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Power trowels are designed to flatten concrete, which is achieved by processes known as floating and finishing. This usually happens in two steps.

First the power trowels are used to 'float' the wet concrete. Floating removes the humps and fills the valleys while at the same time compacting the concrete (bringing the cement-rich 'cream' to the top in preparation for the finishing step).

The second step is to 'finish' the slab, which creates a smooth hard skin on the concrete slab by burnishing the top surface. In the second pass, often called 'crossover floating,' the contractor operates the trowel in a direction perpendicular to the first pass. This further levels the concrete slab and produces a hard, smooth and dense surface. Trowels also close and seal pores in a slab.

Trowels are used by concrete and general contractors in various residential, commercial and industrial applications, covering everything from basements and parking lots to grocery store and warehouse floors.

According to Jonathan Cuppett with Multiquip, many contractors start out small with walk-behind trowels but as their client base builds, so do the jobs, both in number and size, requiring the move to larger ride-on trowels.