WEN Mobile Base, Universal Heavy Duty, 500-Pound Capacity for Tools and Machines (MB500)

I'm buying my third one today. I've also purchased a higher end mobile base for a much heavier planer (1000lbs); I can make a bit of a comparison. This base is not as smooth to operate as a $120 base, which should be kinda obvious given the price difference. The adjustable feet seem a little flimsy, but have not broken on either of the bases I have so far. The wheel raising/lowering paddle that you are meant to operate with your foot is the primary reason for a bit of clunky-ness. If you are wearing normal shoes, the lever takes a bit more force than I find comfortable on the top of the foot to lower the tool into the stationary position on the feet. You can kind lift the saw or machine and that takes some of the resistance out of the paddle lever, or you can bend over and pull them both up with your hand. I find I use my hand more than lifting the saw. Even then, it often fights me and the mechanism feels like it is binding. This is probably a byproduct of the need for the mechanism to have some bite to hold the wheel down for rolling without collapsing, but either way it has a hitch in it's git-a-long so to speak. Since I have bought two of them and they both have the same feel, I think it is safe to say that it's just the way they are. When raising the tool back onto the wheels to move it, the levers work pretty well by just stepping down onto them. However, once on the wheels, they do seem to have a little bit more limited ability to turn which I think is caused by the fact that they are essentially not turning on a plane parallel to the ground. You can see this in the close up photo of the caster wheel on the lever. By contrast, moving a much heavier tool in a more expensive base is just a smoother process even though it still requires bending down to use your hands. The wheels on the caster end roll and turn a little smoother because the mounting plate stays parallel to the ground. Making the tool stationary is done by turning two knobs to lower feet, which otherwise hover maybe 1/16" above the floor while moving the tool. Moving it on the wheels is done by turning those knobs the other way to raise the feet. All that said, I would still recommend this base for lighter tools that you want to move around the shop. When you are buying enough mobile bases to move half a dozen tools around, the price difference is a big savings and this base is plenty good even if it feels a bit cheap to use. Giving it 5 stars with price being a big factor. If you want the highest quality feel to your mobile base, this isn't it, but if you want a very functional mobile base for the least amount of money spent, I think it's hard to beat the WEN Edit on 3/3/24: I used my 3rd base on a bandsaw, which is the lightest tool I have on a mobile base. For this tool, these work excellent and the problems stated aren't much of a problem at all. If your tool is only 200lbs or so, these will raise and lower with your foot just fine, swivel and move pretty smoothly, etc. If you are putting it on a tool that's closer to the rated max, like a unisaw or a 15 inch planer, that's when you will encounter more trouble with the raising/lowering mechanism and the angled casters. I'm buying a 4th base for another tool, obviously I still think they are a great value and would recommend them. Even more so for lighter tools like a 14 inch bandsaw.

Another excellent product from WEN! I now have a number of their products including a scrollsaw, thickness planer, oscillating spool sander, foot switches, etc. Each product is tough to beat especially on price point. I normally make smaller "keepsake'" boxes and my workshop is the front six feet of my garage. Wife says we must still be able to get both cars in the garage! So space and cleanliness are at a premium. I purchased a used Jet 17" drill press that's cast iron and ~ 200 pounds. To move it around in my small work area I needed a mobile base. The Wen product fit the bill and works like a champ. Yeah, you will scratch your head for a beat when figuring out how to configure the long and short side pieces. But once it comes together it's magic! It slides easily between my 1974 bandsaw and 1976 workbench!! Very well made a super sturdy. Highly recommend!

Let's be real, folks. If you're like me, you've got tools scattered around your garage like a chaotic metal garden. And if, like me, you've been doing the awkward "shimmy and pivot" dance to move your heavy equipment, you know the struggle is real. That's where the WEN Mobile Base MB500 comes in, and let me tell you, it's a revelation. I snagged this bad boy specifically for my WEN Band Saw. I was sick and tired of wrestling that thing around my workspace. The promise of adding smooth, locking mobility to my band saw was too good to resist. Initially, I'll admit, I was a bit taken aback by the fact it arrived as a flat-pack project. But, after diving in, the genius of the design became clear. This isn't just a one-size-fits-all solution; it's a customizable platform that can accommodate a wide range of tools. The adjustable frame is seriously impressive. Now, I'm not going to lie, I'm not exactly known for my patience with instruction manuals. My ADHD brain tends to glaze over when faced with walls of text. Thankfully, I was able to assemble the entire base in under an hour, mostly by eyeballing it. The instructions themselves were decent, a step above the infamous Ikea manuals, but the black and white images were a tad ambiguous in a few spots. But hey, if I can do it, anyone can. The real magic happens once you get your tool mounted and rolling. The MB500 transforms your stationary equipment into a mobile powerhouse. Suddenly, my band saw wasn't just a tool; it was a nimble, easily maneuverable asset. I can now position it wherever I need it, without any of the back-breaking, awkward shuffling I'd grown accustomed to. This thing is a genuine game-changer, and it's going to significantly increase how often I use my band saw. However, it's not perfect. I did encounter one minor hiccup: the locking mechanism on one of the wheels is a bit stubborn. I have to apply extra downward pressure directly on the wheel to engage the lock. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's a minor annoyance. Overall: Despite that small issue, the WEN Mobile Base MB500 is an absolute must-have for any serious DIYer or woodworker. It's sturdy, adaptable, and makes moving heavy tools a breeze. If you're tired of wrestling with your equipment, do yourself a favor and grab one of these. Your back (and your sanity) will thank you. This is a solid, well-built product that delivers on its promises. I'm genuinely thrilled with it.

I bought the Wen to be able to move an old Sears craftsman drill-press around my shop. I was worried that the drill-press would be too top heavy to be able to use a rolling system. The drill-press is a floor model with a heavy base. I was able to customize the Wen to custom fit it to the drill-press base and it works great. My shop has a smooth floor surface which makes it easy to move around the shop. It was easy to put together even though the instruction illustrations are not good. I did learn that it is best to keep all the bolts loose until everything is together then tighten everything after the assembly. I messed up by using a power ratchet which tightened the bolts too much and slightly bent some of the metal parts. The Wen has been especially useful, and I bought a second one for my bandsaw. The second time putting the Wen together was quite easy. It makes moving and storing my heavy power tools a breeze. I may buy a third.

I put my new sander on this. It was easy to install and the wheels make it very easy to push around the shop where I need it and it stays put when I lower it.

I had ordered this WEN MB500 to use under my jointer. The jointer weighs probably 200-250lbs. However when I placed the order it was out of stock, so Amazon gave me the "we'll send you an email when we know when it will ship" notice. I wasn't in a big hurry, and this was the cheapest mobile base in this class on Amazon, so I figured I could wait a couple days. Well, a couple days turned in to a couple weeks and by the time I finally I received it, I had acquired another base for the jointer and ended up using this one on my planer instead. The planer only weighs maybe 150lbs. Now that it's here I am happy with the investment though. To start, this is an all-steel construction with the exception of the wheels and some spacers. It comes with 4 long rails, 4 short rails, two fixed wheel corners, two lift wheel corners, and enough bolts to give a lot of flexibility on how to put it together. I like it better than the ones that just bolt to a sheet of plywood that you have to cut to the proper size, although you could certainly add plywood to this one too if you wanted. That makes for a lot of flexibility and allows using it for different tools in the future should you decide to trade up. In my case I needed a 21x26" base. 26" is about the longest span the long rails can manage by themselves, and it only allows two adjacent holes to be used, which seemed like it wasn't an ideal situation if you had something really heavy on it. I ended up adding the short rails and a couple washers as reinforcement, partly for strength, but mostly for storage of the parts in case I decided to use it on something else some day. If I needed to go any longer, then I would have needed to use a combination of long and short rails joined together to get more length. The lift arms seem sturdy. I added some grease to the mating surfaces during assembly to make sure they operate smoothly. They seem to stay in the raised position ok, but it's not quite as positive a lock as you might like. One of them kind of "snaps" in to the raised position, but I think that's mainly because there is a little lump in the weld that works as kind of a detent. The other one is a little less positive feeling and seems like it could easily get knocked down if you kicked it while moving. It never released on me, so hopefully it will continue to hold firm and I'm just being paranoid. Since my tool wasn't that heavy, I also stood on the end with the levers and even with the combined weight of the planer and I (> 300lbs) they operated easily. With my weight centered over the lever end, the actual weight being lifted was probably comparable to what it would be with a 500lb machine with it's weight spread more evenly. If I could give 4 1/2 stars I might knock off a half star for the "feel" of the levers, but really it's being kind of nit-picky since they haven't actually failed to hold yet. If they do, I may come back and update my review, but for now I am quite pleased. When you factor in that this is about the cheapest "tool class" mobile base on Amazon, I think it was a great buy.

Pretty substantial for the money. Some neoprene wheels would be a nice touch but it's for a little 10" table saw so it should be fine. They shorted me 2 10mm nutz&boats. I have to make a nutz&boats run tomorrow anyway. A lot better than I expected, I'll probably get a couple more as I finish up my new shop.

If you’re looking at this Wen base, you probably already know your way around tools. That’s good because as other reviewers have noted, you’re probably going to need some of that knowledge to get this set up right. Others have commented about quality control. I had a similar problem with parts that did not fit well (judicious use of an angle grinder helped) and mediocre instructions. That said, assembly is not difficult and there are plenty of videos online to assist in the process. Other than an overly tight caster mount on one side (hence the grinder), mine went together easily with a bit of trial and error to get the rail lengths just right. I had been frustrated trying to get the base level when the casters are retracted; even when the casters are folded up the wheels are a bit too large for the rubber support feet to have solid contact without being too high on the caster end. Speaking of the casters, Wen skimped on the ball bearings. They are one or two short of a full complement and they're not lubed. If this was going to be moving the rated 500 pounds on a routine basis I'd be looking for replacement casters. To fix the tilt I turned the caster wheels’ diameter down a bit, and it doesn’t appear to be much of an issue now that I’ve bolted my 125-pound drill press to it. As shown, I did add a ¾ inch piece of plywood for the drill press base to rest upon. I don’t plan on moving this often, probably only during the occasional cleaning of the shop, but I think it will be a good accessory. Fully assembled it’s solid, weighty, and provides a larger footprint for the top-heavy drill press. Minus one star for the fitment and quality control issues.

Item is as advertised. Very happy, will probably purchase another

Lo utilizo para mi centro de lavado vertical, de lavadora secadora, me ha servido bastante bien para su movilidad y uso, lo recomiendo, aunque si está un poco laborioso el armado pero vale la pena.

Es excelente calidad y resistente!!!

Straight forward assembly. Works well under a 400 lb wood jointer. Will buy more for other tools.

Works great so far, a little finicky setting up all the parts but works great once assembled