MOZCORN 10 Pcs Truss Plates 4x6 Inch, Pronged Truss Mending Plate with Nail Teeth, Mending Plates for Wood Trusses Construction

A week with pronged truss plates in the shop

I pulled a 10-pack of Mozcorn 4x6 pronged truss plates into the shop for a week of tests on framing lumber and a couple of quick fixes around the property. These are the classic pressed-tooth connector plates you see on factory-built trusses—flat steel sheets bristling with teeth—only sized for general-purpose mending and reinforcement. At 4 by 6 inches and hot-dip galvanized, they’re meant to bite into solid wood and create a broad, split-resistant join where screws or nails would concentrate loads.

Build, finish, and first impressions

Out of the box, the plates feel substantial. The stampings on my set were consistent with clean tooth geometry and only minor burrs at the edges. The hot-dip galvanized coating is even, with that familiar spangled matte finish. They aren’t flimsy; flexing a plate by hand takes a deliberate effort, which matters when you’re asking a field of teeth to embed evenly. As with most pronged plates, the teeth are staggered—not in neat rows—and that layout helps avoid initiating straight-line splits in dry lumber.

The edges and teeth are sharp enough to command respect. Gloves are mandatory. I knocked down two tiny burrs with a file, but overall the plates were ready to use.

Installation: press is best, but you have options

In a perfect world, these get pressed into place under a hydraulic or roller press. That’s how truss plates are installed in production settings, and it produces deep, uniform embedment. I don’t expect most remodelers or DIYers to have a dedicated roller, but a small shop press or even a heavy bench vise will get you most of the way there.

Here’s what worked well for me:

• Shop press: With a flat steel backer under the workpiece, the 12-ton press sank the plate flush in SPF 2x material in a single, controlled stroke. Teeth seated fully across the field with no cupping.
• Bench vise and clamps: For on-site work, I clamped a plate in from both sides using a pair of deep C-clamps and a sacrificial plywood caul. Alternating a quarter-turn on each clamp brought the plate in evenly without bending teeth. It’s slower but effective.
• Dead-blow and block: As a last resort, a dead-blow mallet and a hardwood block can “walk” a plate into place. Start in the center and work out in a spiral pattern. Expect less-than-perfect embedment and more cosmetic scuffing.

Two tips to avoid headaches: use a rigid backer to support the wood and plate while pressing, and avoid chasing individual teeth with a hammer—once a tooth bends, it rarely seats well. If you need maximum strength, mirror the connection with a second plate on the opposite face; the sandwich effect increases bite and reduces the risk of the wood lifting around the prongs.

Performance on different materials

I tried the plates on a handful of common scenarios:

• SPF 2x6, kiln-dried: Seats easily with a press, holds firmly, and shows minimal surface bruising around the teeth. Removal took real persuasion with a flat bar, which is what you want.
• Rough-cut 6x6, still a bit green: Nearly ideal. The teeth buried deeply with a bench vise and the plate snugged flush. This is a good use case if you’re trying to arrest end checking or keep a split from propagating on heavy timbers.
• Southern yellow pine 2x material: Requires more force than SPF but finishes cleanly under a press. I’d avoid hammer-only installs here.
• Red oak offcut: The teeth will go in under a shop press, but the required load is high and the risk of strip-out on removal is real. I wouldn’t choose pronged plates for hardwood repairs where precision matters.
• OSB and particle board: Not recommended. The teeth fracture the top veneer on OSB and crumble particle board. There just isn’t enough long-grain fiber for the teeth to engage.

As marketed, these plates are designed for solid wood. They excel where there’s continuous grain for the prongs to bite. If you’re connecting sheet goods or engineered products, switch to a nail-on plate or a screw/bolt pattern with washers.

Real-world fixes and shop uses

Two practical jobs stood out. First, I used a pair to stabilize the end of a 6x6 post that had started to check after a summer in the sun. One plate per face, pressed in with a vise, and the checking stopped widening. It’s a low-visibility fix that took minutes.

Second, I built a quick prototype frame for a storage rack from SPF 2x4s. The plates were perfect for fast, tool-light assembly: clamp, press, move on. I wouldn’t rely on that frame for heavy loads without additional fasteners, but for a quick mockup they saved a lot of drilling and screwing. I also tested one plate across a small edge split in a 2x6 gate rail; it kept the crack from creeping with opening and closing. The staggered teeth help distribute load away from a single failure line.

Outdoors, the galvanization shrugged off early fall rain with no red rust after a couple of weeks. For permanent exterior installations in wet or coastal environments, I’d still keep an eye on coating longevity and chemistry; ACQ-treated lumber is hard on zinc. If that’s your use case, confirm the coating thickness or consider a connector rated specifically for harsh environments.

Strength, ratings, and code reality

These are “truss-style” plates, but that doesn’t magically make a field-assembled truss. The big limitation isn’t the physical plate so much as the lack of published engineering values and the variability of field installation. Factory truss plates come with evaluation reports and are pressed under controlled conditions. This set doesn’t include load tables, and I couldn’t find any stamped approvals tied to a building code evaluation. That means they’re great for repairs, blocking, jigs, prototypes, and non-inspected projects, but I would not use them as the primary structural connection where an inspector expects listed hardware or certified truss manufacturing.

If you need a rated solution for a load path, look at nail-on mending plates or specific connectors from major brands that publish design values, or step up to structural screws or bolts with proper edge distances and washers. For what they are—unrated pronged mending plates—these do the job well.

Ergonomics and safety notes

The teeth are unforgiving. Handle and store them in a way that doesn’t invite accidental contact—keep the cardboard slip sheets, or stack them tooth-to-tooth with a scrap between. When pressing, check that no teeth have curled; a bent tooth can lift the plate or create a pressure point that scars the wood. Eye protection is non-negotiable.

Value and who they suit

In a 10-pack, the plates hit a sweet spot for small shops and serious DIYers: enough to tackle a few projects without committing to a contractor case. I appreciate having them on hand for:

• Arresting splits in posts and beams
• Reinforcing non-critical splices and frames
• Temporary fixtures and jigs where screws would be in the way
• Quick bracing during glue-ups

If your work is primarily code-inspected structural framing, these won’t replace listed connectors. If your work involves solid lumber repairs, prototyping, or farm-and-ranch problem-solving, they’re a handy addition to the hardware drawer.

The bottom line

The Mozcorn 4x6 pronged truss plates are sturdy, well-coated, and effective on solid lumber when installed with a press or heavy clamping. The staggered teeth seat cleanly and resist initiating splits, and the galvanized finish provides sensible protection for general use. They’re not a substitute for engineered truss connectors or rated hardware in inspected applications, and they don’t belong in OSB or particle board. Within those bounds, they’re quick, reliable problem-solvers that save time.

Recommendation: I recommend these plates for shop and site tasks that call for fast, broad-surface reinforcement in solid wood—stopping checks, backing up non-critical joints, and building temporary or light-duty assemblies. I would not recommend them as primary connectors in code-governed structural work or for use in sheet goods. If you understand that line, you’ll find them useful and cost-effective to keep on hand.