Hot take: my $400 power trowel upgrade was a total waste of cash

I got a new model with the fancy floating head for a big warehouse floor job, thinking it would save my back and speed things up. The thing shook so bad it left chatter marks everywhere, and we had to go back over the whole section by hand. Who else has been burned by a tool that promised to be a game changer?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lisa2mo ago

Man, that's rough. My experience was the total opposite though. That floating head on my Marshalltown was a lifesaver on a big slab last fall, zero chatter. Did you check the blade balance and the engine mounts? A bad shake usually means something's off with the setup, not the tool itself.

abby_palmer4d ago

Wait, nobody's mentioned checking if your trowel arm was pitched right. If that's off even a hair you'll get chatter no matter what blades you throw on there.

jamieperez2mo ago

Yeah, @the_lisa is right, a bad shake usually means the setup is wrong, not the tool.