All Steel Tree!

[ArtS]

I saw this old add on the internet. Have you ever heard of the ALL steel tree? I wonder if any of these are still around. Have you ever seen one?

Art

[Blake]

Hey Art

I think that is actually a cast aluminum tree. Several Manufacturers tried them and you still see one around now and then.

Blake

[bruce johnson]

Art,

MS Collins may have some more info on these. I think his great uncle made the Newell saddles. I expect they might be a little hard to drill the rigging screws into.

[Timbo]

Art,

MS Collins may have some more info on these. I think his great uncle made the Newell saddles. I expect they might be a little hard to drill the rigging screws into.

But if you drilled them you could tap them and use bolts.........that would just be weird.

Tim

[steveh]

I have seen one , it was newell saddle. The tree was cast aluminum. I believe these where made after world warII, when there was a surplus of alumimnum.

[Blake]

I have had several of these saddles in my shop over the years and the assembly methods have been entertaining to say the least.

One made by M.L.Leddy was drilled and tapped in all of the key places and it was done very well. Another Chattanooga model and at least one Tex-Tan were assembled using pop rivets expanded into the drilled holes. One that I can't remember the brand was assembled using self tapping screws and each screw hole created had a severe stress crack and at least one chunk missing .Some that had previous repairs were something else to see.

I understand from an old source (Hadlock) that the idea came from a Tree Maker using an aluminum bar casting as a master for his duplicating equipment which is still done today so why not make a complete tree?. Aluminum was pretty much the big deal in saddlery especially after WWII and the Korean war. Rigging dees, rings, bits, spurs, stirrups, saddle horns, were pretty much the norm up to and through the 1960s.

Blake

[rickybobby]

I saw this old add on the internet. Have you ever heard of the ALL steel tree? I wonder if any of these are still around. Have you ever seen one?

Art

Art,

We just got one in the shop for sheepskin reline. I also noted it is made by Walt L Newell, I know that MS Collins was interested in finding these saddles but I don't think he logs on anymore. All the leather is held on with sheet metal screws. other than that there are no nails it is made like most saddles. Here are some pic.s

[jwwright]

Thanks for the photos Rick............what does this rascal weigh? JW

[rickybobby]

JW...

It is pretty heavy. When you pick up saddles all day you look at them and know what to expect, this thing is a smaller saddle and it weighs what a large roper with all the gear on it would. I would guess it at 38 lb.s

[mulefool]

When we talk about a tree having some "life" to it, I'm guessing on these not so much. Chris

[rickybobby]

When we talk about a tree having some "life" to it, I'm guessing on these not so much. Chris

Mulefoot,

You would need to take a torch to this to get it to move!! There was a thread here on LW that a guy showed a tree getting run over. I bet this one will beat the carbon fiber tree he was pushing!! For as old as this saddle is it is not worn out real bad but you can see some additional wear at the stress points where leather and aluminum rub together. Also the horn leather moves around alot, it is only used at a "Dude Ranch" so it is not beat up real bad.

Rick J.