Spent $400 on a fancy power stretcher and it broke after 3 jobs

I got talked into buying the ProMaster 4000 at the supply house, but the handle snapped on the fourth house and the company says it's 'wear and tear' - has anyone else had one of these fail on them or did I just get a lemon?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenixk6411d agoMost Upvoted

$400 on a power stretcher and the handle snapped after four houses? Bro, you clearly don't know how to use the tool right. That thing is built for commercial guys doing 10+ houses a week, not a side jobber on his third carpet pull. You probably torqued it sideways or tried to stretch on a subfloor that was too thick. The handle is a weak point for a reason if you're cranking it past its limit like some kind of gorilla. Plus that ProMaster line is notorious for having cheap pot metal castings on the older models. They tell you in the manual to keep the handle screws tight and lube the pivot joint every month, you did that? No, you didn't. Four jobs for a $400 tool sounds like a user error problem, not a warranty issue.

eva_moore11d ago

Start by checking the pivot joint. If that thing is dry and tight it will bind up and put all the force into the handle instead of the carpet. I had a ProMaster do the same thing about five years ago, and I popped the handle clean off on a commercial glue-down job. Turned out the previous owner had never greased the pivot, so I replaced the handle and now I hit that joint with white lithium grease every ten jobs or so. Also make sure you're using the right head plate for your carpet type, too much resistance can torque the handle sideways even if you're pulling straight.