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

I bought this to move my DeWalt table saw around my garage more easily. I should have done it years ago. It was easy to put together and works great. I really enjoy the way the wheels retract to stabilize the saw for use.

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.

I bought this as a base to build a movable cabinet for my 13-inch wood Planer. The planer was heavy enough that I did not want to always have to carry it to my workbench. I wanted something that I can put to the side when not in use but easily move it out as needed. This served that purpose. It was fairly easy to assemble. It is adjustable for the width and length you would need. It is not as maneuverable as I would like but it works. The base itself is very well made and seems like it will hold up well. I will update if anything changes.

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.

Sometimes this brand feels like a gamble. I'm this case, I'm very impressed with the quality. It's heavy duty. I have my bandsaw sitting in this mobile base now and am very happy with it so far. The installation manual isn't that great. It comes with pictures that are so zoomed in that it was hard to see what was even happening in the picture. But I figured it out. Glad I didn't overspend on a mobile base.

Fonctionne très bien pour le deplacement d'outils dans un garage. Bonne dimension des roues et très stable. Solide et efficace.

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.

J'ai une dégauchisseuse 22 X 42 J'ai modifié pour avoir la bonne dimension.