I am going to look at a squat rack that someone is going to be giving me this weekend. However, it is a homemade one so I have no idea if this is a good idea or not. Obviously I can eyeball it and see if it looks sturdy. The guy who made it said he has no idea what its weight capacity and guessed at about 4 or 500 pounds. I am coming off a series of surgeries and injuries so I wouldn’t be touching that number for some time anyway, but still idk. It may even be capable of more.
Anyways my main question here is whether or not this is a good idea, and also how to tell if the rack is going to be safe. I would so much rather lift at home on the days I don’t have access to the gym I like, as the other gym is not good at all. Lastly idk how old the rack is, but probably like 10 years or so, however it hasn’t been used in a couple years.
On a side note the guy has some other stuff too such as a hack squat, leg press, leg extension, calf machine, and dip machine. I probably won’t take much of these due to room and the fact I’m only really intersted in the hack squat and maybe dip machine if what he means by “machine” is just a regular dip station. Anyways thanks in advance for the help
Check any welds for cracking and cold lap. Make sure all frame members are straight and look for signs of stress in all load bearing members.
Stress would look almost like stretch marks on your body, except very small. If they are painted the paint will usually crack in the pattern of the stress. If there are any kinks or bends don’t even bother.
Change out any nuts and bolts with equal or better grade. You never know what kind of beating they may have taken.
Thanks a ton man. So if according to that list of stuff to look for its fine, do you think its risky? The guy knows my parents well and used to lift with my dad so he wouldn’t intentionally give me a bad rack. When he said how much the rack could hold he said that he never used to lift as much as my dad but it should hold up to 4 or 500. I guess I’ll have to ask my dad how much he used to lift to give a judgement on what that guy was comparing to for weight. Anybody else have any input cause I’m 100 percent knew to this
[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
So if according to that list of stuff to look for its fine, do you think its risky? [/quote]
If those are OK then it probably isn’t risky. If you really have any misgivings just load up a bar with a couple plates per side and put the pins in. Have another guy on the other side (like you’re spotting someone) and drop it on the pins.
If it fails you’re outside of it. If it holds you have a solid rack.
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
Put up a picture. 500 lbs is not a lot for a rack to hold up if it is built decently.[/quote]
That’s what I thought. It sounds to me like the guy atleast knew how to build one. But like I said that’s just me. He said he built in a low cable row so that will be interesting to see. I’ll try and get a pic up when I go to see it on Saturday. If you guys would look at the pic and tell me what you think that would be much appreciated. Any specific angles or close ups I should get?
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
Put up a picture. 500 lbs is not a lot for a rack to hold up if it is built decently.[/quote]
That’s what I thought. It sounds to me like the guy atleast knew how to build one. But like I said that’s just me. He said he built in a low cable row so that will be interesting to see. I’ll try and get a pic up when I go to see it on Saturday. If you guys would look at the pic and tell me what you think that would be much appreciated. Any specific angles or close ups I should get? [/quote]
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
Put up a picture. 500 lbs is not a lot for a rack to hold up if it is built decently.[/quote]
That’s what I thought. It sounds to me like the guy atleast knew how to build one. But like I said that’s just me. He said he built in a low cable row so that will be interesting to see. I’ll try and get a pic up when I go to see it on Saturday. If you guys would look at the pic and tell me what you think that would be much appreciated. Any specific angles or close ups I should get? [/quote]
Close ups of some welds would be good.[/quote]
Sounds good. I’ll have pics up by Saturday afternoon. Also the guy is trying to get rid off all his stuff but my basement won’t hold it. If you guys had to choose would you prefer a hack squat machine or leg press? I’m not a big machine guy and my goal for this was to switch my training to purely free weights. However the guy needs space in his basement and wants it all gone, so out of decency I might take one more thing off him
[quote]SkyzykS wrote:
Check any welds for cracking and cold lap. Make sure all frame members are straight and look for signs of stress in all load bearing members.
Stress would look almost like stretch marks on your body, except very small. If they are painted the paint will usually crack in the pattern of the stress. If there are any kinks or bends don’t even bother.
Change out any nuts and bolts with equal or better grade. You never know what kind of beating they may have taken.
[/quote]
I was going to post my recommendations, but was waiting for you to post first. Right on advice.
After seeing the photos, I would go ahead and replace all the nuts and bolts. Clean up the surface rust with a wire brush, then re-paint to prevent rust from coming back. Put a level on all your straight lines to make sure they are pure.
The weld on the C channel (I’m guessing that the pic is rotated, and that is a vertical support member?) is malformed, lapped, and poorly placed. If it is subject to much stress I wouldn’t bet my life on it.
Like if you’re doing max squat and you crash a bar with a few hundred lbs. into it while landing the bar on the brackets.
The weld on the C channel (I’m guessing that the pic is rotated, and that is a vertical support member?) is malformed, lapped, and poorly placed. If it is subject to much stress I wouldn’t bet my life on it.
Like if you’re doing max squat and you crash a bar with a few hundred lbs. into it while landing the bar on the brackets.
[/quote]
Which pic are you referring to? Also I forgot to mention it doesn’t have the safety bars so I would have to get some. Not sure how easy that would be. Thanks for your input though, keep the replies coming
The weld on the C channel (I’m guessing that the pic is rotated, and that is a vertical support member?) is malformed, lapped, and poorly placed. If it is subject to much stress I wouldn’t bet my life on it.
Like if you’re doing max squat and you crash a bar with a few hundred lbs. into it while landing the bar on the brackets.
[/quote]
Which pic are you referring to? Also I forgot to mention it doesn’t have the safety bars so I would have to get some. Not sure how easy that would be. Thanks for your input though, keep the replies coming[/quote]
Just realized you quoted the pic… That picture isn’t rotated so if you’re referring to the weld that I think you are then that’s the top of the rack
The weld on the C channel (I’m guessing that the pic is rotated, and that is a vertical support member?) is malformed, lapped, and poorly placed. If it is subject to much stress I wouldn’t bet my life on it.
Like if you’re doing max squat and you crash a bar with a few hundred lbs. into it while landing the bar on the brackets.
[/quote]
Which pic are you referring to? Also I forgot to mention it doesn’t have the safety bars so I would have to get some. Not sure how easy that would be. Thanks for your input though, keep the replies coming[/quote]
The one captioned “Another”, 3rd in the series.
Bars can be made with all-thread at a slightly less diameter than the holes in the rack by measuring it a few inches longer than the rack (stick out through the back) and enough for a handle in the front, then turning a nut the length you want the handle and binding that nut with another by turning them against each other. Duct tape for comfort.
The weld on the C channel (I’m guessing that the pic is rotated, and that is a vertical support member?) is malformed, lapped, and poorly placed. If it is subject to much stress I wouldn’t bet my life on it.
Like if you’re doing max squat and you crash a bar with a few hundred lbs. into it while landing the bar on the brackets.
[/quote]
Which pic are you referring to? Also I forgot to mention it doesn’t have the safety bars so I would have to get some. Not sure how easy that would be. Thanks for your input though, keep the replies coming[/quote]
Just realized you quoted the pic… That picture isn’t rotated so if you’re referring to the weld that I think you are then that’s the top of the rack [/quote]
Maybe it’s my computer then. I’m assuming that the light is mounted on the ceiling and this C channel is perpendicular to it.
I put a red ellipse around the weld in question. (hope it show clearly)
The weld on the C channel (I’m guessing that the pic is rotated, and that is a vertical support member?) is malformed, lapped, and poorly placed. If it is subject to much stress I wouldn’t bet my life on it.
Like if you’re doing max squat and you crash a bar with a few hundred lbs. into it while landing the bar on the brackets.
[/quote]
Which pic are you referring to? Also I forgot to mention it doesn’t have the safety bars so I would have to get some. Not sure how easy that would be. Thanks for your input though, keep the replies coming[/quote]
Just realized you quoted the pic… That picture isn’t rotated so if you’re referring to the weld that I think you are then that’s the top of the rack [/quote]
Maybe it’s my computer then. I’m assuming that the light is mounted on the ceiling and this C channel is perpendicular to it.
I put a red ellipse around the weld in question. (hope it show clearly)
[/quote]
Ah I see. Yeah the wood at the top of the pic is the ceiling so that would be the weld at the top of that vertical support connecting to the top horizontal bar. So I think were in agreement on the placement haha. So you think that may be an issue?
