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Folding sawhorse buying guide

Updated: 2026-10-21

You are choosing a pair before checkout, and the amazon.co.uk results mix plastic horses, steel horses and a builders trestle whose kilogram lines do not agree. This folding sawhorse buying guide is the order of questions, not a winner. Start with the job, then whether the figure is each horse or the pair, then height, material and whether it opens today. The seven pairs, from about £32.99 to about £90 on 19 October 2026, are in the [folding trestle comparison](/hub/workshop/folding-trestle). Products Compared read those listings and public UK notes, not a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are choosing a pair before checkout, and the amazon.co.uk results mix plastic horses, steel horses and a builders trestle whose kilogram lines do not agree.

Our top picks

BORA BORA Workhorse X pair

Best overall

BORA BORA Workhorse X pair
8.7/10about £76.74
View offer
STANLEY Stanley STST1-70713 pair

Best value

STANLEY Stanley STST1-70713 pair
8.5/10about £39.95
View offer
HOMCOM HOMCOM builders trestle pair

Alternative

HOMCOM HOMCOM builders trestle pair
7.4/10about £32.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What you are actually buying
  2. 2.How to read the load
  3. 3.Height, material, and the van
  4. 4.What to skip until you have checked it

What you are actually buying

UK shops use sawhorse, work horse and trestle for a beam on legs, and builders trestle for a wider frame that carries boards. A folding trestle table, a camping table and a log horse share the word and are other products. None of the seven kept listings is a catering table, and none claims BS 1139. If the photo is a flat top with folding table legs, you are in the wrong aisle. The HOMCOM B40-015 at about £32.99 is the builders trestle here: telescopic steel, 80–130 cm on the bullet, and a flat-pack. Doors sit on a light pair. A mitre saw, or a floor that is not level, points toward steel and, if the legs must move, toward the BORA Workhorse XT. Boards at chest height point toward a builders trestle and the work-at-height rules.

How to read the load

Treat the printed figure as a distributed load along the top. A quick-release sawhorse manual defines it that way, and it tells you not to stack horses or to stand on them. Each and per pair are not the same sentence. The Stanley title and the details field say 450 kg. One bullet says 45 kg per pair. Read the label on the horse, and do not average 45 and 450. The HOMCOM bullet says 100 kg per trestle and the details field says 200 kg, so the lower printed line is the cautious one. The BORA Workhorse X bullet says 612 kg each, while a details field says 2.5E+3 pounds. Use the kilogram bullet. Evolution says up to 500 kg and does not split each from the pair. Amazon Basics says 408 kg for the set.
BORA BORA Workhorse X pair

Testsieger

BORA BORA Workhorse X pair
8.7/10about £76.74
View offer

Height, material, and the van

Only two listings state a range. The BORA XT gives a minimum of 30 inches, and reviewers used those legs on uneven ground. The HOMCOM bullet says 80–130 cm. A UK review says the Evolution pair does not adjust. A flat shed floor does not need a range. A sloped drive does. Stanley is polypropylene at 6.05 kg. Amazon Basics is filed as metal at 2.21 kg, and several reviews call the build plastic. BORA, Kastforce and HOMCOM are steel. The XT pair is listed at 13.7 kg, which is a van decision. HOMCOM arrives as a flat-pack. If you need the support this afternoon, an hour with spanners is the wrong first page.

What to skip until you have checked it

Skip a pair whose useful feature is the thing reviewers say does not work. Kastforce’s listing describes 2x4 support arms. A review says the timber does not fit, and that tightening the bracket pulls the wood away from the horse. One buyer received a single horse instead of the pair. Skip the HOMCOM if the job is today. Reviews describe poor instructions, spanners in 8, 10, 13 and 14 mm, a Pozi No. 2 driver, and more than an hour. None of this ranks a safest horse. It removes the listings whose printed promise and the review pattern point different ways.

Common questions

Plastic or steel for doors and the odd sheet?
Plastic is the lighter shed pair for doors, painting and a sheet supported on more than one horse. Stanley at about £39.95 and Amazon Basics at about £47.23 are the ones reviewers use that way. Steel is the stiffer choice when a mitre saw sits on a temporary top or the ground is uneven. The BORA pairs are that end of this set, at about £76.74 and about £90, and they are heavier to carry.
What does 450 kg on a Stanley page mean when a bullet says 45 kg?
The title and the details field say 450 kg. One bullet says 45 kg per pair. The page conflicts. Do not treat either line as a lab result, and do not add them. Check the label moulded or stuck on the horse. Until that label matches one of the lines, plan the pair as light DIY for doors, which is what the reviews describe.
Do I need legs that adjust?
You need them when the floor is not level or the working height has to meet a saw. In this set the XT states a minimum of 30 inches and reviewers used the legs on uneven ground. The HOMCOM bullet says 80–130 cm, after you have built it. An Evolution review says that pair does not adjust. A flat workshop floor does not require a range.
Is a builders trestle the same purchase as a sawhorse?
No. A sawhorse is a beam and legs for cutting and fitting. A builders trestle is a wider, often telescopic frame for boards. Here that frame is the HOMCOM at about £32.99, 80–130 cm, with assembly required. Trade bandstands sold with a BS 1139 claim are a third product. None of these seven listings makes that claim.
When do I stop and read the work-at-height page?
Stop when the plan is to stand on the horse, or to put boards across two trestles and stand on the boards. A support for a door is not a working platform. Sawhorse manuals say not to stand on the horse and not to stack it. The regulations and the 600 mm figure sit on the trestle work-at-height page, not in a load bullet.

Related pages

Best folding sawhorse UK

Trestle work at height UK

Scaffold trestle comparison

Folding trestle

How to set up folding sawhorses before you load them

Cutting plywood on sawhorses without the saw binding

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures saved for this set on 19 October 2026.

  1. Work at Height Regulations 2005 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. PUWER 1998 regulation 4 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. HSE work at height FAQs (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. HSE scaffolds (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. HBF trestles and hop-ups, June 2018 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. HSE INDG318 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. amazon.co.uk Saw Horses best sellers (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. BORA Tool UK, Workhorse XT (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  9. Tooled-Up trestles note (retrieved 19 October 2026)