Ironmaster Cable Tower Attachment review

After I cancelled my membership to the local gym, my first two pieces of home gym equipment I purchased were the Ironmaster Quick Lock Dumbbells and the Ironmaster Super Bench.

I worked out for three months with just these two items and then decided to go all out and build a complete home gym. I purchased the Powertec power rack with the lat tower option.

I really like this power rack (you can read my review here) and I recommend you get one if you have the room, but I would like to be able to walk through the rack if I wanted to, or push it right up against the wall without the lat tower in the way.

I have a mirror mounted on the wall behind the lat tower which makes watching the targeted muscle work kind of hard. The ideal situation would be to have a standalone lat tower, leaving the power rack wide open.

Standalone lat towers made by Body Solid or Powertec cost right around $500, but the Ironmaster cable tower attachment costs $299! The Super bench and Cable Tower combo is also a great way to get a quality bench and lat pull down all the for price of a Body Solid or Powertec lat pull down only.

NOTE: The cable tower has been upgraded to a newer version that does not require cable changes (see the pic below)

Read more about the new cable tower here There is also a cable tower upgrade kit to retrofit your original version cable tower.

The Ironmaster Cable Tower Attachment is perfect for the home gym user that wants a quality lat pull or seated row but has limited space. The attachment is on wheels so it is easily maneuvered and stored conveniently out of the way.

Considering the investment in monetary terms and space, this combo packs a great punch in terms of the variety it will add to your weight training.

Using the Cable Tower

I got a chance to use one of these at a friend of a friend's home, and I took this opportunity to write an ironmaster cable tower attachment review.

The lat pull down and seated row are two exercises that will tell you if you are using quality equipment or not. Is the pulling motion smooth, or does the cable or weight support feel like its binding or dragging? The motion on the cable tower is smooth.

Also unlike a lot of lat pulldown and seated row machines, the simple cable path on this attachment provides no mechanical advantage. 100lbs is 100lbs, so your ego may take a blow on this unit because you are lifting a true weight. The Cable Tower Attachment is rated for 250lbs, which is the amount of weight found on most commercial units.

The cable tower is heavy and comes with wheels. You just position it in front of the super bench and slide it into the tube and secure it with the pull pin like any other attachment for the bench.

You have to lock the attachment on to the bench. You can't use it as a standalone pull down as there is a risk of it falling over. Once attached to the bench, it's very solid.

Pros

Space saving design. Fits in a corner of the room.

Simple cable path that's easily changed from the high to low position (takes about 20 seconds).

Very smooth cable motion.

You have 3 options when it comes to adding weight; you can use your Ironmaster Quick Lock Dumbbells, standard weight plates or Olympic weight plates.

Built in foot support for the low row exercise. This could also be used for dumbbell one leg calf raises. The preacher curl attachment works well with the low pulley.

Cons

Any exercises on the high pulley side will be done with a bench at your feet. This is fine for the lat pull down where you are sitting, but triceps pushdowns or anything of that nature will require kneeling or straddling the bench.

The lat pull hold down pads are not easily adjusted. This won't matter if you are the only one using it, but if you have others working out in your gym this could be a problem.

New Item! Shorter cable tower seat. This seat connects to the Cable Tower and makes it free standing without the need for using the Super Bench. Saves space with the shorter length but is still very stable. Also works with the Hypercore attachment. 

Buy the new shorter cable tower seat HERE

Conclusion

This is another great accessory in the Ironmaster line of home gym equipment. I can't imagine what they will come up with next.

What you get: The system includes the main frame, upper and lower pulley cables, Olympic Sleeve Adapters, QLDB adapter, lat pull hold down pads and a 48" lat pull bar with swivel. You may want to order some additional cable handles to perform certain exercises. The cable tower is heavy duty and rated for 250lbs. Two wheels on the base frame let you easily roll it out of the way when not in use. Dimensions: 19" x 22" x 84.5" high.

Ten year warranty.

Buy it here.

Keep liftin'.