Ralide Trees

[BevJones]

I was told by another saddlemaker that the quickest way to ruin your reputation is to not use a wood/rawhide tree. He said, when a customer wants a ralide tree to save money and you inform him of what could go wrong and why a wood/rawhide is better, they forget what you told them when something goes wrongs with it but remember your name when they tell others you are not a good saddlemaker. He said the best way to avoid problems and keep and get a good reputation is to use only the best. I sure do wish they could figure out a way to make a wood/rawhide tree as light as a ralide

[StolpSaddles]

With all the work to build a good saddle why waste it on a Ralide tree...

Oh i guess good is the key word..

[oldtimer]

I´ll say one kind word about Ralide trees in a saddle in comparison to factory made saddles with "real" trees: The ground seat is better that average factory made saddles! I have opened a couple of saddles from well known saddle companies in the US, and I must say that I´m not very impressed with the ground seat work in them: A tin plate nailed to the tree covered with a less than chap quality leather. After a while you are riding on nailheads under your butt. That is one kind word, no more, no less!

Edited February 7, 2009 by oldtimer

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

I wouldn't use one for love nor money! I would rather see a prospective sale go away than put them in one, knock off or not! If I had 100 of them for free, I'd give them to a plastic molder I know and let him regrind them and make signs out of them.

I know the price of a custom made saddle is not for everyone, but; you can certainly find a good used real saddle out there at most tack shops that will meet your needs, for anywhere from $250 to $750, and even if you have to spend another $200 or so to have it gone through and freshened up, you are miles ahead of the game. Up here in Michigan, you can find lots of "old timer" made saddles reasonable, Prices, Ringalero's, even the old Billy Cooks (back when Billy was actually making them) and more. For those in MI, OH, and Indiana, try Bob Jacobs Boots and Saddles in Bellville, he will either have what you want, or can find it. By the way, with respect to the way the stirrup leathers come through the ralide tree. I had a customer who took the stirrup leathers out of the brand new saddle to oil them before his grand daughter was going to start using this youth saddle. He couldn't get them back in because of the way they pass through the tree. He had to pay me (an hours labor) to take the saddle part way apart and accomplish the task. That was the first of many more times I am sure that I will see this saddle for some kind of repair. That money saving tree, will cost him in the end! By the way, he owns a tack and supply store, so it isn't like he does'nt know how to put a stirrup leather in!

Like I and so many others here have said, " I wouldn't ever use one"! I think too much of my saddles, my reputation, and especially my customers.

Happy Trails!

Bondo Bob

[TrooperChuck]

I suspect the folks who invented Ralide trees KNEW their product was questionable. Otherwise, they wouldn't have tried to disguise it with a name that sounds so much like "rawhide".

[hidepounder]

If you really want to find yourself sitting in the middle of the arena, go roping in a Ralide tree! I have seen first hand what a saddle horn will do to a human leg when it comes out of the tree...it goes thru it...not over it! Not to mention what happen to your hands! PURE HORROR! I'm not a saddlemaker, but I am a roper and I'm with Greg on this one...he said it best!

Bob

[Saddlebag]

Is anyone making carbon or graphite trees, that super lightweight material fishing rods and other things are made of?

[RidersChoiceSaddleCo]

As someone who has been around hundreds of thousands of saddles built on Ralide trees, I can say there is a market for them because they work for the consumer that buys them. There are good and bad points as brought up by many on this question. However, I think the worst advice anyone can ever give, is advice that is outside of ones realm of personal experience. The best person to ask is a person that has had plenty of experience with those trees. Yes, like any tree they can break. Yes, being a molded product, the seat is uncomfortable in most mass produced saddles, and there is only a one size fits all proposition. However, I would never judge a tree by the stupidity of a person loading a horse in a trailer with the barrel saddle still on the horse. Of course the horn is gonna pop of as soon as he jumps. I knew that is what happened as soon as I saw the photo. I know this because I see the tree's that are returned as defective and it is a very small percentage of the tons of trees that have gone out. In 10 years I have never seen a broken Poly Roper tree returned. The only small saddle trees that I have ever fixed have had the horn snapped off like this one or the horse rolled on them and broke the cantle. In fact we see more mass produced wooden/fiberglass roper fronts broke than Polymer trees. And your probably talking less than a handful a year out of thousands. I am not shouting the praises of Poly over wood, I am just stating that it does have good points as well. If a wooden tree is not cured correctly it can change shape over time. You have to worry about wood rotting. Wood is heavier...and the one thing I hear most about building custom saddles now days from the ladies especially is, "I want a super light saddle." We have been using the Ralide type trees in production since the 80's and have found them to hold fasteners well. When they first came out they did have a problem with pulling out but that has been solved. With all this being said I do much prefer to build on wood and will only use that on my higher end saddles. Ralide in fact made wooden trees as well but sold the operation to a friend nearby because it wasn't making any money. My family also makes your so called "knock off" tree and they are just the same quality as Ralide. However, I think all of this is becoming a mute point because the American saddle maker is going to have to transition into higher end saddles and custom fits which are going to kill off the days of the mass produced American saddle. In short, they are a good product for an inexpensive saddle that you are going to build a WHOLE lot off. This is why many of the builders here don't like them and this is also the reason they will become a thing of the past.