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+--- Thread: Saddles - wood vs metal (/showthread.php?tid=1010)
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Saddles - wood vs metal - Taffy - 04-13-2015
If you had the choice to have any saddle you wanted would you choose wood or metal and where would you buy it? I'm trying to decide............
RE: Saddles - wood vs metal - Dave-Trinity-Farms - 04-13-2015
If I had a choice Id choose carbon fiber
RE: Saddles - wood vs metal - Charlie Horse - 04-13-2015
Well. I have a couple aluminum ones. They're LIGHT. Seriously light. However, they just use carpet for the pad and square corners that I feel like could be rounded to improve the design. Can't say I've heard of a goat getting a welt from a corner though and I've never actually used them myself (got them used as a package deal). I have a wood Awahee one with a NW pocket pad and I like it. Both saddles have crappy nylon rigging though. I know I'm not that useful on this. I expect that in a couple years I'll have more experience with the different types. Logically the aluminum ones SHOULD be better. Like Dave says-- Why not use the best materials. Wood is more rustic looking though.
RE: Saddles - wood vs metal - IdahoNancy - 04-15-2015
Northwest Packgoat Supplies adjustable aluminum for my boys. They are hard to beat. You can make it fit the goat and they have good straps. It is well designed to fit the goats body safely and securely.
RE: Saddles - wood vs metal - hihobaron - 11-09-2015
[attachment=2030 Wrote:IdahoNancy pid='6726' dateline='1429160945']Northwest Packgoat Supplies adjustable aluminum for my boys. They are hard to beat. You can make it fit the goat and they have good straps. It is well designed to fit the goats body safely and securely.
Hello All
I am new to goat packing. Have two dairy bred wethers one is ready now for light packing the other is just 7 months old but both have a good set of manners. I am in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains nothing like you have out west. Most of their work will be token hikes and just to mess with "City Folk"
in places were I can't take horses. I do plan to "promote" goat Packing in a Friendly and Educational manner here on the east coast.There are lots of goats in this area but other than farm animals/meat /milk. Nobody is working them.
I can use some help with information RE: What to look for in pack saddle fit, both sawbuck (I have built a couple for horses from scratch and have done some horse packing. So is goat packing just a scale down of horse pack saddle design or are the more consideration that normal horse fitting of the saddle to the animal.?
I have no big budget to equip my kids just looking for information on how to show them off to public as a conversation starter for now.
To all of you out there a crazy question is it possible to use a saddle horse and goats in mild trails together? Yes, I know the is a speed difference.
I have one very good trail horse that if you let him is very poky. Just an idea.
Thanks for any info you can share.
Here is a picture of Pete my 4 year old wether ,What do you think? He is not in shape YET.
RE: Saddles - wood vs metal - Nanno - 11-09-2015
For a little detail on the packsaddle design, here's an excerpt from John Mionczynski's The Pack Goat (used with permission):
"Some homemade saddles... have design flaws that can be devastating. The angle of the tree should be eighty-five to eighty-seven degrees. A ninety-degree angle, which is easier to build, will not distribute weight but will put excessive pressure on the goat's vertebral processes (the side wings on the vertebrae) and eventually cause debilitating sores. Sharper angles will hurt the ribs and constrict breathing. The inside surfaces of the bars should be beveled on top and bottom for a better fit and to compensate for wider or narrower backs. An overall tree length of 12 inches fits most goats of packable size (150 to 300 pounds)."
RE: Saddles - wood vs metal - Sanhestar - 11-09-2015
your boy looks nice but please don't place packs directly without any padding on his back. You wouldn't do this with a horse, either, and they have much more muscle left and right of the spine to protect it than goats. This pack, even light, is directly rubbing on his spine. Inflammation and soreness can result from that.
The load should also rest more towards the withers/shoulders (without restricting shoulder movement) than shown in your foto. Place the load like a good fitting saddle on a horse.
RE: Saddles - wood vs metal - Charlie Horse - 11-09-2015
To mess with city folks I like to put my huge Acid Rain panniers on and fill them with pillows and empty coolers etc. Often I'll take a bed-roll and strap it across the top.
If you think pack goats get attention... When I had my yak with her packs on she really was the kind of thing that caused a lot of cars to stop.
Regarding buying pack saddles: A friend who does a LOT of miles with goats seems to think that none of the pack equipment is super reliable as it ships from the factory. He has replaced the rigging with leather straps and stuff, and he has his complaints about pannier materials and design. To me its the kind of thing where probably anyone with some experience on the trail is going to have their 2 cents to add about the perfect pack equipment.
An idea: For cheap panniers I bet you could find some used horse saddle bags and convert them. They'd be great for casual hikes rather than deep-woods camping.
RE: Saddles - wood vs metal - hihobaron - 11-09-2015
(11-09-2015, 09:33 AM)Sanhestar Wrote: your boy looks nice but please don't place packs directly without any padding on his back. You wouldn't do this with a horse, either, and they have much more muscle left and right of the spine to protect it than goats. This pack, even light, is directly rubbing on his spine. Inflammation and soreness can result from that.
The load should also rest more towards the withers/shoulders (without restricting shoulder movement) than shown in your foto. Place the load like a good fitting saddle on a horse.
Hello Sanhestar
Thanks for the info.
Yes I just put that cantle bag on him for the picture when I got him to see what he would do with something on his back.
Note; No girth , Brest Strap,or Britchen Basically it was just a photo opp, but I did get a good picture of Pete out of the deal.
Happy Trails
hihobaron
RE: Saddles - wood vs metal - hihobaron - 11-09-2015
[attachment=2036 Wrote:Charlie Horse pid='7854' dateline='1447094928']To mess with city folks I like to put my huge Acid Rain panniers on and fill them with pillows and empty coolers etc. Often I'll take a bed-roll and strap it across the top.
If you think pack goats get attention... When I had my yak with her packs on she really was the kind of thing that caused a lot of cars to stop.
Regarding buying pack saddles: A friend who does a LOT of miles with goats seems to think that none of the pack equipment is super reliable as it ships from the factory. He has replaced the rigging with leather straps and stuff, and he has his complaints about pannier materials and design. To me its the kind of thing where probably anyone with some experience on the trail is going to have their 2 cents to add about the perfect pack equipment.
An idea: For cheap panniers I bet you could find some used horse saddle bags and convert them. They'd be great for casual hikes rather than deep-woods camping.
Hello Charlie Horse
A YAK !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd love to see a picture of that.
I used to do a bunch of Muzzle Loading Primitive Events took horses with and one year there was a guy with a OX Trained to pull a 2 wheel cart ,ride and Pack that was a fun year with several horses in camp and a OX on a cart running a shuttle service for coolers and ice from the parking lot. (No Vehicles allowed in primitive camp you know) Week Long Camp.
I was doing a Presentation on using your backyard horse as you BOV at Prepper Camp this fall when I got the itch for a goat or 2 again.
I do have Saddle Pack Set ups for my two prime horses that we were Presenting with there. I agree with you that people with horses or goats that work them are always looking for something better in their opinion and will play with their equipment.
I have been looking at different goat pack supplies the last few days here .
Nothing much better to do here with 9 inches of rain last week and 2.25 here today and still coming.
I hold the high ground here so we are ok for now.
I see a kit sawbuck type ,as well as their assembled and finished ones. Yes, I am handy with most all tools.
I looked at a Treeless system using about the same idea I have seen in Treeless horse saddles some of the Mounted Police Units I work with have been using .
I have yet to see a picture of a all metal pack frame are they like a Decker Pack for horses? Except smaller?
then I have seen the little padded Day Packs like you mentioned are thinking about making a set of horse saddle bags out of.
I also saw a set of Pannier Bags sized to use plastic Kitchen trash cans for liners.
That was shown with a sawbuck pack saddle on the goat.
Do you have the Farm Supply Chain Stores out there "Tractor Supply"
I know the local manager there well, they are dog friendly, and I asked him if he would mind if I brought goats in to visit ,He said sure.
Anytime.
One of the fun things I am thinking about on a Saturday, Yes I buy some of my goat feed there. but for the most part my boy eat in the woods around camp here. They do have goat halters but from what I saw they are to small for my boys. OH well.
Oh well enough for now thanks for the ides and info.
Happy Trails
hihobaron