Saddle prototype

[Moorefieldc]

Forgot my tap at the house for the rigging locations but the boards are mounted with an his extra hole for more adjustability.

I haven’t been on this website for awhile. I wish I would have noticed your saddle build sooner.

The biggest complaint I had about Marc’s saddles is that there are too many parts that could come loose.
I get it, custom fitted saddles. I have packed with people who have his saddles. They always seem to be torquing down the center bolt. Guess what? A saddle become loose and he lost the wrench to tighten the saddles in our backcountry camp. He could not find it and the repercussions of this was him having to redistribute his gear that the goat could no longer carry onto his other goat’s.

I researched so many designs of saddles over the years. Butthead Packgoats offer custom made wood saddles. They are so much more affordable and the company even sent me a Christmas card thanking me. I believe custom building a saddle is the best option. Extremely easy to properly fit your goats.

I do have a suggestion for your build. If you are dead set on keeping the center bolt. I am not sure need that because of the massive sideboards are more than strong enough to provide rigidity to the saddle, you wanted a lighter saddle than Marc right? Send that exact design to people with the center bolt. Have  them fit the saddle to their fully grown goat(important) then have them send it back. Weld the custom angles that the center bolt provided then you remove the center bolt. Solve the needed hardware just to loose it when you need it most. Remove the center pin and ditch the hardware. Create a lighter saddle that cannot come loose. 

How much does a center bolt and its sleeve weigh? How much does not having to carry hardware that you are likely to loose weigh? Another 1/4-1/2 pound?

Also take into consideration all of the straps and rigging that needs to be fitted. That’s a lot of material to trap heat and exhaust your goats sooner.

If you want a saddle that is superior to Marc’s I think my suggestions are worth taking in to consideration.

I get what your saying. I have a couple solutions im working on. One I'm trying to figure out how to mount the tools needed for the hardware securely to the saddle it's self. Two the use of loctite. Three, the use of safety wires like in racing applications or helicopters. Four, two hole that goes through the center bar and bolt and use a cotter pin. My saddle as a whole with Nathan Putnam panniers is already 2 pounds lighter than Marc's saddle and completely aluminum unlike marcs that still uses wooden boards and that was the first design that was heavier than the new one. The side board covers was just the first rendition from my very first design. My newest design has slots for buckles and straps to slide through that will be sewn to the padding. I've also thought about having the padding cut out similar to the design of the boards so they would help let heat escape but I'm also trying to keep the amount of time per saddle to a minimum to keep costs down so they are way less than Marc's. Also I'm a machinist by trade so metal working comes easy to me. Wood working and me hasn't ever mixed and is like calculus to a 4 year old ?