XMark LAT Pull Down and Low Row Cable Machine, Heavy Duty LAT Machine with High and Low Pulley Stations, Row Machine, Upper Body Machine

I was dreaming about a cable machine in my home gym for many years but did not want something that was going to take half the room and cost more than my mortgage. This machine is perfect and reasonably priced. If you are looking for a well made, sturdy and versatile cable machine for lat, triceps and back workouts you cannot go wrong with this product. It comes complete with olympic plates adapter so if you use olympic plates, you will be able to use them on this machine. The cable system and mechanics are smooth and work well. Setup takes time but not as long as I had expected and I was able to assemble the whole thing by myself. Total assembly time as approximately 3 and a half hours and requires a crescent wrench and alan wrench set as the ones included are not really suitable. The directions are reasonably clear and if followed are a good guide to putting the machine together. This machine has made a good addition to my home gym and I am very satisfied with it. If you plan on using heavy weight on your lat machine, this machine may not be the right choice but I've had 150 pounds on it with no issues.

First, the packaging is very good. it uses a 'box-within-a-box' method, minimizing damage. One of the mounting tangs was bent slightly and I had to adjust it with a hammer and the blister pack for the nuts/bolts had busted, but interior box kept anything from getting lost. The pieces feel solid, the welds are good, and the pads are a grade above what I was expecting. The assembly was straightforward and the instruction booklet is well done. It would have been nice had XMark indicated which pulley cable was the high cable and which was the low cable. I ended up watching the video online and it was clarified, but it would have saved some time to note that in the booklet. To be fair it was probably on the packaging, but i had unpacked everything at that point. The seat moves back and forth slightly, even with the bolts tightened. This may be intentional, but I didn't see that described as a feature. It's not noticable in operation. The accessories are also nicer than I expected. I had planned to purchase a separate long pulldown bar, but the XMark bar is pretty solid and will work fine. The straight bar is also a good bar. Finally, the actual operation of the machine is very good. It's super quiet and the cable action is smooth. I'm 6'0" (180 cm) and I can get a complete range of motion from the pulldown bar by minimizing the extra chain. They give you a small container of grease for the slide rods, which is a nice touch. I was initially looking at a slightly cheaper brand (T.F.) but the last piece I bought from them required a couple hours of work to get it operational and the price difference wasn't worth it. If you are considering this other option, I can say that every aspect of the XMark machine is better than the T.F. seated calf raise I purchased and well worth the additional cost.

So I purchased this machine a year ago to get the feel and over all experience with this machine to post a review. So here it is. The machine is a great price of equipment to have in your home gym. It works everything from back, to biceps, triceps, shoulders, even traps. The machine is very versatile and is is the most used equipment in my personal gym, along with other xmark product. It's very smooth to operate and seems rugged to use. The max weight says it can handle four hundred pounds and I believe that's accurate, even though I don't lift that heavy. It's still a heavy duty gym accessory. A big plus I have to handed it to is that it comes with two high qaulity bars. One large rotating lat bar and the other a short rotating bar. Mostly use it for cable bicep curls, and everything tricep. So that's a big plus in my book. The only big complain that I have that everyone seems to have post is the instructions. Though they are not complicated by any means. When you assemble this machine, make sure you wire the cables through it when putting it together to save you time and stress. Trust me, they didn't explain that method in the instructions and viewing the reviews before purchasing really helped so I'm doing my civic duty to past on the knowledge to potential buyers. So in closing. Would I purchase this machine again? Absolutely. The price here seems well for what you get. Notice that this isn't commercial qaulity. Though like I said "it's rugged and heavy duty". I'm the only one who uses it. So if you are planning to open a big gym better on paying more. But for personal use, I wouldn't look much further.