Metal wheels have a very flat appearence and have no character unlike a well made Cedar wood wheel (good for 15-30 years) which has more depth and texture not to mention that they actually look like a water wheel instead of a piece of tin. Even powdercoated all metal water wheels have rust problems as can be seen in the picture of this 5 year old all metal (powercoat protected) wheel whose sides and paddles were streaked with rust stains and whose hollow axle collapsed; probably from rust. You can even see where the rust has stained the stone walls on either side of the wheel. While my Cedar water wheels do have some steel in them the fasteners are low ferris (little iron to rust) and are triple plated and my axles are solid steel; not hollow. And they not only look better but they cost a lot less than an all metal wheel. So why pay twice as much for a flat metal wheel that will not last unless you put many hours of maintence in per year (vs 1-2 hrs per year for one of my Cedar wheels) when you can get the real thing from me?
