Customer Reviews

Ironman 3-Station Power Tower

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the sturdiness of this piece of equipment. The stability is indistinguishable from commercial equivalents you see in gyms. There's no movement or swaying when doing chin-ups or dips. Unlike another reviewer, I did not notice any impediment in doing push-ups with the floor grips, but this may be an issue if you are taller or have long arms. Another positive is the width between the arm pads for doing the leg raises. I've found this to very greatly among roman chair pieces, but fortunately this piece is perfect for me (5'10") and I think could comfortably accomodate taller people. A taller friend (6'7") had no issues when he tested the chair and the chin-up bar. Also, the tower's design with the lower crossbar permits for decline push-ups, which is nice. The only critique I have is that the foam padding around one end of the chin-up bar was torn when the box was shipped to me, but this was easily repaired with electical tape. I would have also liked to see 2 inside handles on the chin-up bar for alternative chin-up movements, but perhaps that would've required a wider base for stability. Not that big of a deal for me as I'm able to use the dip handles for this. I do agree with another reviewer that you want to ensure sufficient ceiling clearance for the chin-up bar. For the price, I think this is the best piece of equipment to strengthen/tone the upper body.

I received the Power Tower the other day and the box was beat up but all the bands were still on it. Opened it up and everything was there, which is always a good sign. When assembled the overall quality is pretty good... but don't expect it to be perfect. You will most certainly see some bad welds, scratches on the paint, smashed cushion or torn handles, and other imperfections. This is pretty normal for these kind of mass-produced items. As far as assembly goes, don't tighten any of the bolts until it is all together. This way you can square it up as best you can and then start to tighten up everything. Come back a few days later and re-tighten the bolts. You may get some torquing of the frame which may make it rock slightly when it's not loaded, but that can be corrected by using some cork shims underneath the frame where needed. The following is "my opinion" based on the unit that I received. I noticed that when I grabbed the pullup bar I could feel the unit start to lift slightly at the front end. It never quite came off the ground but you could feel it want to. I will put weight on the front end of the frame until such time that I drop some more body weight. The dip bars felt very stable to me, as did the leg lift part. Seeing that I weigh 215 pounds I am thinking that I am certainly maxing the tower at the high side. It is rated for 250 pounds which I am sure is true but obviously the more weight you put on it the more stress and flex you can expect. I think anyone under 200 pounds will totally love this machine for the price. If you are a "big boy" nearer the 250+ pound range and one who is a hardcore fitness freak , you might consider a little stronger machine... but expect to pay more for sure. Overall, I highly recommend it. It will be perfect for me, since every day I am getting closer to my 180 pound goal.

After purchasing this product and using it for a bit, here are my thoughts:

The box it was delivered in was a mess; it was ripped on all sides and the bands that were holding it together were almost broken (in fact, I removed them by hand by just pulling on them a bit). However, despite the box condition, all the contents were wrapped in plastic and as they should be, so no worries.

The instruction were fine. All the nuts and bolts are labelled and referenced correctly in the instructions, so no issues of which bolt to use where. You put it together in two stages: the lower supports and the upper. I would recommend putting each portion together by hand-tightening the bolts and then tightening everything at the end. This helps prevent putting it together lopsided.

I got it assembled with no problems in about an hour (all you need is two ratchets with 17mm and 14mm attachments, not included, of course). Everything is pretty sturdy and doesn't move around too much. I'd ensure that you've measured the height of where you want to put it before purchasing (I didn't have too many problems in my garage).

As for using it, the leg raise and the bar dip stations are fine. The only major complaint/flaw I see is with the pull-up station. I'm 6'3" (which is above average, I understand) and when doing the pull-ups, if you are swinging front to back at all, your knees will hit the bottom center-support beam on your way down. If you're shorter I'm sure this won't be a problem, but it comes as a painful shock when you do your first set. I resolved this by covering it with a blanket for padding and being extra careful when coming down that I'm not swinging at all (which is probably better form, anyway). As for the push-up handles, they seem to be place in an odd place and I really don't use them at all.

Overall, it seems to be pretty good quality, but if you're taller, I think I would suggest getting the wall-mounted type so you can put it at the height you want (and don't hurt your knees coming down).

For the price, this thing is pretty well built. I am very fit, have always worked out in gyms, and just recently cancelled my membership and started building my own home gym. This type of multi station pull-up, dip, and leg raise station is one piece of equipment I knew I had to have. I was a little leary of only spending $100 bucks on one of these when I saw several different models going for $250+. However, I am now glad I got this one instead of spending twice the money.

I am 190 lbs. and do dips with an additional 70 to 90 pounds hanging from my waist. Do pull-ups with as much as 45 lbs. added on to my weight. Even with that much weight this thing rocks only slightly when I'm doing heavy fast pull-ups, but it is really not too bad. It is rock solid when doing weighted dips or leg raises. Overall, it is a great piece of equipment that should last me quite a while.

In my online search for a chin-up/dip station, I came across dozens of towers. Most were grossly more expensive than the Ironman 3-Station Power Tower, but other than that, I could not see any real difference. So I bought the tower -- saving a bundle, by the way, especially thanks to Amazon's discount shipping rate -- and I have nothing bad to say about it. The thing even looks great. Putting it together was not overly complicated, though it does require basic tools that aren't included. I am 230 pounds and was concerned that it wouldn't hold up under my weight (it's only rated to 250 pounds) but for its size this is one seriously sturdy frame. If I had to make a complaint -- and this is a stretch -- it's that there is some slight shakiness when I do dips; but it's negligible and nothing that interferes in any way with my workout. Basically, I am VERY happy with this product and would happily recommend it.

The 3-Station Power Tower is good value for what it costs. It was relatively easy to put together (I have lots of experience with Ikea...) but its written instructions were not proofed carefully. DO NOT go by the written instructions on p.2 as they skip a few crucial steps. However, the diagram is accurate so it becomes obvious what is missing in the instructions.

As far as the quality of manufacturing, etc, is concerned, the welds are a little rough (but seemingly sturdy) and the tolerances are a little on the sloppy side but NOT unacceptably so.

So far its held up very well. It seems a little unstable if you are not actually using it but the addition of your body weight instantly stabilizes it, so no fears of toppling over.

This power tower is just as I thought it was going to be, very sturdy, comfortable, and easy to assemble. I'm 5.2 and don't have problems using it, but to reach the top bar I have to step (without shoes) on the handles you use to do push-ups. By the way, this handles are nicely cushioned.

I checked out a few similar items at sporting goods stores and decided that a model around $100-$150 would suit me. This was the best looking tower for the price, and luckily I kept checking in and out and actually got this thing when the price was lowered to $80 for a few days. So with shipping this thing cost me about $115. I don't have time for a gym membership and had room in my garage for this--between it and my elliptical machine I can do pretty well.
The packaging was fine and I'm sorry to hear that others had received it torn up. But mine was fine, all the parts were there, and assembly took about an hour. A socket wrench is a must. The directions are slightly confusing, but I can't fathom what the one reviewer is talking about where they say the holes were drilled on the wrong side. Study the directions, look at the pics on the box, and you should be able to figure it out.
I weigh 170 pounds. For me, this tower is very sturdy, very solid. I use it for chin ups, dips and leg lifts--it performs extremely well. There is no rocking and it is SOLID. I figured the push up bars would be useless given the other reviews so I've never bothered--I just do push ups on the floor anyway.
As far as chin ups go, yes you can bang your legs on the support bars--if you have awful form. Properly executed chin-ups work great.
I am VERY happy with this purchase--it was just what I was looking for and the price was right. Even at its current price it is still a great item. I love it.

My only let down was that it was on back order, but it got here in under a month and all the parts were present including the warranty(I read that a previous customer had problems with these issues). It was a piece of cake to assemble and it works great. I have had it for about a month, used it almost everyday, and so far have not had any problems. Highly recommended.

This was as good of a tower as I could hope for. Very stable, the cushioned grips and angled back rest all feel good. A well-made and good looking piece of equipment, I'm sure this will provide me with years of great service. BTW, Amazon shipped amazingly fast; great experience.