I have two models, TreeNode and User. Each user has_one TreeNode, which is the root of the tree.
has_one
class TreeNode acts_as_tree belongs_to :user e
has_one :tree, :class_name => "TreeNode"
Keep in mind, this assumes a foreign key called user_id in the tree_nodes table.
user_id
tree_nodes
Edit: If that doesn't work, you might need to specify the foreign key (:foreign_key => :user_id), but I don't think so.
:foreign_key => :user_id