Customer Reviews

Powerline OWT24 EZ Olympic Plate Load Tree

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I needed a stand for my weights, and the OWT24 EZ was the top result on Amazon, with decent reviews, so I figured it would be a good bet.

I was wrong.

After assembly I took it to my workout room and set it down. I pushed down on it from the top to make sure it was stable (I have a rubber floor in my weight room), and it snapped in half right where the lower leg attaches to the longer leg. I literally pushed down with less than 10 pounds of weight. The break occurred at the weld between the end of the lower leg and its attached bolt plate (where the bolts go through to hold the two legs together). I assume that it was just a bad weld job.

Anyway, I immediately went down and got the warranty paper that came with it. It said that they would replace the product if it broke. But it also said buyer had to pay for shipping. Considering that this is a 25lb item, that would be relatively costly, especially since the entire thing is only $43.

Rather than deal with the hassle of returning and waiting for a new one I just welded it back together. It isn't as pretty, but I am sure it will hold together now. But for anyone that either doesn't have their own welding equipment, or doesn't want to go through the hassle of welding it, this would not have been an acceptable solution.

Perhaps I just got the one in a million defective item. I can't say if the poor welding is typical or a very rare exception. But I was not impressed.

The other reviews covered the solid construction, design, and mentioned a slight lack of real instructions. For anyone putting one together, you might note the following to speed things up: 1) there are two sized nuts used 17mm and 14mm (you can also grab an 11/16th to double up tightening the bolts that hold the two main pieces together unless of course you have two 17mm sockets) and 2) there are two sizes of end caps! the slightly bigger ones go in the bottom pieces, the smaller ones go in the holding bars - not sure if the instruction page noted this or not, but you probably wouldn't notice the size difference unless you're looking for it.

My main qualm with this load tree is that my 45 and 35 weights hit when placed on adjacent posts. (FYI I got Troy's VTX Premium Grade Olympic 300 lb. Weight Set GOSS-300V ) In other words, if I put the 45s on the "middle" post and THEN put on the 35s on the top post, I couldn't take off the 45s without first removing the 35s (it'd go better with a picture). My 45lb and 35lb can fit on either of the top two (but not the lowest) position. This isn't really enough to take it below 4 stars as I should easily be able to arrange an appropriate setup once I'm familiar with what I'll be lifting.

This is a good solid weight tree. It has an great center of balance and is as compact as you can make it while still storing all your weights (45, 35, 25, 10, 5, 2.5).

Good value. Easy to assemble.

Very happy with this product.

I looked all over for a weight tree to hold all my weights. I got tired of leaving them on the floor to collect dust so I knew I had to buy a tree to hold them. I have an olympic weight bench and over 500 lbs of weights all which sit very nicely on the tree with plenty of room to add and remove more.

It's hard to beat the price of this weight tree ($49 with free shipping). It performs as it should and was relatively easy to assemble (if you can follow a single page diagram with no instructions) - just don't expect the tree to arrive in pristine condition. The individual pieces of this item were able to move around in the box allowing for numerous surface scratches. Other than that, I have no complaints.

This is a good product at a reasonable price. The assembly is easy and no special tools are needed. I am using it for a full 300 lb. Olympic weight set and it is very stable. Loading and unloading the weights is easy, but you do have to put the weights on the appropriate bar depending on the size of the weight.

Does what it was built for..to hold weights. Sturdy and a good value. Instructions on assembly are not clear at all, but not too difficult to figure it out if you possess a little common sense. There is a little more friction when taking weights on and off than there has been on other weight trees that I have used, but not a huge deal. Also, it is painted so it begins to chip with use.

The Powerline OWT24 EZ Olympic Weight Tree is a great product; I may even go as far as saying it's practically "unbeatable" for its price.

Background:

My wife and I recently purchased a house, and I am in the process of setting up a portion of the basement as a weight/workout room... Previously, the home I was renting had a large, unfinished laundry room in the basement where I stored my equipment, so I simply laid my plates on the floor stacked by weight, but since our new basement is fully finished and there will be a more 'formal' workout room, I wanted to get a bit more organized.

What I was looking for:

I purchased the Powerline OWT24 EZ because it fell into the price range I was really hoping to stay within, and the reviews were very positive overall. I was concerned primarily about stability (especially on a carpeted area) and weight capacity, and this was the least expensive unit that received consistent positive reviews pertaining to both aspects.

Assembly:

The product arrived disassembled, double boxed with all parts organized fairly effeciently. The product is very easy to assemble; the instructions were hardly necessary. Only a socket (I forgot which size) and an adjustable wrench are necessary for assembly. Including unpacking, laying out, retrieving tools and assembling the unit, everything took around 20-30 minutes to complete.

Positives:

So far, the product has lived up to my expectations.

+ As I mentioned above, assembly was a cinch. Minimal time, tools and experience necessary.

+ It's stable on carpet. I balanced the weights with 45s, 10s, and 2.5s on one side, and 35s, 25s and 5s on the other (with the heavier weights at the bottom, obviously). I tried to rock and knock the stand around and it wouldn't budge, so I am confident in its ability.

+ It's sturdy, with good weight capacity. My unit is currently supporting 305lbs of weight without any issue. The pegs that hold the weights can be off-set to hold more on one side than the other (for example, I have eight 10lb plates, so I had to adjust the peg more to one side to hold all of them, while the other side of that peg secures two 25lb plates).

+ It's looks pretty nice, and is well laid out.

Negatives:

I only have one minor gripe about the OWT24 EZ that prevented a "perfect" rating...

- The pegs that hold the weights slide through round holes in the rack, and are secured by single bolts that push directly into the metal of the peg. This is fine if you get it adjusted appropriately the first time and never purchase any more weights / have to adjust the pegs further, however it's difficult not to overtighten the securing bolt, which removes paint from the peg and stands a good chance of denting it, so after a few adjustments it'll have a few dents and exposed metal areas... I'm not sure how this could have been avoided, though, especially using this format and keeping it in this price range. Not really a huge deal, but it causes a concern for potential rust issues on those exposed metal areas, and if a substantial amound of adjustment is performed (with overtightening), the weight peg may eventually begin to lose its integrity.

Overall I highly recommend this weight tree!

Awesome! Very solid and easy to put together. Perfect for the home gym or even commercial grade gyms.

Solid, inexpensive, great stability, and easy to put together. I'm using it to hold a 400lb weight set and it works great. I initially thought that the black coating on the horizontal tubes would scrape off, but they've held up remarkably well. I wouldn't hesitate to buy this tree again as I have yet to see anything that looks better for anywhere near the price.