Customer Reviews

Trojan MS-2000 Miter Saw Stand

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've had an ms 2000 and the 2000x extension wing now for over three years. It has been very helpful on my jobs. It really makes for a smooth running cut station . I hate site built contraptions to elevate your saw and for material support. The ms 2000 is a very nice piece of equipment. It sets up in less than a minute. With or without the 2000x it offers solid material support for varied lengths with the ladder type slide out wings. With the 2000x it is outstanding even with heavy framing lumber. Many other stands only offer support for long stock with their rollers so far away from the saw. If you have a five foot or under cutoff , it falls to the ground where it might suffer damage. This stand is also the easiest I've seen to set up and break down. I sometimes work on sites where ther are several stands from many companies. It's so much faster it's not even funny. I know one carpenter who was planning on getting the rousseau stand. Two guys struggled for two minutes to get their rousseau folded up in front of us. I said watch this. I folded mine up in a fraction of the time , by myself and had it in the trailer before they were done. Needless to say he bought a Trojan. One outstanding benefit is the height. It is much taller than the other available stands. I like my work to be up high where I can see it without bending over. After years of use mine developed a little play in the lock mechanism. It was very easy to fix. Trojan can supply a new lock rod or you can disassemble it and drill a new hole for any one of the cotter pins . This makes the rod longer and tightens up the whole stand. The designer has since improved the locking mechanism to make it more rigid and resistant to wear. When I got my new Makita LS 1212 I considered getting a different stand. Nothing really compared very well so I bought another Trojan. I'm happy I did!

I am a professional finish carpenter and I love this stand! I love it even more after I modified it slightly to better fit my saw. I have a Makita LS1013 installed on the stand and it fit just fine except that when installed as directed I only had 7-1/2 inches* (out of the 14" saw stand width)of fully supported lumber width. (*Distance from the saw fence to the front edge of the Trojan saw stand.) I modified my stand by removing the 1/2 x 16 x 39 1/2 particle board table and replacing it with a 1/2 x 20 x 39 1/2 piece of MDO. This allowed me to mount my saw further back from the front edge of the stand and netted me an additional 3+ inches of usable saw stand support width. I also custom trimmed the back edge of new table to match the contours of the rear saw legs. I was careful not to weaken the MDO and left about 4" width of MDO under each rear saw leg. I have been using it for about a year and it works fantastic. An additional bonus is that when the saw and stand are in the transport position, the weight of the saw is now more perfectly balanced between the wheels of the stand. This makes it easier to control on bumpy/hilly terrain to and from the job site.

It's hard to say anything that hasn't already been said, except that the author of the single negative comment obviously never used the MS-2000 stand.

It rolls easily over rough ground, sets up in seconds, knocks down almost as fast, provides solid support for lumber and cutoffs.

Mounting bolts for the DeWalt miter saw are a wee bit tight between the frame members. I liked the suggestion here to cut a new, deeper MDF top to allow the saw to straddle the rear frame member and provide more wing support in front of the saw's fence for wider material.

I bought a rolling miter stand because my heavy DeWalt sliding double compound saw was too heavy to lug around; also, plywood on sawhorses makes a lousy stand, and using a miter saw sitting on the floor isn't as productive as a stand. I've had a Trojan stand since 2001.

CONs:

- Trojan should use high-quality plywood for the table instead of half inch MDF. MDF looks cheap, the edges can break off, and you wouldn't want it to get wet.

- There is a chance the entire rig could topple over while unfolding the stand with a mounted saw, as the stand has to be tilted over on one end and held there so it doesn't fall over, while you lock the leg-spreader bar, then pull the whole assembly upright. I haven't come close to dropping it (yet?), but if it fell over, the attached saw could be damaged.

- The stand isn't designed to be stored in the upright position, as there is no "foot" to hold it in place. I store mine in a semi-upright position (65 degrees), where the stand rests on it's wheels and a roller. Thus stored, the stand isn't all that stable and it takes 37" of space from the wall with a Dewalt DW708 mounted.

- Stand lacks a handle when it's being used as a hand-truck. One of the rollers serves that purpose, but an actual handle would be better.

- The 1" square tubing next to the wheels was too long. It would scrape the ground unless the stand was on a perfectly smooth surface. I cut a half inch off each side at the same angle, and reattached the plastic bumpers.

- Concerned that the Trojan-supplied wheel caps might come off, I installed cotter pins. Probably not necessary, but now the wheels are securely held on.

Here's how: Center-punch a dent into the axle, quarter inch from each end, to guide a drill bit. Drill a 1/8" hole through the axle - with a drill press if you have one. Slide axle into stand holes, install the spacer washers provided by Trojan, slide wheels onto axle, put a 0.5" washer over each end of the axle, insert a 3/32" cotter pin into the hole and bend it over. (See customer photo above).

PROs:

- Initial set-up was straightforward, it came with all the parts, and it was easy to adjust the height of the end rollers to match the height of my miter saw.

- Any miter saw should work on this stand after adjusting the rollers to match the saw's table height. Since every brand/model saw is different, you'll have to drill the holes to match your saw's mounting holes. Use carriage bolts/wing nuts to secure the saw to the table, so it's easily removable.

- I can open-up the Trojan with saw attached, by myself, in about 30 seconds, and that's being careful (to prevent the rig from falling over). Takes slightly longer to fold it up. It rolls as easily as a hand truck when folded, although since I'm tall, I have to lean over to grab the roller (used as a handle).

- My DeWalt miter saw stays bolted to the Trojan, since it's so easy to roll and set-up. With the Trojan's large rubber tires, I can also [carefully] move the saw up and down stairs by myself, even inside a finished house.

- For cutting short pieces of stock, neither 32-inch table extension is needed. Otherwise, all you have to do is unscrew a T handle bolt to lift an extension in place, align its height against the saw's bed by eye, and tighten the handle. Takes about 10 seconds per side. The excellent extensions have cross bracing to provide multiple points of support for varying lengths of work. For really long pieces, I also use a separate work stand, not attached to the Trojan.

- If you will ever need to use your miter stand outside on soft (but close to level) ground, consider getting one with large tires that stay down when the table is opened up (Trojan MS2000, Rousseau 2950, or Delta 36-136). Stands that rest on 4 legs when opened (HTC HP-575PK or Delta 50-155) might sink into a soft surface (such as grass) when setting it up - OR - tip over once set up. With the Trojan, you won't need a piece of wood under the tires for increased stability. If the ground isn't level, prop up one tire and one side of the other end for firm base, with a small piece of plywood or other scrap.

Another benefit of a stand with tires that stay on the ground: you can then roll the opened stand to a different location. E.g., #1 - store the stand/saw set-up in a nearby secure location for the duration of a job. Then when starting work, roll the stand/saw where it's most convenient. E.g. #2 - if the stand isn't exactly where you want it, roll it there, without folding it up. Stands like the HTC or Delta 50-155 are unwieldy to move once they are opened, especially if you're alone.

- I'm 6' 4" tall and find the Trojan's height perfect -- the miter saw's table is 39 inches off the ground.

- Everything folds up into a single compact unit, so there's nothing else to carry or remember to take, and nothing pokes out to get in your way (like the extension rollers on the Rousseau 2950).

Summary: A well thought out functionally designed product that improves productivity -- primarily because it sets up quickly and has large rubber tires that stay on the ground.

The Delta 36-136 Universal Miter Saw Stand should also be on your short list...

The Trojan MS-2000 is Great. People are amazed at how fast it goes from hand truck to workbench. Outstanding features: large wheels, rolls easily (even up and down stairs) - wheels down in workbench configuration making repositioning while set up easy, fits through most doorways, Ladder type stock support wings give a wide and almost continuous work surface, easy adjustment (1 time) of the wings to your miter saw. The best feature is that the stand is completely self contained, wheel it into position, unfold the legs, raise the wings and plug in the saw. That's it - you are ready to go! It does everything it is supposed to, but don't plan on trimming the end of a 16 footer without some outboard support, and don't try to unfold the legs unless you are on substantially level ground.

Well, based mainly on the reviews written here I broke down and bought a Trojan and then modified its table similarly with an enlarged sheet of 1/2" MDF, correspondingly shifting the base of my DeWalt 708 more to the rear of the unit to increase the useable width available for material to pass and still maintain contact with the wing supports. One caveat: this procedure does tend to create imbalance with such a large amount of weight in play, especially with the Dewalt's saw blade pushed all the way back on its rails. The Trojan in this configuration hasn't tipped yet, and with material loaded there should be no issue at all. But just standing there waiting for work it is a bit tipsy.

Having said that, the Trojan appears to be mainly well constructed. The exception is the flimsy pair of caps provided to hold the cart's wheels on the axle. A better approach might be to offer an axle pre-drilled at its ends to accept substantial cotter pins, but I don't know. I will say what we have looks and feels somewhat insecure.

Also, my table doesn't fold exactly right, with one set of folding legs binding somewhat upon collapse. This further causes the little locking hook to not meet its pin correctly.

I enjoy this work station's portability immensely--those pneumatic tires roll like a dream--and even with all that dead weight of such a large saw it has not proven difficult to set up and break down. I'd advise having a helping hand with your saw rigged. I did first time it in my garage with the help of woman with a strong back and it _still_ threatened to get away from us for a second. Alone on my work site it simply got away from me and down went the saw onto the deck with a hard thud! I would imagine that fatigue and unfamiliarity with the operation played a role there, but still, with a 708 on top the operation is dicey at best.

On balance, the Trojan enhances my saw. And just think--now I've got a Dewalt 708 on wheels!

Last fall I purchased a 12 inch sliding compound miter saw. I soon realized I needed a place to set it up but give me the flexibility to move it out to a job site. The saw weighs 62 pounds. Thus, I needed a stand that could take the weight, easy to breakdown, and give me a work surface to support the wood I was cutting.

The stand has wing arms that extend up on each side to support the wood for cutting. The wing arms extend up and quickly adjust--I took a permanent marker and marked the location on the extension rod where the wing becomes level. This allows me to quickly lock in a level work surface.

I strongly advise getting the optional miter stop attachment. This is good for multiple cuts of the same length. However, I improved on the screw that attaches to the stand. I changed the screw to a thumb screw making it easier to move it around and make adjustments faster--hint to the Trojan folks. These wings are a real selling point in fully supporting your work. Other stands have these adjustable rollers which you have to adjust everytime you do a cut which slows you down.

When I received the stand the top board was slightly damaged due to shipping, I called Trojan--since that is what it says to do in the box. They quickly shipped me a new board. The box needed to have padding for shipping. I would suggest painting the board to match the stand or paint it an accent red color. This will keep it resistant to rain and the saw dust sweeps easily off a glossy surface. Not sure why Trojan does not paint it to begin with.

If you plan to use a big saw like mine you may need to mount the saw first to a 3/4inchx24inchx24inch plywood base, then attach the base to the top with self tapping screws. This was needed in order to allow the saw to sit back far enough to take full advantage of 12 inch wide stock on the rollers and wings. Also the saw needs the extra width of support. This did not create an off balanced stand.

Finally, if you put a heavy saw on this stand you may need a little help to fold the stand down. Just make sure the saw is locked down and can not slide.

Overall, the quality of the stand, its portability, and functionality make it a great addition to the home depot of tools.

I have been a contractor for 9 years and the best tool that I have ever purchased was the MS-2000. It takes about 45 secounds to set up or brake down. I do not have to spend anymore time on my knees and it paid for itself in three weeks! I am so impressed by this tough tool that I bought several more for my crew. Thier production has increased and they are happier aswell. I was the best investment that I ever made.

Trojan has thought of so many great features and it is well built but does move some. Whether shifting the saw on its miter gage or positioning the wood to saw,it. It kind of twists on its wheels. There are three delta 50-155 universal stands on our crew of finish carpenters. These are solid stands though they lack many features the Trojan has. I have the 12"Dewalt sliding compound on the stand and it is a big saw. The mobility is great and not that it feels unsafe. Its just that the Delta stands theas are solid.

I think the ms2000 is a brilliant product. I install high end cabinetry and I almost always work by myself so it is very important to be self-reliant. Because of the nature of the business, I usually have a couple of jobs going at the same time in various stages of completion/punch. It is not unusual for me to be at 2 or 3 jobs in a single week. This would be unbearable with a saw-horse/plywood/home-made stand. As for the other junk on the market, there is no contest in my mind. I helped a friend load up his DeWalt stand and saw into his truck. I couldn't believe anyone would spend $5 on it. Even with two of us carrying the stand, the saw wanted to roll underneath. I told the guy that we should just carry the saw upside down like tribal warriors returning from the kill with a boar on a staff. He was afraid the saw would fall off.

The MS-2000 is super easy to set up. I'm sure I could do it blind-folded in fewer than 30 seconds. It is also very compact in its folded position (an important feature to someone like me with limited cargo space in my van.)

Although I highly recommend this stand, I would like to offer a stronger endorsement of the company. I bought my stand three or four years ago. A while back I tried to "drive" the stand and saw (in set-up position) over a 2x4 and consequently bent the lockbar. After that there was a bit of play in the wings. I emailed Trojan Mfg. trying to buy the damaged part. I was shocked when the owner of the company called me back the next day. He told me that the part had been re-engineered since I bought my unit and graciously offered to replace it for me. This level of service and commitment is rare and something I appreciate greatly.