I called BS on the guy who said you dont need a bull float on small slabs. Then I tried it.
Had a 10x12 shed pad pour in Council Bluffs three weeks ago and the old timer I hired to help said skip the bull float on something that small. I laughed at him. I've been floating everything for 15 years, even little pads. He bet me a burger at the diner on Broadway that I'd get a better finish just using a magnesium hand float after screeding. I did it his way, and I gotta admit the surface came out tighter with fewer trowel marks and it saved me about 20 minutes of setup. Only thing is on anything bigger than maybe 15x15 I still think you're asking for trouble. So what's the cutoff line for you guys, is it square footage or mix design or what?
Depends on the mix more than the size honestly. A wet mix on a small pad will finish itself pretty easy without the bull float but a stiff mix needs the help no matter the square footage. Cutoff for me is more about how fast it sets up than the dimensions.