Hands-On: We Put 946.5 lbs. on Husky’s X-Workhorse
By Chuck Cage
The X-Workhorse is a cool little portable table designed to hold benchtop power tools — like a miter saw — on the jobsite. It derives its name from the way it folds: Rather than folding the legs into the table top, the solidly-constructed sides rotate around a vertical center point creating an “X” shaped base. The top is removable and snaps onto the side when the table’s folded for storage.
Besides just holding power tools, it also has small rubber feet on the top to hold a piece of plywood (or whatever you’ve got that’s flat) to create a portable workbench. That’s where the advantage of the “X” shape really comes into play with the strength it brings. Even though the X-Workhorse is made mainly of lightweight aluminum and plastic, the box indicates that it’s rated to hold 750 lbs — something we definitely had to see for ourselves.
So, when Husky sent us an X-Workhorse to review, we thought we’d try something none of the other reviews we found around the ’net did: putting almost 1,000 lbs. on it.
Unboxing
The X-Workhorse ships with a simple cardboard wrap-around designed more to carry marking information than to protect the (very durable) table itself. In fact, ours was shipped to us via UPS with no external boxing of any kind, which in itself serves as a great test of how the unit would hold up being dragged around in the back of a truck. There’s no way we could have beat this table up as much as UPS would.
Happily, it arrived in pretty good shape. There were a few scuffs, but no serious damage. One rubber “foot” from the top of the unit was missing, but we didn’t really see any need to go locate one. It certainly didn’t hamper the table’s performance.
In Use
The X-Workhorse is very easy to use. To set it up, you just unclip the table top from the side, swing the flattened sides out like the wings on an X-Wing fighter, clip the top into place, and rotate a circular catch to lock the top down.
Once together, it provides a qute solid workspace about 30-1/2″ tall and 23″ x 22″ wide. The solid black top part is actually 19-1/2″ x 17-1/2″.
The table top features bolt holes for mounting various power tools, most obvious of which would be a miter saw. We tried out the X-Workhorse using a Ridgid miter saw we generally use in the shop, and it worked quite well; The X-shaped construction really stands out over a standard four-leg design as it’s much sturdier, vibrates less, and just plain doesn’t seem like it’s going to fall over all the time.
It sits a bit low compared to the kind of workbench you’d have the saw on in the shop, but a folding stand that high would need to be much too wide to retain valid portability. All things considered, we felt like the X-Workhorse made a good portable miter saw stand.
You can also throw a piece of plywood — or whatever else you’ve got lying around the jobsite — across the top of it to create an impromptu workbench. Four small rubber “feet” on the top of the bench assist in holding whatever you throw on it in place. Again, considering its size and weight it’s surprisingly stable.
Of course, we immediately questioned whether such a light table could possibly support the advertised 750 lbs., so we set out to test it emperically. Read on to page 2 where we throw together a rig to put almost 1,000 lbs. on the X-Workhorse.
September 12th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Come on guys… “xx” tall and xx” x xx” wide.” couldn’t be bothered to measure?
September 12th, 2006 at 2:18 pm
Rick: You totally busted me. I decided to add the dimensions as I was adding photos to the post and then I forgot to go back and replace them. Doh! They’re in there now.
Good eye!
September 12th, 2006 at 2:36 pm
Nice review. Seems like a good product. If only you knew someone with a big hydraulic press to really destruction test it…
Peter
September 12th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
I’ve been looking for an excuse to get one or two of these but nothing has come up. Now I might just have to get them anyway. Nice review. I had to laugh when I read your testing technique, reminds me of an episode of Jackass.
September 12th, 2006 at 3:17 pm
I’ve been looking for an excuse to get one or two of these but nothing has come up. Now I might just have to get them anyway. Nice review. I had to laugh when I read your testing technique, you really are hurting for some of those ‘Doh!’ entries.
September 13th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Loved the Article - it truly is a Superior product! Keter Plastic Ltd./Home Design Products is actually the manufacturer and designer of this product! We also produce and sell to The Home Depot other consumer plastic products like Garage Shelving, Cabinets, Totes, Tool Boxes, Outdoor products, etc. Hurry in to Home Depot and get your’s today! (Vice President Sales - HDP/Keter)
September 14th, 2006 at 12:36 am
This product looks like it will work okay on a solid level surface but what if the surface is sloped or uneven? Is there any kind of leveling adjustment built into the feet?
September 14th, 2006 at 12:40 am
PaulS: That’s a great question. Some of the other reviews we saw on the web mentioned that one of the feet adjusts to help level the table, but ours didn’t seem to want to move. We think they’re talking about the red part of the feel (visibile in one of the photos in the post above). They do rotate a little bit around their center mounts.
FWIW, it was pretty stable on our slightly-sloped shop floor, and we had pretty good luck with it in the yard — a good test considering that that’s where it might end up with building contractors using it. However, we’d be a little concerned about using it on a really unstable surface like big cobblestone or the like.
September 15th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
[...] Hands-On: We Put 946.5 lbs. on Husky’s X-Workhorse Believe it or not, we don’t really want to break things all the time. We do, however, question any plastic-y portable workbench that says it’ll hold 750 lbs. But rather than just wonder, we decided to find out by loading up the X-Workhorse — a cool little folding table designed to hold a miter saw or serve as a workbench on the jobsite — with lots more than even the advertised 750 lbs. In short: It held the load. It even held it when we whacked on it with a 2×4. Check out the post for pix. [...]
September 30th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
Excellent review. Saw one of these at the Big Box and wondered if it lived up to the packagings claims.
June 24th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Can’t find this item anywhere! How can a person get one?!?!?!?
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:38 am
Hi William
Keter -fortools used to make them for a UK company called B&Q -a large diy chain.
I’ve been trying to get them too as I have a pair but they are getting a bit old. If you find them let me know!!
July 21st, 2008 at 5:57 am
It would be nice to have different height versions for taller people. It would save on the backaches.
December 21st, 2008 at 7:08 pm
What retail store sell the Husky Workhorse? Thanks Larry
December 22nd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I just purchased one today at Home Depot. It was about $36 (including tax). It looks fantastic.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Purchased two of these X-workhorses from Home Depot yesterday. When I got home and opened them up, I found neither of the workhorses would level. Even using the one leg that is supposed to allow you to level the workhorse it would not level the table. Only when I placed weight (about 50 lbs on it did it level out.
What was really interesting was when I called the help number on the instruction panel cover on the workhorse top, Stanley Tools answered the line. They did not have a clue about the product. They said they were not the manufacture. They referred me to the Home Depot support number where I was told to take it back to the store for replacement.
It does appear to be a good product, but before you take it home I suggest you open it up at the store to see if it will level.
February 13th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
please-tell me you can get them in the uk?
I would love to get some and think they would sell like hotcakes over here
March 10th, 2009 at 5:27 am
I’VE BEEN TOLD THE ONLY WAY TO GET A X-WORKHORSE IS TO GO TO CANADA AND BRING IT BACK ACROSS THE BORDER AFTER BUYING IT FROM HOME DEPOT????? HOW DUMB IS THAT!!!! LOOKS LIKE THE U.S.A. HOME DEPOT WOULD CATCH UP WITH CANADA.
March 30th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Where can you buy this tool. If the comment by John H. is true why advertise it on DIY. If you can’t buy it in the US, it’s not cool!
August 21st, 2009 at 2:06 pm
I noticed that yours shows part of the legs as metal. The ones I’ve seen in Home Depot have plastic legs, no metal. Are these different or was the design changed?
September 13th, 2009 at 9:18 am
David
Where did you see the x-workhorse? I’m still looking for two.
September 20th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
How come the ones on this page and the ones on the DIY network website have aluminum legs?? I went to go buy these after seeing them on DIY bought them brought them home and realized that they had black plastic legs? What gives?? I want the “mack-daddy” ones with the aluminum !! Where can I buy the ones with aluminum legs ?? All the Home Depots in my area carry the plastic legged ones… Help !! Anyone ? Anyone?
September 20th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
The Home Depot Exclusively sells Husky products !!