replacement rather than repair always seemed to be the smart thing to do. Because ralide trees are most often used in low end mass produced saddles I often suggest to the owner not to fix the saddle at all, and buy a different saddle as this course of action will cost less in the long run. Because ralide is a different animal than wood based trees I have never thought it wise to repair new or old ralide and as Denise pointed out in her post on this subject whenever we have any break in a tree the saddler should check the whole tree for problems, not spot repair. In addition I have "never" opened up a saddle with a ralide tree that has been repaired by someone a while back that the repair has held tight for a long period of time. Long story short on ralide treed saddles I say replace the tree or scrap the saddle..... Jeff