Trunk Water Rowing Machine Review: Stylish solid wood rower

Only a few years ago, we had to pay close to $1000 for a decent solid wood water rower. Thankfully prices have come down, and now you can reap the health benefits of one of these impressive machines for half the cost of the popular WaterRower®

It’s certainly a rower worth some serious consideration, and today I want to take a look at everything this solid wood water rower has to offer, including its drawbacks.

First, let’s take a quick look at the Trunk Water Rower product specs!

Why Do We Like The Trunk Water Rowing Machine?

What sells this rower is its resistance system, it’s dynamic, and because it’s dynamic, we don’t have any resistance levels to choose from; instead, resistance strength is determined by the pace of your workout. Thus we have an infinite amount of resistance levels.

Just like rowing on actual water

Dynamic resistance mimics the feel of outdoor rowing; the faster you row, the stronger the resistance, just like rowing on actual water and because it’s a water rower, you get to hear the whooshing sound of the paddles pushing through the water in the rower’s water tank.

Is a water rower nosiy? No, water resistance is one of the quietest resistance systems you can choose for a rowing machine, yeah you’ll hear the water in the tank, but that’s one of the reasons you choose a water rower? I love the faint whooshing sound of the water; it’s almost calming and definitely not disturbing.

Quiet belt drive system

Also, this water rower comes with a belt drive system. Belt drive systems are much quieter than the noisy chain drives we see featured on air rowers.

And the Trunk Water Rowing Machine boasts high-quality ball bearing and rollers which allow the seat to effortlessly glide across its rail, keeping noise to a minimum and the rowing motion smooth.

This is a quiet rowing machine that can be used in apartments and houses you won’t disturb yourself or others around you.

The dynamic resistance system, belt drive, and sound of paddles pushing through the water in the tank provide a smooth, quiet rowing experience. It’s about as close as you’ll going to get to rowing outdoors indoors.

How much water should I fill the tank with?

The primary way to determine resistance strength, as I just mentioned, is through the pace of your workout. But you can control overall resistance by how much water you fill the tank with.

A good way to think about the amount of water in the tank is as people in a rowing boat with you. Filling the tank to level one is like rowing in a boat on your own, level 2 with two people, and so on.

Filling the tank 1/4 full or level 3 provides a medium resistance strength (most popular). However, some people like myself like to fill the water tank to just under 1/2 full or level 6 as this provides a strong, smooth resistance at a medium stroke rate, perfect for a 20-minute rowing session. Experiment to find what suits your workouts best.

Click here to check price of Trunk Water Rower on Amazon

Build & Stability

This is a mid-level water rowing machine. It’s not a heavy-duty rower. Heavy-duty wood rowers weigh 100lb+. The Trunk weighs just 63lb.

63lb isn’t bad for the price point, and that weight will help keep this rowing machine planted to the floor. Also, wood rowers have a low center of gravity compared to other rowing machine types, which helps keep them stable.

Trunk provides four rubber feet for their water rowers; these help prevent slips and protect your floor from scratches. Another good stability feature is the contoured seat. It’s a minor feature, I know, but it’s an important one because a contoured seat will provide support and prevent your butt from slipping in the push phase of the rowing stroke.

The padding for the seat is just right. It’s made from high-density foam, which isn’t too soft to cause stability issues or too hard to be off-putting.

Decent Monitor For Price Point

This monitor offers more than most I’ve seen in this price range as it comes with a goal setting feature. The goal-setting feature allows you to set goals for your workouts based on time, distance, etc.

Plus you get wireless heart rate monitoring, a valuable feature for those who love to train in the chosen heart rate zone. However, you’ll have to purchase an HR chest strap separately.

The screen is large, so it’s nice and easy to read, and another good thing is that the monitor doesn’t require a power outlet; it runs on a couple of small batteries.

The monitor also tracks all the vital workouts stats such as time, distance rowed, 500M split time, number of stroke rate and includes BlueTooth.

Folding or Vertical Storage?

Trunk offers a folding version of this rowing machine, or you can choose the vertical storage option. The folding version will fold to half its original footprint, so it’s a great space-saving design. But vertical storage needs even less space, just 0.3 square meters of space when stored against a wall.

Nearly all water rowers and air rowers are stored vertically. It’s quicker to perform and takes up less space, so I’d recommend the vertical storage version. The Folding version costs more, so you’ll save yourself a few bucks choosing the vertical as well.

A few other features worth mentioning

This is a large rowing machine so make sure you have measured out enough space to use the machine comfortably before purchasing.

Still, large is good when it comes to rowing machines because you’ll get a longer rail. The Trunk includes one of the longest rails out there with a 40″ inseam allowing users up to 6’5″ to achieve full leg extension, and with a 330lb max capacity, the Trunk is a good choice for larger users.

And lastly, the Trunk water rowing machine includes built-in transport wheels, just tilt and roll to store.

Relatively Easy Assembly – 30 minutes

Assembly for this water rower isn’t super easy as its a large machine but most of complicated stuff such as the drive and resistance systems already come pre-assembled. You’ll need to connect the rail to the front of the machine, attach the seat to the rail, attach the footrests, the fitness monitor, and phone holder. Detailed instructions and tools for the job are provided.

Alternative

Runow Water Solid Oak Water Rower ($649)

The Runow Water Rower has been around a couple of years, and it’s one of the best-selling water rowers out there. It’s more of a heavy-duty option than the Trunk water rower, and it does cost a little more, but it’s worth it if you’re after a heavy-duty machine.

The Runow is very similar in features to the Trunk rower in that both rowers share the same dynamic resistance system and belt drive both come with impressive long rails and contoured seats, and both boast good monitors for the price bracket.

The only difference is that the Runow weighs 103lb, and the Trunk weighs 63lb. The extra weight of the Runow tells us it’s made from high-quality materials; it’s also going to feel solid and more like a pro rower. And when you consider it’s currently on sale for $649, it’s a great deal for a solid oak rowing machine.

To Sum Up

There are a few wood rowers in this price bracket worth taking seriously, and the Trunk Solid Wood Rower is one of them. The build quality isn’t commercial grade, but we wouldn’t expect it to be at this price. Still, it’s easily good enough for a home gym, and because you can add extra water to the tank, even season rowers will find enough resistance strength from this rower.

Overall it’s a well-built machine that requires little maintenance. You’ll need to add water purifiers to the tank every six months and keep the rail clean, but that’s about it.