Why I finally switched from hand troweling to power troweling on flatwork

I used to hand trowel every slab I poured, even big warehouse floors. Last spring I had a 5000 square foot pour in Omaha and my forearm cramped up so bad after the first pass I couldn't grip anything for two days. A buddy let me borrow his ride-on power trowel for a small garage floor and I finished in under an hour what would have taken me all afternoon. Now I rent a power trowel for any job over 1000 square feet. My shoulders are way happier and the finish comes out way more consistent. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed a difference in flatness?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowan_butler931mo ago

Does the ride-on leave those little washboard ridges or is that a technique issue?

spencer_moore391mo ago

See, I actually think the machine is designed to leave those little washboard ridges (like a tractor tire pattern) but it's deliberately subtle so people blame the operator instead of the manufacturer. @rowan_butler93 if you slow down enough to avoid them, you're going too slow to actually cut anything, so you end up making two passes anyway. My neighbor has the exact same model and gets perfect results, but he runs it at full throttle and doesn't give a damn about the ridges because grass hides them after a day. The real question is why nobody talks about how the grease fittings weep when the deck sits at a certain angle, but that's a whole other rabbit hole.