Used to stretch everything by hand, then a guy in Tulsa told me one thing that saved my knees
For years I did every stretch job with a knee kicker and a lot of cursing. I would get down on that pad, kick my way across a 12 by 15 room, and by the end my knees were screaming and the carpet still had a ripple by the door. About 8 months ago I was on a job in Tulsa and this older installer named Ray was watching me work. He said, "Son, why are you fighting that carpet when the power stretcher is sitting in your truck?" I told him power stretchers felt slow to set up and I did not trust them near walls. He showed me how to brace the tail block right into the wall studs and use a couple of drywall screws so it never slips. Took me maybe 4 minutes to set up and the whole room stretched tight in one pass. My knees stopped hurting after work and my callbacks for wrinkles dropped to almost zero since. Now I want to know, do you all leave the power stretcher in the truck on small rooms or do you still grab the knee kicker for quick stuff?