Yup, you got it figured. Stay away from the fades for now, and don't pull too hard on the tiller tree until you get the outer limbs bending more, or you will stress the wood too much right out of the fades, and you'll take excess set. That's the worst place for set to take hold - the closer the set is to the handle, the more it's amplified as you go out to the tips.
I think once you get the outer limbs bending a bit more, it will take some of the stress off the inner limbs by the fades, and you'll be good to go!
Keep us posted!