Power trowel vs hand floating, I'll take the hand float every time

Been finishing concrete for about 12 years now, mostly driveways and patios in the Phoenix area. Everyone I work with swears by the power trowel for anything over 200 square feet, but I still hand float my big pours. Last month I did a 900 square foot garage slab in Mesa and my partner brought his 36 inch trowel machine, we split the slab down the middle to see who finished faster. He beat me by maybe 20 minutes but I had way fewer trowel marks and the surface took the sealer better, no dark spots. The machine wants to pull moisture too fast if you aren't careful, and once you get those burn lines you're grinding for half a day. Hand floating lets me feel the slab talking to me, I know exactly when to hit it. Maybe I'm just old school but has anyone else had better luck skipping the power trowel on residential work?

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