Third post on the retree of a saddle

Posted August 31, 2011 by Don Gonzales

The retree is almost over, at least for the hard part. Once the swell cover and cantle back are put back on the seat is installed.

This is where we see how well we did so far. If all is well, then the seat should fall right in and even match up with the old wear marks around the swell cover. The seat is pinned in place around the front so we are sure it is where it should be while we glue it in.

We glue the rear of the seat first with two coats of glue. If we are right the seat should line up with the cantle plugs at the back of the Cheyenne roll and be even. If you have a little difference here you can sand off to even it up.

Once the back of the seat is glued down then we move onto the binder. Most of the time the binder is destroyed during it’s removal, here we got lucky and were able to use the old one. I prefer this because it makes the saddle look more original when completed. The less new leather you have to use the better the job finishes out. My motto with repair is do your best to cover your tracts so that it looks like you were never there.

On this particular project we had to make some compromises in sewing the binder. I usually like to always stitch back in the old holes, but with the age on this saddle we couldn’t do that for the new stitches tearing through. My fix for this issue was to stitch through every other hole, with as close as the holes were to start it worked out well and looked fine.

Last to do here is glue down the front of the seat (with two coats). The hardest part of this job is completed now and all the parts are ready to be washed and oiled. This is done no different than a normal clean, oil, and polish. I do this to all the retrees that I do to insure that it gets a good oiling and looks great for the customer.

Here you can see that the saddle is complete and ready to be put back to work. Aside from the new horn the saddle looks no different than when it first came to us, except being cleaner… And now the tree isn’t broke.

Let us know what your thoughts are on putting a tree in a saddle. I do probably two a year, and I credit that to me trying to talk folks out of them. But for some situations it is worth the money, and for this customer it was well worth it! He was glad to have his rig back to work out of.

Rigging and ground seat of the retree

Posted August 24, 2011 by Don Gonzales

No matter how careful you are when taking the saddle apart, putting a new tree in a saddle can still be a very difficult process.

Here we have cleaned up the original rigging of this saddle and installed it on to the repaired tree. This is where I don’t worry so much about putting them back EXACTLY where they were to begin with. With this particular saddle, age and use has probably stretched the rigging somewhat out of alignment and proper alignment of the rigging insures the saddle rides square on the horse. For this reason, I install the riggings without paying attention to where they were and instead putting them where they should go. Sometimes you have to accept a little difference to get there but not enough that will affect the rest of the job.

Once I have the rigging installed I move on to the ground work. Luckily with this saddle we were able to utilize the ground work completely which saves some time. Each piece is installed just as it was when the saddle was first made. The great thing here is that all other parts will fit as original (seat, cantle back, plugs, and so on). On the occasion where these pieces can’t be used, you would install the groundwork as in a new saddle keeping in mind the way the old seat and such will fit with what your trying to recreate. This adds lots of time and labor.

After all this is completed, the cantle back and front should drop right in place and with the help of glue and elbow grease you are ready to put the seat in.

Occasionally when putting the front on, you will notice a difference in the horn hole thanks to the new horn cover. Everyone covers horns different and the original may have been thinker or thinner at the base. My suggestion here is to cut it bigger if it’s too tight (which is better) and if it’s too big, your only hope is that the glue will help to hold down the slack around the base.

The next post we will visit about installing the seat and binder which gets us to the point of washing and final assembly.

The work involved in a retree

Posted August 19, 2011 by Don Gonzales

This will be the first of a few blogs on putting a new tree in a saddle. In my opinion few saddles are worth the money to put a new tree in them. The misconception among most folks is that putting a tree in a saddle is something easy to do and is cheaper than getting a new saddle. Both of which are false.

For most saddles, a broken tree should be the end of the road. The thing to remember when contemplating the retree of any saddle is the age of the saddle. When we do a retree in the shop, ALL the original parts are used (except the horn and sometimes the binder) so the customer is getting back the same old saddle minus the broke tree part… And less money in their pocket.

This brings us to the price of the job. We charge a minimum of $1000 including the tree repair but not including any parts that have to be replaced, if any. The thing to consider here is what the saddle would be worth after the repairs. A custom saddle in good condition may have merit but a $600 saddle in poor condition probably not.

In these photos we have had the original tree completely restored and fiberglass covered making it as strong or stronger than when it was new. A new horn has been applied and we begin the retree by putting the gullet cover on and working on getting the original ground seat pieces back in place. This insures that the saddle sets as close to the same as it did before it was broken. Using the old pieces is sometimes difficult and we will sometimes have to install a completely new tin strainer and ground seat because they get destroyed taking them out. This adds cost to the job.

As you will see in the next few postings, putting a new tree in a saddle is anything but simple and very labor intensive. If a saddle is built correctly, it should be tough… Saddles, when built right, are not built to be taken apart.

Inskirt rear rigging

Posted August 9, 2011 by Don Gonzales

This a team roping saddle that we are building in the shop this month. We have never done one like this before. I really think that this type of rigging is great to cut down on overall saddle weight and give a clean functional look.

I personally still prefer for the front rigging to be a normal full rigging for strength.

Give us your opinion of what you think of inskirt style riggings. We will post photos of this saddle when it’s done.

USTRC FINALS 2011

Posted August 8, 2011 by Don Gonzales

This year will be our third year attending the USTRC Finals in Oklahoma City. We are so excited to see our old friends and make new ones at this event.

This year we have a twenty foot booth in barn 3 and hope to have many new and exciting products for everyone to enjoy. We would like any input from you about what you would like us to make for this show. Anything from belts to saddles or even stuff out of the ordinary. Please contact us with your ideas or suggestions at our website DGSaddlery or call the shop at 979-775-6300.

Our last stop before the finals will be Waco for the regional finals this weekend and we look forward to spending the weekend with everyone.

If we don’t see you in Waco come by our booth in OKC in barn 3 and visit.

DGSaddlery Roping a Success!

Posted August 8, 2011 by Don Gonzales

We at DG Saddlery would like to thank all those who attended our 3rd annual DG Saddlery Team Roping in Caldwell, TX this past weekend. We had 491 teams for the day and enjoyed spending time with all our friends and making new ones.

Congratulations to George Mueller for winning the high money of the day and a certificate for a custom saddle! We look forward to working with Mr. Mueller designing his new custom Don Gonzales saddle!

We hope everyone enjoyed our roping and for those that didnt get to make it this year, we will have another one next year and we hope to make it bigger and better than is year. Also if you forgot to purchase your DG Saddlery tshirt from the roping we have them available at the shop or you can contact us through the our website DGSaddlery or call us at 979-775-6300.

Thanks again and we hope the rest of your team roping season goes well. Come see us in Waco, TX this weekend!