SAFETY WARNING TO PEOPLE WITH CWD SADDLES
When I changed stirrup leathers on my nine yr old CWD 2G saddle I discovered the stirrup hanger bar was broken. CWD refuses to sell me the part and wants $948.00 to replace it. If you have a CWD with the carbon fiber tree , remove your leathers and check the hanger bars
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Yikes!
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I’m not going to sit here and defend them or their customer service, which is historically terrible. I’ve been the middle man in many terrible customer service scenarios with the office/repair shop. However, they didn’t quote you a stirrup bar replacement because the stirrup bar is quite literally infused into the tree. They quoted you a fix that requires your saddle to be completely dismantled and the tree repaired (or more than likely replaced). You can’t just send this off to anyone to fix.
And no - it’s probably not the best practice to not fix something like a bad stirrup bar, however at 9 years old… I wouldn’t expect it to be under any sort of warranty, especially when they don’t even lifetime warranty their trees. This goes for any saddle brand.
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This. I’m no fan of CWD, but at 9 years old AND there not being a “replacement part” to be had, I don’t think this is bad service. Maybe bad design…
$900ish to rebuild/replace the tree isn’t outrageous. Though you may be without a saddle for a hot minute - their turnaround time is notoriously awful…
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I didn’t know it was one piece. CWD should have mentioned that to me. I agree that is not a high price for replacing an entire tree. However my point was to warn peiple of a potential safety issue
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Fair enough! Check your gear, y’all.
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My CWD came with a lifetime warranty of the tree, provided it was under the original ownership. But I bought it when it was an almost unknown brand, (maybe 2005?) so perhaps their policy has changed since then.
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Yup. I had the same thing happen to a county saddle. I had to send it off for a tree replacement. Thankfully they covered the repair at 5 years old. 
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They might have early on, especially when they did the wood & steel trees that were practically unbreakable unless flipped over on, but they definitely don’t now. I know some reps will tell you they do, but that was a big no no when I worked there. They also changed trees in 2018ish!
This is there current T&C on the website:
ARTICLE 13 - LIMITED WARRANTIES
The Company warrants that the Products will be free of defects in workmanship and materials for a period of one (1) year following the date of delivery to the Customer. This warranty shall expressly exclude any damage caused by improper use or misuse or accident. Claims for warranty repairs must be made within the one (1) year time period described in this
Section 11. The Customer’s sole remedy under this warranty and the Company’s sole obligation is limited to repair or replacement of any defective Products. In no event shall the Company be liable for any damages, direct or indirect, special or consequential, including, without limitation, damages for lost profits, business interruption, economic loss, personal injury or death to persons or animals arising out of the supply and use of the Products and the Customer releases the Company from any and all of such claims.
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I think I had my saddle for about seven years before I stopped riding and sold it, so it probably did have one of those indestructible trees. It sure held up a lot better than the ones I am reading about now.
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Maybe they should have told you that or explained it to you when you asked about the repair. That’s definitely on the customer service of the rep or office person you talked to! However, your post here and the subsequent posts and outrage on FB definitely make it seem like it was more than just a warning to check your gear. Especially this part:
But yes - I suggest checking your gear often! Especially those pieces you don’t think about, and extra especially on the new carbon/flex trees that so many companies have now - as they are made with a mold and then reinforced!
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I just had someone mail me a picture of a CWD stirrup bar they had offered to fix. So ,I dunno???
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Also a warning about the cost of repair. Someone said the bar is one piece with the tree. Then another person sent me a picture of him holding a cwd carbon fiber bar and offering to fix, so ?? I dunno
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And how much was this person planning to charge you for this repair? And are you sure it’s a CWD carbon fiber bar he was showing you?
Much less ! And it appeared to be the exact same. I also found a pic of a 2G tree and the stirrup hangers are separate pieces from the tree
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Looks like delamination between the broadgood layers and not really any rapid failure from the picture. Bending with torsion away from the tree until final failure.
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I believe the stirrup bar is bolted on as a separate piece. It still requires taking the saddle apart to get to it.
Yep. I’ve been changing stirrup leathers with breakaway safety stirrups back and forth between this saddle and another for different horses almost daily for the past couple of months., which of course pulls on the bars. There was no visible damage until a couple of days ago
That is incorrect. The stirrup bars are separate and bolt onto the tree… I found a CWD trained person to replace them with metal
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Yes , I am sure. And , I’m having him replace the bars with metal ones
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