On Nov 6, 3:34 am, wrote:
It's getting toward winter and I want to pour concrete in a feedroom
on the rear of my barn.

How do you think professionals trowel out large pads? They pour
hundreds of square feet at a time, not just what they can reach in an
arm's length.

Rent a small "bull float" or build one yourself out of a short 6" wide
pine plank and some firring strips for a handle. Once you level the
concrete with a screed board, you use the float to smooth it out by
carefully gliding the float over the surface, pushing the stones down
and bringing the "cream" to the surface. Unless you're looking for a
mirror finish on this floor, that may be all you need to do.

Let it set up for a while.

Use some large pieces of 2" styrofoam insulation to kneel on so you
don't mess up the setting concrete while you trowel, if you trowel.
You don't trowel the concrete until it's set up enough to support your
weight on boards anyway. If you're using a power trowel, you don't
trowel until you can WALK on the concrete. Keep the trowel wet and
work more "cream" to the surface to further smooth the finish, if
that's what you want.

A yard of concrete is 2 tons. Half a yard is 1 ton. Even half a yard
will overload any compact truck, or F150. Your idea of trucking the
concrete yourself is CRAZY. You'll never get it unloaded, screeded,
and floated before it sets up all by yourself. Do you realize how many
shovelfuls, bucketfuls, wheelbarrow loads a half a yard of concrete
is?

Look in your yellow pages. You may be able to find a ready mix company
that specializes in small batches, or better yet, one that has
rentable trailers that hold up to a yard of concrete and mix it as you
drive home. Or, just pay the long buck and have a yard delivered.
You're just going to end up with a big mess on your hands if you try
to do ready-mix on the cheap.