wade-weatherly question

[pete]

can one of you makers tell me the(better yet show a picture or 2) of the difference between the 2 trees.

thanks

pete

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Both Wades and Weatherlys are slick forks. That's about where the similarity ends.

There a lots of names attached to slick fork trees, but how many ways can you really make an upside down U anyway? The original patterns were probably specific in shape, but now we make any slick fork in different "widths" from 8 to 10". (Question - where do you measure the width on a slick fork? Answer – nowhere specific. You really can't. It is an arbitrary thing so, once again, you can't compare between tree makers by the numbers.) The two major differences we see between slick forks are wood or metal horn and stock thickness (thickness of the fork from front to back).

So, our run-down on how we name slick forks is as follows:

Wades - Wood post horn (if it has a metal horn, it is NOT a Wade, regardless of what they are calling it). Originally 5" stock but we have made them from 6" to 4 1/4" on request. Anything other than 5” ST we generally call a “Modified Wade”, but we have been known to call them “Wood Post Taylors” or “Wood Post 3Bs” on request.

Taylors – metal horn, 4 ½” stock

3Bs – metal horn, 4 ¼” stock

Weatherlys – metal horn, 3 ¾” stock

Functionally, the metal horn slick forks need a much higher gullet measurement to clear the horse than a wood post because the gullet is much thicker on a tree with a metal horn You need depth for the screws to attach the horn, while with good quality wood, the gullet can be made much thinner. So while the gullet may measure the same height, the height at the hand hole on a metal horn fork (all other things being equal) is much lower - almost an inch on our trees.

There can be other differences, such as the angle of the top cut (how much it rises front to back) whether the lip is dipped or not, etc. This is probably where a lot of the different names came from, and people who know more of the history of some of these trees can maybe fill us in a bit more. If people want a specific look, then we can make it look like the picture they send us. That is the advantage of hand making something.

I tried to attach pictures, but am unable to due to problems with our internet (non) service provider. Hopefully someone else can do that for you.