Distributing Weight

I have a stepper exercise machine that stands on four legs and I would like to place this machine on a shelf made of canvas cloth ( the whole wardrobe is made of canvas ). The problem is I think the shelf would tear where the four legs are. So I would like to ask if there is any way I could distribute the weight of the four legs evenly over the whole floor of the canvas shelf?I'm not sure if I'm asking a right question for you - my apologies if I'm not and thanks very much for any information and your time!
- Tan Hao Leng (age 41)
Singapore

Your question is very clear but the answer isn't. A sheet of plywood under the machine would spread out the force, but it still might tear the canvas at the corners. An oval plywood sheet might work better, but even then I'm doubtful. The canvas is likely to tear at the edges of the plywood. A stepper machine is very heavy to support with canvas. Even if you get lucky and it doesn't tear, won't it sway around too much in use?

Mike W.

(published on 01/07/2016)