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Old timer on a bridge pour told me your hand trowel matters more than your $200 mag
I was finishing a box culvert pour near Omaha about 3 years ago, struggling with lines on the surface. This guy named Walt who had to be pushing 70 walked over and just watched for a minute. He reached in his cooler, handed me his beat up 12 inch Marshalltown hand trowel and said "try this, yours is too stiff for this mix." The difference was NIGHT and DAY, my finish came out smooth as glass after that. Anyone else had a simple tool swap fix a problem you were overthinking?
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tessalane15d ago
Wait, Walt just reached in his cooler and handed you his personal trowel? That's wild. I mean, I've had guys give me tips on form or whatever but nobody just pulls their own hand tool out of a cooler like it's a sandwich. That trowel must have been something special though cause I've had cheap ones that just drag and leave those ugly lines no matter what you do. It's crazy how a beat up old tool from some guy who's been doing it forever can totally change the game.
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mason.drew15d ago
Yeah but you gotta remember, he didn't just pull it out of a regular cooler. Walt's cooler is like his mobile toolbox, he keeps his good trowels in there with ice packs so the mud doesn't stick funny in the heat. I've seen guys do that but not with their personal gold trowel, usually it's just a cheap backup. That trowel he handed over was a Marshalltown with the handle worn down to almost nothing, you could tell it had seen decades of work.
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