Stooping down to grind concrete floors along wall edges and in other tight spots by hand is a pain in the you-know-what, not to mention the strain it puts on your knees. With the compact walk-behind edger from Terrco, you can now do the entire task in a comfortable upright position and in much less time, making the machine especially advantageous on large projects with a lot of edging work.

While the machine is only 16 inches wide and weighs 230 pounds, don't let the compact design fool you. The Terrco Edger is hefty enough to tackle heavy-duty concrete grinding work. "A number of customers asked us to design a machine that can stand up to the abuse most equipment sees on a jobsite," says Frank Vinella of Terrco. "Our edger was designed to be a heavy-duty edge machine, unlike machines on the market made of aluminum and plastic, which can break and bend."

The machine was also designed for easy adjustability. It comes equipped with a free-moving guard with adjustable roller guides that allow the user to adjust how close the cup wheel comes to the wall. The wheels are also adjustable to control the height of the machine so the grinding wheel can be set square to the floor.

The edger guard accommodates 7-inch (180 mm) diamond cup wheels or polishing pads. Cup wheels or pads from most manufacturers can be used, as long as they have 5/8-11 threading. Terrco also makes plates that allow the use of 3-inch diamond tooling. To change the grinding wheels, all you need is a wrench.

Equipped with an on board 7-gallon water tank, the edger can perform both wet and dry grinding. "For most jobs, the operator is able to go dry, but some floors need to be ground wet to help the tooling penetrate the concrete and stay cool," says Vinella. "It all depends on how the contractor is grinding the bulk of the floor. If they're grinding wet, then they want to do their edge work wet."

Other features of the edger include:

· A moveable arm to get into tight areas.

· A grinding wheel speed of 1,760 rpm and abrasive pressure of 45 pounds.

· Three horsepower, 230-volt, single-speed motor with magnetic start.

· Rubber-tired roller-bearing wheels.