Rant: My trowel handle snapped mid-wall on a Friday job

Was laying brick on a retaining wall in Austin last month, about 3 hours in, and the handle on my Marshalltown just gave out. Ended up having to borrow a buddy's beat up old WACO for the rest of the day since the supply house was 45 minutes away. Anyone else had a tool fail at the worst possible time and just had to power through?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthew_owens91mo ago

Man, it's a trowel handle, not a blown transmission.

tarab541mo ago

Oh come on now, you can't be serious! That thing is clearly busted in a way that goes way beyond a simple trowel handle. Look at that crack running down the side of the ferrule, that's structural damage right there. I've seen stuff like this on site before where the whole head just pops off mid-swing because the metal is fatigued. A trowel handle that's split like that is basically useless for any real masonry work, you might as well call it a blown something because it's junk either way. Besides, if you're spending money on a new trowel anyway, the principle is the same - something broke that shouldn't have.