For all intents and purposes it is best to leave the saddles on pelts as long as it doesn't hinder the drying of the pelt.Beaver,fisher,otter and wolf have very heavy saddles and cannot be dried properly unless the saddles are removed,regardless of fat under or not.If drying conditions are good,some wolf can be dried with saddles on.
Graders know there is no damage to hair roots when they feel the saddle weight,or see it on LO pelts when grading.A papery pelt is not what you,the graders or buyers want to see,and this is what you get when saddles are removed from thinner skinned prime pelts.The first thing a grader will do when assessing a pelt is to give it a flip,this will immediately let him know the weight of the skin.(not to be confused with the weight of the fur)Weight is what you want-a prime skin with the saddle intact has a hvy wt skin(supple not boardy),and not papery.Papery is not good.
A little fat under the saddle can easily be pushed out from under with a scud without damaging the saddle.The best tool for this is a dull bone scraper.When there is more fat under the saddle,the saddle will be damaged when scudding out the fat,and it has to be removed at that point.This will determine what is a "little" and what is a "lot".Sections of fur vary,but there are very few pelts in my fur section that have excess fat,although it does ocurr from time to time,with fox and lynx occasionally.Especially if the trapper has been supplying them with beaver for a while.
Saddles left on early skins will leave the skin somewhat boardy,but removing saddles with a fleshing tool on early skins is difficult to do without damaging hair roots.And it wont fool the grader.
Last edited by Boco; 11/15/19 03:32 PM.