The official 2008 Edition POWER RACK THREAD

[Keetman]

nudez of rack?

Here you are you nasty pig:







Hey DD, did you get the PM I sent you yesterday?

[deseee]

Ahh.... lots of nice looking holes on that one... if anyone needs me I'll be fapping

[Keetman]

Ahh.... lots of nice looking holes on that one... if anyone needs me I'll be fapping

Hmmm.....

I'm not sure what "fapping" is, but I'm guessing you'll need to clean your keyboard when your done.

[Conius]

I'm hunting down one of these right now:


I have a pull up bar/dip bar station so i think it will deliver what i need from a rack. I'm wondering if i'm overlooking anything at all (which i do doubt because i really just want it for squats/shoulder press/ shrugs/ deadlift bar loading.

I'm also wondering what sort of price you guys would rank one of these at both new and second hand... (I'm $AU but $US is fine to deal in atm) I'd hope to snag the 2nd hand option for ~AU$750 which = just under US$500

[billyblanks]

i was wondering if you guys thought this rack and bench by powertec was any good for the price








$499 for rack and $269 for bench

[AaronCF]

It was a lot better at it's old price point. (349)

There are other racks to consider for $500... Most who own it are happy with it, myself included.

[Yet]

What should i do about power racks if my ceiling is too low? (basement)
I want a sumo rack but they never come up on CL

[billyblanks]

What should i do about power racks if my ceiling is too low? (basement)
I want a sumo rack but they never come up on CL

either find a rack that fits in your basement or put it in your garage

[DiamondDelts]

Here you are you nasty pig:







Hey DD, did you get the PM I sent you yesterday?

No I did not. You will have to resend it bro.

[Conius]

i was wondering if you guys thought this rack and bench by powertec was any good for the price

$499 for rack and $269 for bench

mm US pricing!

I'm going to design my own rack similar to the one i posted and get it made up. I've just finished my engineering degree and my friends folks customise camper vans for all sorts of crazy things so should turn out decent quality and only cost me around AU$200 leaving me plenty of money for bars/weights and leaving almost a grand left over

I'll post a picture up here when i'm done with the design then again when the thing is made, i'm 90% sure i'll end up doing this unless the asking price for the second hand commercial rack is amazing.

[Conius]

(i can no longer edit my above post)

So i did the stage 1 design for my rack. Needs some adjustments based on the size of the metal that can be ordered.

Apparently the metal comes in 8m lengths and costs $50 per length. I'd need 2-3 lengths to finish my frame depending on if i change dimensions.

Then i need the bars which i will predict will cost an extra $100

That means the rack material will cost around $250, i'd get free labour but would throw in one carton for my friend who is helping + one for his dad who is doing the welding. Thats like $350 now

My frame would weight just over 100kg and would be a good size.
Here's a picture:

[animalfan]

I pm'd you. You'll be surprised on the price...its worth the drive, and animalfan even drove farther, so you can do it!

i'm sure it would be worth the drive. i looked at it while i was there and it's very nice. it's got a cool chin bar on it too.

[deseee]

(i can no longer edit my above post)

So i did the stage 1 design for my rack. Needs some adjustments based on the size of the metal that can be ordered.

Apparently the metal comes in 8m lengths and costs $50 per length. I'd need 2-3 lengths to finish my frame depending on if i change dimensions.

Then i need the bars which i will predict will cost an extra $100

That means the rack material will cost around $250, i'd get free labour but would throw in one carton for my friend who is helping + one for his dad who is doing the welding. Thats like $350 now

My frame would weight just over 100kg and would be a good size.
Here's a picture:

put some more holes near the bottom so you can do rack pulls at different heights. what's the 2nd bar below the chin bar on the front for?

[Keetman]

i'm sure it would be worth the drive. i looked at it while i was there and it's very nice. it's got a cool chin bar on it too.

It went on down the road Saturday. It was kind of humerous actually. I had one caller on it when I listed it about 3 weeks ago, but he didn't have any money and wanted to trade for a bench press?????? I said I've really been in the market for a bench press as this crappy $1500 power rack just isn't doing it for me.......oh wait, that's not even close to what I said, nevermind. Anyway, he sold his stuff and called me Saturday offering me $70 less than I wanted. Again, I said NO as its worth a lot more than I'm asking. He said his daughter just handed him $75 so he was good. Then he wanted to know if I thought it would fit in a suburban!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the answer is....yes, it will fit in a suburban as he came over and got it. Now the next question is can it fit in a suburban safely and survive a 20 minute ride in the country.........lucky for him I had some old rope because not only did he want to stuff 10 pounds of power rack into a 5 pound suburban......he didn't bring any tie downs...and I had to secure it for him because he didn't feel comfortable. And he uses standard weights.....

Nothing wrong with using standard plates, mind you, I could care less. But picture this guy using probably one of the nicest racks most people would consider using in their home with a standard bar and standard plates!!???

Anyway, I got nothing wrong with the dude and he was a pretty nice fellow, I just thought the whole story was funny. Besides he paid me and took that dude out of my garage......again Keetman is happy.



Oh Animal, could you do me a favor and not mention stuff like the "...cool chin bar..."? I happen to have decided to mount that to the rafters in my gym because Keetman wanted a "...cool chinbar..."!!!!

[Keetman]

...what's the 2nd bar below the chin bar on the front for?.....

Parallel bar movements for the gymnastics enthusiast???



Hey Coinus....if you're going to build this put some serious thought into your chin up design. There's some cool stuff out there and why not implement it into your project the first time?

Looks good though bro.

[Conius]

put some more holes near the bottom so you can do rack pulls at different heights. what's the 2nd bar below the chin bar on the front for?

The lowest hole is about 50cm from the ground, being 6'4'' thats a pretty big bend for me and i figure if i'm going any lower i'll just go from the floor? I will look into it though thanks

The second bar and top bar are the same, the bar can be slid in and out (with a lock to stop it rotating) so that i can do hanging leg raises or pull ups with my knees bent. The roof is 2.7 meters high so i need a lower bar for pull ups or else my head will hit the roof :P

Hey Coinus....if you're going to build this put some serious thought into your chin up design. There's some cool stuff out there and why not implement it into your project the first time?

Looks good though bro.

Cheers, I would really preffer to have bent handles for the pull ups however as i'm not doing the welding i want to keep it as simple as possible for now, I'll take a look at some different designs though and if the welder has some extra time or is really getting into it i might be able to persuade him to get creative and bolt the bar in place rather than slide it.

(bolting will allow for various handles to be welded on)

[Skidmarx]

Drilling holes for the j-hooks and spotter bars is going to be a nightmare.

[Conius]

Drilling holes for the j-hooks and spotter bars is going to be a nightmare.

68 holes (drill press)
32 welds
34ish cuts and need to roughly shape 14 pieces of flat steel

It won't be to easy. I'm yet to work out an exact thickness also, atm i'm toying with 3mm thickness but will have to check that because it's a rough guess.

I priced a squat rack in the shop today and it was $800, it's viable but the rack/weights/bars and bench (500 for a bench! i didn't realise they were so pricey) adds up very fast if i get them new.

I'm still very tempted to continue chasing down second hand weights and make the frame myself. I also found some good rubber for $130 which covers the area i need, that was from a store specialising in various types of rubber.

I'm in australia so my stores are different to most people that post here

[DiamondDelts]

But before I go I did get those pics of my upgrades to my new more compact rack.

Here they are:

The new chinup design. I used the "U" handle design because it allows you to get 2 pairs of hammer grip widths along with enough space to still use the bar in a convential fashion. Great space saving design that gives you more bang for your buck in my opinion.

[DiamondDelts]

Angled dip bars for V dips which force you to flare your elbows while dipping. Much better for chest gains in my opinion.

[FERRUM_MAXIMUS]

But before I go I did get those pics of my upgrades to my new more compact rack.

Here they are:

The new chinup design

Looks good.

[DiamondDelts]

tbar row handle welded onto bar. Great for rowing. I had it stretch out about 10 inches or so from the bar so that I can get a full rom using various grips when doing tbar rows. Even when I use 45lb plates.

[DiamondDelts]

My welder is also working on building me a thruster extension onto the rear of my rack that I will use for side presses. It will be much like this design.

http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/pro7296.html

[demike]

Good stuff DD, I like the tbar row handle especially.

[Accutron]

But before I go I did get those pics of my upgrades to my new more compact rack.

Here they are:

The new chinup design. I used the "U" handle design because it allows you to get 2 pairs of hammer grip widths along with enough space to still use the bar in a convential fashion. Great space saving design that gives you more bang for your buck in my opinion.

It all looks great DD, thanks for posting the pics.

[Accutron]

One of the most awesome, no-nonsense racks out there.

[Keetman]

One of the most awesome, no-nonsense racks out there.

Yup. Would've given me one of the nicest home racks around! But its gone now, I opted to keep my half rack/smith because of all the stuff I can do on it. I sold it last Saturday and I may regret it, who knows. What I do know is I can get big with what I have, if I use it.....and I like what I have.

The only benefit the squat rack gave me was safer squating and a more stable platform. I have other options available to me for any heavy lift days if I don't trust me or the rack, but I don't really max out on squats, so I'm not too worried. The stability issue is only an issue because the rack was so stout....my system is far from uncomfortable or shaky.

And, I pilfered the chin up bar you see in the pic and am in the process of mounting it to my floor joists!

[animalfan]

Yup. Would've given me one of the nicest home racks around! But its gone now, I opted to keep my half rack/smith because of all the stuff I can do on it. I sold it last Saturday and I may regret it, who knows. What I do know is I can get big with what I have, if I use it.....and I like what I have.

The only benefit the squat rack gave me was safer squating and a more stable platform. I have other options available to me for any heavy lift days if I don't trust me or the rack, but I don't really max out on squats, so I'm not too worried. The stability issue is only an issue because the rack was so stout....my system is far from uncomfortable or shaky.

And, I pilfered the chin up bar you see in the pic and am in the process of mounting it to my floor joists!

could you send me a pic of that bar? i'm still thinking of making one like that.

[Skidmarx]

What I do know is I can get big with what I have, if I use it.....and I like what I have.

So true.

I've been close to pulling the trigger(as in "submit order" button ) on a EliteFTS rack quite a few times, but talked myself out of it. My midrange rack is more than enough for what I'm lifting now and probably for years to come.

So my new plan is to get strong enough to trash my rack and THEN buy a EliteFTS rack.

[Keetman]

could you send me a pic of that bar? i'm still thinking of making one like that.

Yup! Give me a few days as I'm away with the family until friday, then I got some Xmas shopping to do. But I'll get on it. It is a nice pullup bar.